Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Tree House: 7/15/15

7/15/15

Today I gathered the materials to cut and hang knee braces and secure my support beams to the notched posts with carriage bolts. Also, in lieu of blocking (scrap wood spaced between the joists to true them up and add vertical stability), I found a lightweight and inexpensive bracing product. Since I had largely trued up my joist runs with hurricane ties, I went this route as a weight and $ saver:

This set was only a test install. Today was supposed to be about bolts, lag screws and knee braces. Here are a few pics of the 8" carriage bolts driven through the support beams and notched posts:


I also cut knee braces for the front deck cantilever and some mid-deck positions to tighten up a bit of front to back wiggle in the structure. I secured them with 6" lag screws:


I think my next build day will be light, and I'll only worry with installing the 24 metal cross braces between joists. Then it may be on to stairs!


2 comments:

  1. Do those 6 inch lag screws hoød those knee braces well?

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  2. They have plenty of bite. Though, now that I reflect on it, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a typo and they were longer..??..The knee braces are quite secure.

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