Sandpit Construction

[LineLefty]

Hi all,

My next project is a construction type project so there'll be no messing around with bevel angles, scrapers and shooting boards :rolleyes:. Rather, it's circular saws and fourbetwos.

Anyhoot I mention this thread, a few months back:http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=8913

That I needed to build a sandpit over the septic tank. As it will be used for a family daycare, the Shire has advised that (a) it must not be made of CCApine and (b) it must be elevated from teh septic. i.e It can sit over, but not on it. Fair enough.

Now I'm not a carpenter and I'm not sure of how I shoudl construct this thing. It's 2x2m and I've got a few hundred $$ to spend on old jarrah from a salvage yard. So far I've got 4 x 100x100m 2.4m posts and 4 x 200x50m 3m lengths.

The touhghts on construction so far are:

Four posts, bolt some 4x2 around to makea 2m square. Lay some thick boards over that square to form the floor. Bolt more timber to the posts for the sides and your done. This problem with this that by the time you have the ground clearance (5cm), the 4x2 joists and the then thick 'decking' it's getting a bit high off the ground for the little tackers.

The second option is to lay the posts directly on the ground (around the septic) and screw them together to form a square. Lay the 'deckign on top' of that leaving a 'rabbet' on the outside to fit the side timbers.

It's all up in the air at the moment and I'm not really sure what to do. Is there some way I can make the bottom of the sandpit from some sort of shhetign that will be strong enough (2m square remember!)

Help! Any left field ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[NewLou]

Gidday Lefty:)

Heres one of the reasons The kids love me so much I got 5!!! the 10 year old n the 2 year old love this playhouse with the sandpit underneath. You gotta be careful to restrict access to upstairs to the young ones but once old enough .............leads to hours of fun......................Make one you'll Have fun doing it and the Kids I'll get sssssooooooooooooo many hours of Fun from it.........................Priceless!!

REgards Lou

[LineLefty]

Thanks lou, it would be so much simpler if I could just dig a hole, line it, drain it and thats it. Unfortunately theres this septic to deal with:(


And.....the kids playing in the pit wont even be my own! (But they'll be payign for the privelige)

[Ashore]

That brings back memories did the same for my kids . I had rungs as a ladder and just made the first step too high for little ones
The bigest problem I had was keeping neighbours cats out.
Chicken wire on frames that slid over when not in use help.




The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[LineLefty]

AS i said previously, a greyhound's quite a good cat deterrent. We've had one enter our back yard. twas qutie a kerfuffle.

[Jon]

Lefty,

in regards to your first idea, could you extend your joists outside of the 2x2 square and lay a floor/decking outside the sandpit as well? That way the kids can step up onto the deck and then over the wall and into the sand pit.

I have had nothing to do with septics, seeing you are building over the top the chances that you will need to access the tank must be minmal.

Jon