And no nonsense annoying music makes it easy to focus

Glad to hear it was useful to you!

G8

Y8

I am also starting on a tree house like this, I would be glad to help with any questions you have if you still plan on building it.

You're welcome!

I placed concrete in the bottom of the holes @5:27 in the video. Also, my 4x4's are rated for direct burial (the 2x6s and 2x8's are "above ground only" ECL2 pressure treated).

@@summetj Ok, if they are rated for direct ground then I stand corrected. Thanks.

Walls and a roof will probably double your total weight. I would suggest using 6x6s. Another advantage of that is that you could cut a 1.5 inch slot into them to rest the 2x10 on. Then you could get away with only a single lag bolt to hold them in place, and the weight would not be supported by the lag bolts.

@@summetj Thanks for the input, sounds like 6*6 is the way to go. I also like the idea of a notch to rest the support beam on - but I'm curious why you suggest a 1.5 inch slot for a 2 inch beam... wouldn't you cut it 2 inches deep so it supports the whole thing?

@@mikedenby6771 Dimensional lumber is tricky. 2x4 is actually 1.5x3.5 for example. Look up actual size charts for dimensional lumber.

Only change I'd have made would be staining the corner braces the same color as the rest of the wood supports.

@@summetj Great job again.

The 2x6's on the side are holding up the last foot of deck board. You can place a 2x8 there instead, but if you want the deck board to be below the top of the 2x8, you would need to also add a "ledge" (of a 2x4 for example) for the ends of the deck boards to rest upon) inside of the 2x8.

@@summetj thank you so much!

You can get a full set of materials here: www.summet.com/blog/2020/05/29/build-an-8x8-play-structure-with-dimensional-lumber/ There are 2 2x8's for opposite sides of the parameter (which hold up the 2x6 joists) and the other two sides of the parameter are 2x6's bolted to the upright 4x4's. (Note that the 2x6's are mounted at joist level, while the 2x8's are mounted the width of a deck board higher, as the deck boards overlap the end 2x6's but butt up to the 2x8's.

@@summetj thanks!!!

@@summetj one last question. Why did you decide to use only 2 2x8s? Why not 4 all the way around?

@@Heypockeyway I only needed the strength to support Joists on two sides. Also because the other two are lowered 3/4 of an inch I felt it would look better to have them a little short than hanging down extra long. The thumbnail of the video shows you one 2x8 and one 2x6 at a corner so you can look at that.

The CAD program is called OpenSCAD.

I posted it at the bottom of my blog page: www.summet.com/blog/2020/05/29/build-an-8x8-play-structure-with-dimensional-lumber/ (However, it is only a mockup/visualization of the bottom level, and does not include the benches or ladder.)

@@summetj thank you

4x4s, 2x4s, 2x6s etc... The stock sizes lumber comes in in the US. I'm also specifically using 8 and 12-ft lengths without cutting them shorter.

I did not keep a close accounting but it's definitely in the multi-hundreds of dollars. The composite deck boards were probably the most expensive single bit. If you substituted plain wood you could save a decent amount of money there.