How to Build a Tiki Hut With Palm Leaves
Whether you're throwing a tropics-themed party or simply love the Hawaiiana decorating style, you must have a tiki hut. Typically made of bamboo supports, light woods and leafy thatch with ceramic tribal masks hanging from the rafters, tiki huts have been around for decades as bars serving cool, tropical drinks, theme pool houses for storing inflatable toys and as tropics-theme saunas and steam rooms. Tiki huts are fairly easy to build, take down and move. You can also create a permanent tiki hut by putting a stone or concrete foundation beneath it or by building it on sturdy ground. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Bamboo rods
- Hammer
- Nails
- Saw
- Twine
- Scissors
- Pre-woven thatch
- Tropical tapestry
- Tiki house decorations
- Battery or kerosene lanterns
Instructions
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1
Cut six bamboo rods into 7-foot pieces and pound them into the ground in a circle. You can either dig small holes or simply drive them into the ground if the soil is soft. Pour some concrete into the holes around the bases of the rods for a permanent structure or pack the soil firmly for a temporary one.
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2
Measure the distance from the bottom of one bamboo rod to the top of the rod next to it. Cut 10 rods that match this measurement and tie them between the upright rods in large X's, then nail them into place. You may remove the twine or leave it for looks. One space between the upright rods should be left empty. This is the door.
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3
Purchase lengths of pre-woven thatch. It comes in long strips for walls and woven circles for roofs. Nail lengths of the strips to the bamboo rods, starting at the bottom and working your way up. The thatch layers should overlap one another. Cut the strips so the area missing an X remains open.
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4
Spread the pre-woven roof over the top of the structure and tie it in place, then secure it with nails. Use more nails in the bamboo to hang tiki masks, coconuts and tropical flowers. Set several battery-powered or kerosene lamps in the hut for light.
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5
Drive a nail into the bamboo on either side of the door opening on the outside of the hut. Tie a corner of the tropical tapestry to each nail for an airy door. Your palm-tree tiki hut is finished.
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