Thursday, September 4, 2008

Getting Started


The A-Frame design is intended to be sturdy and simple. On paper, it certainly seems to be a simple task... bolt a few pieces of lumber together, in the shape of an "A" and stand them up.

Unfortunately, the building inspector required heavy 2x10 douglas fir lumber (we had planned to use 2x6 pine) and we questioned whether we could even do this without a crane. Given the size of our "A" (24' x 24') we opted for two piece construction figuring a full 24' truss would be too heavy to stand up. Our heavily wooded hilltop site would not allow for even a scissor-lift to be brought-in.

We decided that a practice run was in order, so we pieced together a lower truss in our driveway. The trial truss went wogether easily and we stood-up our "lower A" with no problems... as you can see, we were pretty pleased.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Trapeze artists might be used to working at high altitudes without a net. After all, flirting with danger far above the ground is part of the reason they're so exciting to watch. However, working without a "safety net" on a scissor Lift should not be met with the same degree of flair for the dramatic.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to see a post on the final stages and result (even interior shots, conclusions etc.).

Unknown said...

Did you ever post any inside shots of this place. I've been trying to design something very similar to this and was curious with your dimensions how much space there really was inside. Thanks

Unknown said...

Can we see the floor plan layouts?

Unknown said...

good morning. May I ask how much it all ended up costing in the end? We're going to be doing this exact project in a couple of years and want to try to get the budget right :)

Jessica

tonegalli said...

Hey - where are you in "far Northern Wisconsin"? Just curious. We have a cabin on the Flambeau river in Winter Wisconsin, not far from Big Bear and Tony

allan said...

Would love to get your building material list as well as dimension of the a frame. Doing one this summer in maine and I am trying to learn from someone such as yourself. Building material list will allow me to be more precise when ordering as well as shop around. Cost as you know varies but it would be good to know.

I do everything myself during the summer. I do bring up help when needed.

You can contact me at allandensmore@msn.com

Thanks

Unknown said...

you do not show how you tie the bottom of the A boards to the base. I am seeing several methods and am curious how you did it. Please add a photo of the bottom tie-in