2019
At three years of age, playing in the sand pits of local parks was quickly becoming one of my son's favorite outdoor activities. Instead of driving him out to the parks every time, my wife asked me to design and build a sandbox of his own for our back yard. Upon accepting the request, we agreed on a $150 budget, and I got to work.
CAPABILITIES USED
Design, Engineering
CAPABILITIES USED
Design, Engineering
As usual with just about any new home project, I made a trip to the local Home Depot store where I picked up several basic materials.
- Plywood sheets for the base and roof
- 2x4's for the roof support
- 2x10's for the side walls of the box
- Polycarbonate corrugated roof panel for added roof durability
Here the base of the sand box (Sand Containment Unit) has been assembled using one square sheet of plywood and four 8x10" pieces. My wife took a break from her important duties in the kitchen and stepped outside to check on the progress.
Using the Sand Containment Unit as a guide, I attached the four 2x4" boards into the corners for the plywood roof on top. I cut the two front 2x4's slightly shorter to create a slant in the roof for the rain to easily come down from. In Seattle, precautions from rain are always necessary.
I attached the protective polycarbonate roof panel using short .5" screws and the structure was put in its rightful place.
For the next step, we needed the primary ingredient for our engineering project. Sand! After another late event trip to Home Depot, we returned with our supply of play sand. The quantity was obviously perfect as my son approved it with a thumbs up. 👍
Before dumping in the sand, I decided to give Sandy Box a quick paint job for a bit more weather proofing and visual spice. My son was eager to do a quality assurance play test.
Realizing that the roof was a bit short, causing rain to drip on the storage panel below, I decided to extend it further by adding another row of roofing panels.
After noticing the large quantity of toys everywhere, I quickly realized that some kind of storage system was necessary. Another 2x4", which I painted to match, and simple storage hooks would get the job done.
The storage system definitely helped to minimize the chaos.
Here, finally, we have the completed Sandy Box and a very satisfied little customer. The entire project took two days to assemble and fit well within the $150 budget. Happy digging!
