I have long been planning on building a tent platform at cookout corner. I planned on re-using the pressure treated lumber from the east side deck after it was removed due to re-modeling. There were two 12′ beams made of 3 2×8’s nailed together; lots of 2×8’s for joists and an assortment of decking boards of various lengths. I pulled nails and sorted the wood out by size and dimension.

I bought 8″ concrete blocks for footings along with joist hangers and nails. I decided on the 8″ blocks because I wanted the front of the platform to be raised enough to serve as a seat. It took one evening session to clear an area to the west of and in front of the fire pit and get the frame roughly level.

We had an afternoon cookout on Saturday following Eric’s and Trevor’s soccer game. It was a good opportunity to fasten the frame together, tweak the footings and hang the joists. I managed to get the frame roughly level.

I spent 5 hours on Sunday nailing down the re-cycled decking boards. The platform is 12’1″ in width and I pre-cut 10 boards that went on quickly. After that the work went a little slower as I had to cut two boards to span the width.

The finished platform is a little over 12′ by 12′ and suitable for overnights and some winter camping. A little work remains to bolster the footings.