DIY Deck Platform For A Belle Tent (Or A Yurt)

while we're finishing up the tiny house we're keen to showcase as many alternative ideas for downsize living as possible so when the opportunity came up for us to team up with the folks that load a spell tents we absolutely jumped at the chance today we're building the platform for our Lotus Bell tent which is actually a similar kind of construction to what you'd be building for a yurt platform so it's just as good for those as well so today we're going to show you how we're building the platform and also give you a little bit of insight into what we're building here so this is already day three of the build and one of the reasons why this is actually taking so long for us to construct in this place is because we have no power here so all of the materials not only have to be carried quite a long way to site we also have no access to power tools and drop saws or anything like that so pretty much everything is being done with hand saws and hammers which is actually really nice because especially here in this really beautiful natural environment it's not flooded with the sounds of horrible saws and that sort of thing which is really nice to show you exactly what we're doing this here is the the main focus so this is a decagon shaped deck platform that we're building especially for the Lotus Bell tent the Lotus Bell tent is in a decagon shape so we've actually constructed the deck so it will match up and line up with the supports of the tent we're not just building the platform though because our intention here is to create this as a place that will have absolutely everything we need for happy living off the grid right now I'm going to take you on a little bit of a pre tour just to show you what we're working on and what our plans are for this space so this here will be the space that we erect the tent the front of it being right here now off this part here we're actually intending on building a deck platform that will be cantilevered right here and come all the way around this side to give us a nice big thick area now over here you can see we've already put a post but what will eventually be our bathroom so this post is actually going to mount the whole bathroom platform off it whether it additional supports that will be coming up to support and hold the 2 meter structure and this platform is going to be built in an octagon shape to support that we're going to have additional members that will be coming out from this post and coming up to create the span and the appropriate support that we need to to support this platform up here to join the two we're actually going to be building a rope bridge now the idea is that for this project we want to do it quickly we want to do it affordably and this is hopefully going to create a wonderful space for Mel and I to live in while we're finishing the tiny house and allow us to bring you some great different downsized living videos while we're waiting on the tiny house to be finished so the first step for us on this platform was to get the round posts in the ground so to start with we put in our anchor post now that is a post that we've dug into the ground around 600 deep and we've done that with a footing that's shaped like this so that we could put an additional concrete and also really get that compression footing so that it's going to be nice and secure in the ground we then run out our parallel posts and put those into place and set them from this point we simply ran a string line right the way around what would be the edge of the platform and obviously that radius has actually been taken from the radius of our Lotus belt end which is around 2.5 metres the distance between each of these posts was really just worked out by dividing up the amount of posts that would be required for us to create the decagon shape which is 10 so once we had everything measured out it was time for us to put the posts in the ground so our center post as the anchor post which in this case is about 600 millimeters deep all of the other posts have been dug in add around 300 millimeters now that's really just to create enough compression and enough strength to hold them in place but they're not really anchoring like the Center posters which is most important once the posts were all in the ground once the concrete had cured and set we were able to start work on the substructure which in this case is our joist here for the joist here we've actually just used 150 millimeter by 50 millimeter rough sawn timber now in this particular case because it's a dick structure we don't really rely on the accuracy of the Timbers so it's actually okay just to get rough sawn which is also a much more cost-effective option so when it comes to laying the joists we've actually put these in a radial pattern which follows that dick agon shape so it's actually quite a unique and beautiful structure in some ways it's a little bit of a shame to be covering this up because I really like the geometry in this but it's I know it looks quite complicated but really what we've actually just done as we've just run main support members through so that we have one main joists sitting on each and every one of those support posts we've then just created an additional circle of supports that run around that anchor post and then have run cross members in between the toe here just to give it that little bit of extra strength so that our decking doesn't have to spend too far and we don't get too much spring in the floor to hold these in place we are just using these nails here which are galvanized 150 millimeter or 6 inch nails also known as vampire steaks just to hold everything in place really securely if you are attempting to do a deck structure like this the one thing that I really want to get through to you is it it's not difficult you don't have to fret about getting everything absolutely accurate and perfect it's really ok to make a few mistakes because this kind of structure is very forgiving so my advice is just to get your hammer out get some mates together and you could knock this out in a couple of days and now it's time for us to get started laying down the deck so because of the decagon shape we've actually decided to lay everything in a radial pattern so all of the lengths of wood are radiating out from the center which actually gives it a really cool very unique look again it's almost a shame that the sticks actually going to be covered up by a tent because I love the way that it looks when it comes to laying the deck it's really simple you have your decking material all you need to do is cut it to length and then make sure that it's sitting square on the platform and your nail away it's a little bit time-consuming but it's actually quite a pleasant job and I'm stoked with how it's looking from this point on we'll be moving on to the bathroom structure then we'll be building the secondary deck that goes around the rope bridge that links the two and hopefully soon as well will be getting the tent up so that we can start to get a real idea of how this incredible space is going to look

Channel: Living Big In A Tiny House

Views: 143,130

Rating: 4.9357514 out of 5

Keywords: Lotus Belle, Tent, Glamping, Platform, Deck, Structure, Floor, Yurt, Bell Tent, Camping (Literature Subject), DIY, Building

Id: 8bpTGfMKfVk

Length: 7min 8sec (428 seconds)

Published: Tue May 12 2015