🖼️
The project:
Rebuilding and recycling an old cubby house to give it new life.
- Materials:
Concrete
Hardwood Timber
Sand
Paint
LOTS of hardware
A rotting old cubby house in desperate need of TLC
- Tools:
Shovel
Thicknesser
Circular Saw
String Level
Mitre Saw
Drill/Driver
Hammer
Painting Materials
- Step 1:
Site Prep: I had to make sure that my site would stay dry during heavy rain as this area typically gets about an inch of standing water coming from the neighbor's property. I installed a french drain with corrugated ag pipe and hooked it into my existing underground 90mm drainage. A year later I have had no drainage issues thus far.
- Step 2:
Dismantle and move the cubby house: Step two was to actually get the cubby house to my property from my neighbor's driveway. It has been sitting at least 10 years in his driveway under a pile of junk. He was storing it for his grandchildren and never got around to restoring the cubby house. He reckons it was originally built in the early 2000s by a retired chippy and got quite a bit of use before it was parked in his driveway and left in the elements. I thought it would take at least 7 or 8 strong people to move, so I opted to dismantle the entire house, piece by piece and carried it all over myself.
- Step 3:
Building the base: I thought it would be fun to raise the house on "stumps" like a Queenslander style house. This step took me the longest and I'm not entirely happy with the direction I went. If I could do this part again I would NOT set the legs in concrete, but rather I would put them in stirrups. I found getting them exactly square was extremely challenging, and due to my base being slightly out of square it added many challenges further down the line all the way up to rebuilding the roof.
- Step 4:
Restore the veranda: The veranda was looking old and tired and some of the upright pieces needed to be replaced. However, the hardwood decking looked incredible after running them through the thicknesser and then bull-nosing the edges. Lots of work but the end result was worth it!
- Step 5:
Walls up and fresh paint: After the veranda putting up the four walls was very quick. I didn't get great photos of this step as I was flat out, but walls and roof went back together without too many issues. A fresh coat of white paint helped clean everything up. Most of the timber was still in great shape, but the few pieces I did need to replace stuck out like a sore thumb. So, the whole house was repainted to look brand new.
- Step 6:
The fun stuff: No elevated cubby house is complete without a slide! I also added stairs and started framing in the sandpit on the side of the cubby house.
- Step 7:
Admitting mistakes: I had to swallow my pride and admit that my original mulch layout was not the smartest idea. My mother in law stated that she didn't think it was safe to have the wooden edging so close to the exit point of the slide and maybe I should cover the entire border with padding…instead I decided to move the edge of the play area much further out to give a proper landing pad away from the hard timber edge. I did decide to use AI image generation to scare her with a proposed "spike pit" as an obstacle course for my son. She didn't find the humour in this.
- Step 8:
Finishing touches: A cover built for the sandpit, new fascia around the roofline, and some rubber gym mat tiles for flooring. And now, the cubby house is officially open for business!
