Wow, great job! This caring father set out to build the baddest play house for his daughter that he possibly could. The result is this amazing pirate ship play house.
As you can see, it is spacious enough for an entire crew of 5 year olds as well as sturdy enough to hold an adult captain! Now you need to rig up some water balloon cannons!
via: imgur
oooh, just found a little more information on reddit.
The ship is about 18′ long and 8′ wide at the water(grass) line. The mast is about 25′ tall. I have no idea how it much it cost to make. I’m afraid to total up the Lowe’s receipts.
For the skin of the ship, I originally intended to re-use pallet boards, but found that not realistic. Reclaiming them is labor intensive, and they are all different widths, thicknesses, etc. So I went with boards intended for 7′ tall privacy fences. They were 7×6″, pressure treated, and cost less than $2 per board.
The ship itself is about 18-20 long.
In the space under the quarterdeck, I put in a sandbox. That space is 4×8. I was going to make that space waterproof so it would be like a fort, but it would have cost too much. Besides, my daughter loves the sandbox.
The mast is another thing. A friend with a utility company donated a used utility pole, but it turns out those things are massive! So, the mast is a 4×4 beam, surrounded by 2x4s. I then cut the corners off, so it’s a octagon. It looks great, and looks pretty good.
For stability, we put the mast in the ground into the ground about three feet, and filled the hole with cement. This spring, I plan to put up a rope ladder to the crows nest and install a railing. So it needs to be stable.
Also, before we do let anyone climb up there, I need to install guy lines from the bow and stern to the crow’s nest.
For the deck of the ship, we used 1×6 decking boards that were donated.
For the deck of the quarterdeck, I built it 6 feet off the ground. For that deck, we used 2x6s that were donated. In fact, some redditors gave me great feedback on how to build a stable platform.
I still need to do a few things: 1. For Christmas, I am giving my daughter a 24″ ship’s wheel that I’m making. I will send photos of that when I get a chance. 2. I need to sand off the roughness from the skin of the ship and put on some varnish. 3. The windows and edges all need trim. I have used trim pieces and paint. I just need the time to cut and install them.
- The ship needs a bowsprit.
- Lastly, don’t tell my wife, but I really want to put in a working cannon on each side of the ship. Something that shoots nerf balls or something.
