Thread: should i build or not?

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so my wife had a great idea after seeing the columns i made for halloween and now has decided that she wants me to make a gingerbread house using the pink board, only thing is she wants it for her 3 year olds at daycare to do pretend christmas in it and she wants if 4 foot by 4 foot and like 5 1/2 foot tall.....did i just doom myself for making christmas stuff for her since she left me alone for halloween? lol i think so .. but my question would be base no base, wood frame to put pink board on or just glue together -and most of all do you think i could convert all that hard work into a ginger bread house into a halloween prop once christmas is over and what kinda of thing would you use if for, kinda have this small idea brewing of a werewolf like doghouse since i allready have the creature reacher werewolf mask ...let me know what you guys think

If it's going to be for a daycare center my advice is safety first. It must be secure enough that it can take a good deal of abuse... having kids run into it, get toys thrown at it, even having the kids climb on it. It must be safe.

There are tons of ways you could convert it to look halloweeny. Shack, haunted house, dollhouse. You could even do it Hansel and Gretel style and leave it as a gingerbread house.

It could make a nice prop.

I'm with Pumpkin King. My first thought was Hansel & Gretel also. A dual purpose prop. What could be better?

Yeah, add a witch and you've got it!

Sounds like it would be a lot of fun to build and then the chance to re-theme it for Halloween makes it even more enticing.

Because the children will be playing inside it, you're going to have to build it with a sturdy frame. For such a small structure, I'd suggest 2x3's. Unfortunately, because they'll be inside it, you're going to have to finish the inside as well as the outside. Since you hope to re-purpose it, which implies moving it, you're going to need a floor. Because you're putting it on top of a finished floor, I'd suggest a piece of 3/4" plywood for the base. No need to build anything more sturdy. Reinforce the back side with an extra pair of vertical studs, so that later you can use a hand truck to move it. A hole, covered by a piece of styrofoam ducted taped in place from the outside, on either side of those studs would allow you to pass a strap around those studs and the hand truck. With any luck, you'll only need 3 people to move it.