Monday, November 29, 2010

Hangin' Out Pt. 2

So sorry to keep you all in suspense for so long (ha!) ;) I'm sure you're all dying to find out how the hammock stand turned out, right?! Well, when I left off last we were waiting out the rain....

and although we tried to keep the holes from filling up with water by placing plastic tarps around the poles and weighting them down to the ground, this unfortunately did not keep them completely water-free. So after dipping the water out of the holes with plastic cups we were back on track!
















The next steps consisted of mixing concrete and pouring it into the holes, of which i have no pictures.... Guess i was too busy helping Mark with the concrete to take pictures this time! ;) After we let the concrete cure for a few days we then had to attach the long horizontal piece across the top to begin forming the pergola roof. These next pieces -- the horizontal piece and the small pergola slats -- had previously been cut at angles on the end by Mark and stained a semi-transparent Cedar Nautraltone by me.

Attaching these long horizontal pieces to the top of the 6x6 posts proved to be very difficult as they were quite heavy. So to save both Mark and myself from some typical spousal home improvement bickering ;), Mark asked his friend and co-worker, Greg, to come over and help us get this up. Greg and Mark had to hold the board in place with a level on top to make sure it was level, drill holes, and then screw the bolts in place. After this task was done on all 4 sides (one horizontal board on each side of the post) we then placed the perpendicular slats across the board to determine their spacing (Mark had previously figured how many we would need based on the length and he cut and I stained accordingly).
















He fastened the slats to the horizontal board using galvanized L-brackets and screws.

After all of the slats were securely screwed into place and we stained the vertical 6x6 posts and removed the 2x4 supports, we were left with this: 


Not too shabby, eh?! We love it....it's in the perfect shady spot in our yard, right beside our garden. The leaves from the tree on the other side of the fence just barely touch the top of the pergola, creating the perfect relaxing breeze through the trees. Oh - and the blue sock looking thing on our hammock is a hammock cover by the way :) 

Hope y'all enjoyed seeing one of our most recent (notice I didn't say *latest*) projects!

xo, 
The Indecisive Wife

23 comments:

amanda said...

Love this! I wish Brent was a handy man...he can't even hang a shelf, ha, no joke!

Adam said...

I was looking for ideas on making a hammock stand for my yard and stumbled on this! It's awesome and I think I will be incorporating some of your ideas into my design. How far apart are your posts?

Mrhousedad said...

Is there an opportunity to get the drawings of this project? My wife wants to have a hammock by our pool and this is the perfect one.

gh said...

Saw your post on pinterest...beautiful! Wondering if you could post the distance between the posts.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the idea! We were trying to figure out how to place posts for a hammock, so I love your "hammock stand". ^.^ It looks like you placed it too close to the fence, though, unless you're planning on lying on the hammock lengthwise, which is bad for your back (even though most people mistakenly think that's how you're supposed to use them).

JT said...

Based on the design sketch in the first post, the pergola slats are 16" on center. There are 6 slats fully between the posts, so that's 80" (5 x 16"). The first inside slat is 24" from the edge of the horizontal 2x8s, and it's 12" from the center point of the 6x6 posts to the end of the horizontal 2x8s. So there's another 12" from the center of the post to the center of the first inside slat. Adding that to the other 80", we now have 104", or 8' 8" between the posts (on center). Six-by's are actually 5.5" wide, so the actual distance from the inside edge of one post to the inside edge of the other is 8' 2.5".

The height is the only other variable, and that isn't quite as easy. Here's what we do know: the horizontal board along the top is 10'; in one picture, Mark is standing on the first step of a ladder, and if he were standing straight, his head would likely just be touching the bottom of the horizontal beam. The inside area of the posts and beam isn't quite square, so the beams aren't more than 8' 8" tall. If we assume Mark is nearly 6' tall, add a foot for the first step of the ladder, and 7.5" for the height of the horizontal beam (2x8s are actually 7.5" wide), that means there's roughly 7' 8" above ground. That seems right, based on the pictures. So the posts were probably also 10' long, with 28" below ground in the concrete footings.

Thanks for the post - I think this is exactly what I'm going to do to hang my hammock!

FongerB said...

@JT Thank you for doing the math on this one! Much appreciated!

This "beaut" is going in my yard this summer, with some form of cup holder... lol

Anonymous said...

This is what I been waiting for, now to get my husband started on it!

Al Roach said...

Do you have a materials list and measurements.

Thanks Al

roach_al@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I actually built this over the past few weeks in our backyard. The result is awesome! The first night I dug the first 2 posts in, 28" deep, and used 10' 6x6 treated posts, using 4 bags of concrete in each hole and making sure they were leveled exactly. After letting it settle for 2 days, I added the two 2x8x11' rails along the top, which I cut at a 75 degree angle for a slight design on the bottom edge, and connected them to the posts with 3" lag screws, 2 in each corner. From there, I then cut 6 - 3' slats for the top, and spaced them evenly at about 23" across the top rails. Those were connected to the rails using elbow brackets. It is super sturdy and looks great!

Ray said...

Is there any reason not to assemble everything prior to cementing into the holes? Would that be too heavy?

Ray said...

What was the total cost?

Anonymous said...

I finished mine. Came out great. Thanks for the idea. Total cost, including the $50 hammock was around $250. Mine is a bit bigger I think... around 12 feet wide x 8 feet tall.

Anonymous said...

I love this! Can someone tell me where and what hammock that can fit?

Anonymous said...

Where did you get the actual hammock?

Anonymous said...

It looks like a breezy point hammock - I recognize the hammock sleeve: http://www.stayingsharpllc.com/hammocks/

Anonymous said...

Picture please :)

Anonymous said...

great design however I need a few specifics. I'm a novice/over zealous probably new DIY'er and although my husband is wonderful, 'projects" aren't his thing, so I DESPARATELY need a little more detailed info with the MATERIAL list. Please list the LENGTHS and # of EACH item on the MATERIALS list; and the distance YOU used between the two posts. (yes, I just realized if you gave the length of the horizontal boards I could probably figure it out, but who doesn't prefer an exact measure) I know your distance fits your hammock, but I still would really appreciate it immensely if you could share ALL of your "numbers" with me. Thanks so much in advance and again what a LOVELY hammock stand!!

Anonymous said...

Than why dont you do it yourself, sounds like your the joke!

Unknown said...

My comment back from Sept 4th 2014 has all the dimensions on it.

Unknown said...

Hello,

Love the hammock stand and have a custom hammock made from Jamaica and would love to know the height of the eye screws to hang the hammock.

Thank you,
Anxious

Muhibul Haque said...

Hammock is really important thing for better outdoor camping. This kind of post I really like, because helps us to find some good hammock for us.

Anonymous said...

What’s the size of the 6x6 length and. How long u set up the 6x6 from each other?