Blog

We went to the wilder today to finish off the hatch installment. Looked like there had been no activity around the treehouse since yesterday.

We ascended up and took up 3 structures we had left below. Climbing up through the new hatch frame was fine.

We cut the structures. Then added one to the side of the hatch and one to the hinges area of the hatch. We got the hatch board from level 2. Placed it on the hatch area and measure it out. We marked it with the pen, then set out sawing it.

As it was smaller now, we could saw it with the board flat on the floor. This held it sturdy and allowed for full out sawing action. We had it cut in a much shorter time, than yesterday.

Next we placed it in position, it fit perfectly. We got the hinges out. We needed to raise the frame up for the end of the hinges. We got a normal plank and hammered it down. This then needed more support, so we cut and added another structure -  making it triple width.

We placed the hinges in the correct positions. Then hammered them into the board using 65's. The board was very hard and had a strong outer layer. Once the nails were in we turned it over and bent the protruding nail ends down.

We then nailed the ends of the hinges into the frame. We tested the hatch opening mechanism - it worked like a charm. It was sturdy and smooth. The hatch neatly rested on the wall opposite, allowing easy climbing in and out of treeswingers.

We then needed to add a plank to raise the frame up for the lock hole. We stuck 2 planks together, then hammered them in. This was probably the least strong part, which we will further improve.

We nailed the lock hole into place, using a combination of 65's and 100's. Benniboy had to climb outside to get all the nails in, as the wall was in the way.

We then nailed the lock mechanism into the board. We bent the nails in. It slid into the lock hole tightly. You have to push the board down slightly to be ale to get it to slide in, due to the slight level imbalance between the board and the frame.

However this makes it so that the hatch doesn't move at all when lock, it would seem as those the board was nailed down. You cannot see there are hinges or a lock from below. As the lock it stiff, it makes vandalising it harder too.



Benniboy went down, while Nh lock the hatch. Benniboy tried to push the hatch up, but it didn't budge at all. Benniboy then easily opened the hatch, without looking at the lock.

The treehouse is now a private and no longer public. We sadly were forced to take this kind of action, due to a select group of vandals. We are still only in the beginning stages of securing and protecting the treehouse. This should hold off any attacks planned for the weekend. We will be further improving the security in the near furture.