Grinder Playhouse

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Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide Volume 11, the blue covered book!

Way back in the early 60’s my dad bought a set of encyclopedias and for buying the set he received a free set of Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide.

I think he wanted the Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide MORE than the encyclopedias!

I know I was interested in the Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide MORE than the encyclopedias.  Especially volume 11 the blue covered book.

Why?

Because it was the “PH” through “PL” volume with “PLAYHOUSES!”

I came across the complete set at our local thrift shop a couple of days ago.  I haven’t seen the set since I was about 9, but I automatically reached for blue covered volume 11.

I always dreamed of building a playhouse someday!

That someday has arrived!  Although it’s not at all what I dreamed about.

Warning; this is going to get yucky!

We have a grinder in the middle of our front yard.  What’s a grinder?  It’s like a garbage disposer for the sewer!

Told you it was going to get yucky!

Everyone in our neighborhood has a grinder.  For some reason the pipes in our neighborhood are small and the sewer has to be ground up to keep from backing up.  Most of the homes have their grinder on the side of the house.  But for some reason the builder of our home thought it would look lovely smack dab in the middle of the front yard!

Over the 8 years of living here we have tried to hide it.  Mike planted bushes to hide it from the street.  I painted it to match the gravel.  Our neighborhood in the mountains of Arizona does not allow beautiful lush soft green grass.  Which I understand, water is precious everywhere.

But from our front porch, where we spend 3 seasons out of the year, we get to look down on our grinder!

If that were not bad enough, we have a box on the side of the front porch, well hidden from our view, with a red light on top.  The red light flashes when the grinder has a issue!

Flashes for all the neighborhood to see!

Nothing is like getting a call from a neighbor saying, “Your grinder light is flashing!”

When that happens, it’s a call to the plumber and an eight hundred dollar bill!  Unless the grinder is about 5 years old and it needs to be replaced.  I’m thinking it was the plumbers that decided to use a small sewer pipe for the neighborhood in the first place.

Oh, by the way there is no smell from the grinder…unless you’re fixing it or replacing it!

Phew!

So here’s my grinder playhouse fix.  A wooden box with a little door just for looks.  This is not going to be a tutorial on making a grinder playhouse for two reasons.  Number one; most of you lucky people don’t have grinder smack dab in the middle of your front yard.  Number two; this was a fly by the seat of my work pants kind of build.  I measured the grinder and made a box outta scraps and put a faux door on one side just for a little detail.

I did want the roof to have a bit of detail and had no idea how to get the shape I envisioned.   I built the middle up to the height I wanted and then measured what I thought would be the general shape of the roof.  As you can see, I was off a bit…

okay, a lot!

So I grabbed my jigsaw and simply cut down the line I wanted though both sides a the same time.

Not too bad!  I’m giving myself a pat on the back.  My fix took 15 minutes to get the roof line I envisioned.

Happy dance! /\ /\ \/ /\\/

Here’s my grinder playhouse in place!  The view from the front porch improved!

The little door serves two purposes.  One a little detail to view from the porch and…

to mess with Bella!

Several years ago I made a little door and two windows for a tree in the backyard.  While working in my little workshop I started noticing Bella would be standing at the little door.  Standing there like she was waiting for someone to come out.  How cute is that!

I want to see if she does the same with the grinder playhouse!  Heh, heh!

I think my next project should be refreshing Bella’s little door and windows for spring!

Here’s the grinder playhouse from one side of the street.  I love the way it’s tucked into the bushes.

Oh, the butt on the right in the picture above is our elk in the front yard.  Ever paint an elk?

I covered the roof that I was so proud of with 5 by 7 flashing sheets and added a cupola.

It’s not the playhouse from Popular Mechanics Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide, but someday.

When I do build it I invite you over for tea and cookies. 😀