Behold, the Sky Fort!

So after some research and a few years of gentle suggestions from the grandparents (all of them!), Sara and I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a playset for the munchkins.  We had a couple of reasons to do so, most importantly because the kids will actually go nuts over this thing. Okay, so they do that over the couch too, but still…also, for the price (about $1400) this thing is a steal. We saw comparable ones that were in the $4,000-$6,000 range and didn’t get nearly the quality or quantity of reviews that the Sky Fort acquired. Third, I helped my brother-in-law Mike build (at least the first few days) a similar contraption for his kids last summer and the quality of the wood, supplies, and construction is pretty damn good in my book (obviously we’re not talking about a Chippendale here, but…well…look at this thing!).

It’s called the Sky Fort and a more apt name, I think, could not be found.  Maybe Cedar Castle…Anyway, this thing is massive, with a 30 foot long footprint.  Good thing our new yard is pretty wide.  It’s proportionally perfect to the size of the yard I think…

It’s also tall.  I’ve seen pictures of people building this thing and they needed ladders to install the second floor, and a ladder on top of that to install the roof.  All cedar construction.  It comes in 4 boxes and a 10 foot slide.  Weighs something like 1,000 pounds.  They deliver it by semi-truck.  How cool is this thing?  I wish we had stuff like this when I was a kid! Hmmm…maybe I’ll have to play out there too…would make a nice blind for my sparrow and starling control purposes…

Ahem. Anyway, we pre-ordered from Sam’s Club and it should arrive at the end of the month.  My wife and I are amped about building this thing.  Yeah, I married a woman who enjoys construction and power tools!

I found a few blogs out there where people documented the construction process and it helped us immensely in making our decision.  Since I subscribe to the pay it forward philosophy, I will do the same, and post my progress here.  Plus the grandpas will get a kick out of watching this beast go up (I doubt anyone else even reads this thing…but I digress..).  While not woodworking in the sense of going into the shop to create something from hunks of lumber, this thing is made of wood and will take a lot of work (24-36 hours for 2 skilled men, so sayeth Sams Club)….technically I think it iswoodworking.  So be it.  I do not profess to be a purist concerning anything in life.  Maybe we can do it with nothing but hand tools…

Hopefully this project will help someone else out there in the virtual wilderness in some way.  With any luck, no one will get maimed and you might escape with a few chuckles or…gasp…ideas (of how not to do things?).

Since we don’t have the thing yet, here’s a look at the best blog out there on building this bad boy: Dan Miller’s Sky Fort Blog.  I had fun reading about and seeing his progress.  Sara and I intend learn (hopefully) from his mistakes and maybe help someone else out in the process.

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