Raise Me Up!

Those 3 words always make me think of Joshie Groban's amazing song You Raise Me Up.  Oh and yes I know his name isnt Joshie but thats what I like to call him around the house because he's so cute like a little boy he is just Joshie...dont judge :)

I have a great project to share with you today!  This one has been on the list for a while because, well the materials had the potential to be expensive.  Lucky for us we were able to scrape together all the supplies and not have to spend a single penny.  So this project is technically free, but if you had to buy the materials I would guess the total to be around $100.

This past weekend we built a platform for our media room.  The platform is so that we can have 2 rows of seating, with the back row able to see over the 1st rows heads.  First we had to measure the space, so length and height was easy.  Height needs to be the same height as a stair which is 7inches (FYI) and the width was wide enough to walk around on one side and even with the column in the room on the other.  The width and length will be specific to your room requirements but the 7inches is kinda standard.  For the width I sat in my popisan chair (from pier 1...i love that thing) and Joe measured to about where my feet stopped.  That way I can sit in the chair without kicking the chair in front of me, smart right?!  Because lets be honest, aside from someone talking on their phone during the movie, the second worst thing is being kicked in the back of the chair.  Always pisses me off.

Now that you have your measurements go and get your materials.

 This wood is framing wood that was leftover from a construction site.  It was really long and that was great since when we got it we didnt know what our final measurements would be.  You can use regular 2x4's or whatever length you need...I havent had to buy wood like this in a while so I forget how they come.

You will also need sheets of plywood.  1inch thickness is the best since you are going to be walking/sitting/standing on this wood and you need it to be a little sturdier than other projects.  This was also leftover from the site and let me tell you this stuff is heavy so be prepared to have a helper so you dont kill yourself.  This will also be the more expensive part of the project.  My dad who does small time carpentry says this stuff is about $40/sheet (you can see why we were putting this project off since we needed 2 sheets).  Make sure you get enough for your dimensions, and for us that meant 2 sheets.

You will also need carpet if you want a finished look, or you can put a rug down or you could just stain it.  That part is really up to you.  Again, at a different construction site, we found a whole roll of carpet in the trash pile...well baby it was the exact same color and texture as our carpet so we snagged it!  Awesome right?!

Now I bet you want to know how to put it all together right.  Ok.  So first you need to build the frame.  That part is pretty easy, you are just going to make a box with your framing wood.  Oh and to make things easier on yourself you probably will want to use a nail gun for this since you are going to have to hammer really deep on this part.  Of course if you are Hercules then no big, but most of us arent so the nail gun is probably best.

After you get the frame done you need to add support beams down the middle and down the length so that it doesnt cave in on you.  Im not calling you fat, but we all could use a little support you know :)

Oreo had to make sure the boys were doing what they were supposed to be doing.  Dont ask me why the boys did the supports the way they did, if it was up to me there would be the 2 long ones going the whole length and 3 more going down the width, but no one asks the wife so I just let them be since they are making this monster.  If you want to have this as a permanent structure screw the platform into the floor.  To do that at the edges screw a screw in at an angle so that it goes through the wood and into the floor as well.  Make sure the supports are nailed in really well also and now you are ready to add the top.

Probably the easiest part...put the plywood on top of the frame and nail it down.  You might have to cut one of your pieces of plywood like we did here but thats not too bad if you have a circular saw.  Make sure when you are nailing you are nailing into the support wood and not into nothing because that would be pointless.

Are you ready to carpet that bad boy?  Looks pretty cool right.  Cant even tell that the carpet isnt the same type.  To put carpet on lay the carpet out over the platform and line it up evenly.  Start stapling with a staple gun being very careful to staple as close to the bottom as you can so you cant really see the staples.  When you get to the edge curl the bottom and cut it a little past the edge so you can squish the edge behind the next edge you are going to work on.  make sure you pull tight as you go and do the same thing all the way around.  Once you get the carpet night and tight and stapled down you are done!  Of course you could paint or use a rug but thats the last step yay you are done!!  Looks pretty cool right?!  I cant wait to get more furniture up there and start making it look like a real media room.

What did you work on this weekend?

Project Housewife Out!

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