I'm borrowing a drafting machine from my boss. Technically, we should only use blank paper in it. (Technically, we should only use vellum, but typing paper's good enough for now.) I didn't want him to have to figure out some difficult ratio like 1':1/8", though, so we went with the graph paper and did it one square equals two feet.
This was actually a fairly big deal. JT is good with math and outstanding recognizing patterns, but he has a hard time translating graphs--you know, like one block equals five pumpkins. He got it down, though, with a lot of help.
Next we worked on spacial relationships. Namely, how big does the fort have to be in order for him to do what he wants to with it? We marked out a 4' by 8' footprint in the dining room. His first question was where would he put the TV? Then we mapped out 6' by 8' on the patio. He wanted it to be bigger, but I think we settled.
He decided he wants the door at a corner, which will affect the plan I'd had for the shelves and other furnishings. So we mapped out--practically--how wide the door needs to be (Yes, you can fit through a 12" opening, but can your friends?) and how much floor space inside the door he'd need to actually get into the space.
That settled, we went on to the benches. How many tushies should fit on each bench? Does everyone have as small a tushy as him? And the shelves. How wide is your biggest board game? He took that information and drew a scale drawing of the interior.
The little circle things are chains that hold up the seats when they're down. They'll be folded flat to the wall during sleep overs.
The block on the bottom left with the thing sticking up? That's a sink.
Now I have to figure out how to put in a sink.
Sink isn't tough unless he wants hot water. Use a garden hose to get water in, and have it drain through a decent set of filters out onto the lawn. Just make sure he knows it is for getting drinking water only, pretty much. You don't want him dumping anything out onto the lawn that is going to kill it. I might consider putting a drinking fountain in for him instead. :P
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I don't know if you have looked into it where you live but up here they get RIDICULOUSLY pissy if you build anything without a permit. To the point that when you go to sell it, if you have things on the property that were not there when you bought the place they won't let you retroactively buy a permit. They make you tear it down. For a very basic kids fort, not a significant issue. But this is looking like it might be big enough to be considered a permanent fixture, and where I am now they will crucify you later.
Just saying that I would look into it is all.
I thought of that, too, so I checked with a friend, a Realtor. He said no permits are necessary for a shed if the footprint's 8'x10' or smaller. It will barely reach above the 6' fence behind it, well below the height of the other neighbor's fort/swing-set.
ReplyDeleteI'm also thinking about building it on runners on a bed of gravel. Ironically, I think that would cost more, since I'd have to buy the gravel.