The joints of such framework as this should properly be painted before being put together (see Painting), and it also is a more thorough and neater way to lay the lattice-work strips on supports of some kind and paint them before putting on. They will then only require touching up with paint after the house is done.
The rustic summer-house, or arbour, made of sticks in their natural form, shown in Fig. 403, is in some respects more difficult to build than the preceding, because the ends of so many of the pieces have to be cut at an oblique angle.
Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, Nailing, Screws, Hinges, Painting, in [Part V]., and look up any other references.
First make a platform, as for the other floors, or the upright posts can rest upon posts set in the ground and the floor be dispensed with. Plates can be placed on top of the posts, and rafters extend from the plates at the top of each post to the apex of the roof. These plates and rafters will make a framework on which to nail the sticks which form the roof covering. The remaining details are apparent. Much care is required, however, to put this house together properly, not merely in cutting the angles at the joints, but in sighting, measuring, and testing to ensure its coming together without twisting or winding.
Fig. 403.
Instead of making this house six-sided, it can, if desired, be made rectangular like the preceding one, but keeping the same arrangement of the details. This makes a very pretty design, and in respect to joining the pieces is much easier to make. Another pretty plan is to build a hexagonal, octagonal, or circular house of this sort around a tree trunk. If the roof is fitted too snugly to the tree trunk, the growth of the latter may split the roof apart before the rest of the house is past its usefulness, so you should arrange this part to allow for the growth of the tree.