Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

A simple summer-house is shown in the illustration, Fig. 1. This is made of four posts, has a shingled roof, and is provided with seats on three sides. Obtain four spruce posts four inches square, or four tree-trunks from four to six inches in diameter. Plant them in the ground, forming a square of six feet. The posts should be embedded for at least two feet, and, to insure them from decaying too quickly, tar or pitch the bottoms, or give them two or three good coats of asphaltum varnish. The posts should stand seven feet above ground. Across the tops of the posts nail two-by-four-inch joist, with lap joints as shown at A in Fig. 2. With four more pieces of joist form the roof rafters, cutting a notch in each joist where it fits over the corners at the head of the posts. At the peak, the joist are bevelled where they meet.

Join two of the pieces at first; then lap the remaining two on both sides of them, nailing all the ends securely with steel wire nails. Put one middle rafter in on each side between eaves to the roof. It would not look well to have to roof the corner ones; then nail shingle lath or scantling on the four sides to receive the shingles. The rafters should overhang the top frame about twelve inches, so as to form the stop on a line with the posts. Begin at the bottom and at the middle of each side to shingle the roof, working out to the corners and up through the middle to the peak. To prevent the roof leaking at the corners, bevel the shingles at one side, then lap those on the other side over them and bevel the edges. Some builders lay a strip of tin flashing over the edges as well as in the valleys of a roof to insure a perfectly water-tight joint. Use galvanized nails. To hide the rough rafters and shingle lath, the inside of the roof may be lined with narrow, matched boards; then the wood-work may be given a coat or two of paint in some desirable color.

A Back-yard Pergola

A back-yard pergola is constructed from two upright posts four inches square, a cross beam two by six inches, and eight joists laid across from the post bar to the top of the back fence. This style of pergola is particularly adapted to city yards and those surrounded by a board fence. In the event of there being no fence, the ends of the joist or roofing beams may bear on a two-by-six-inch cross bar that rests on two more posts corresponding with the front ones.

The posts are four inches square, of spruce or any other available wood, and are planed on all four sides. They are embedded in the ground for about two feet, and, to prevent them from sinking or shifting, place a large, flat stone in the hole on which the post will rest, and around it pack earth and stones instead of earth only. A lap cut in the front top end of the post will admit the two-by-six-inch cross beam. The posts are seven feet apart, and the cross beam ten feet long, with the ends cut as shown in Fig. 3 on page 56. The front end of each joist is rounded under as shown, and to make a more secure anchorage a notch two inches long and an inch deep may be cut at the under side of each joist, so that they will fit down over the upper edge of the cross beam. Make all the joints and laps fast with steel wire nails; then give the wood-work a few coats of paint.

Seats may be built in on two sides and supported with under braces or brackets to prop up the front edge, and a back-board may be nailed fast to the posts and fence.

A Toadstool Tree Canopy

Where there is a large tree on the place or near the house, a toadstool canopy (Fig. 4) may be constructed above a comfortable seat. The framing of the canopy is shown in Fig. 5, where the arrangement of corner rafters and braces can be clearly seen. The tree end of each rafter is bevelled (or cut on a slant) and nailed fast with steel wire nails. The under braces are keyed to the tree by cutting out a wedge of the bark, so that the lower end or point of the bracket will fit into it. These ends are to be well nailed to the tree-trunk, as they are the main props to hold up the roof. Between the corner rafters let one rafter in on each side; then nail shingle lath on the top of the rafters, and to these the shingles are fastened.

A seat eighteen inches wide may be built about the foot of the trunk and supported by two-by-three-inch joist let into the ground a foot or eighteen inches. Instead of shingling this roof, it may be thatched with salt hay arranged in flat tufts and nailed onto the lath. Begin at the lower edge to do this and thatch one line first; then begin on the end of the line above it and arrange the tufts closely side by side, and nail them fast. The last line at the top should have tar paper under it, closely fitted, and nailed to the tree trunk with copper tacks and painted. This will deflect the water and prevent it from running down the trunk and wetting the seat.