This particular design requires two or three trees (or branches) in close proximity. It was made over the course of several weekends using new, pressure-treated wood for the support structure and floor and an old fence was recycled for the sides. The roof is a camouflage-pattern tarp. It's not weather-proof, but it stays pretty dry inside: a three-season treehouse, but best for summer! It was made with my 4, 6 and 8-year old children in mind, but has been a hit with visitors of all ages.
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Signing UpStep 1: Pick your trees
There are definite advantages in using more than one tree for your treehouse - the treehouse can be bigger, and you have to use less bracing. The tree(s) you see here (behind the magnolia!) are a very tightly grown group of three trunks - they all touch at the base, and splay out somewhat as they grow upwards. At the height of the treehouse - about 9 ft (2.7 m) off the ground - one pair of trunks are still almost touching, and the other one is about 4 ft (1.2 m) away. This means the design has been based on one for a close-spaced pair of trees, rather than for a group of three. The trees are Garry oaks, and they don't grow much further north than this (southern Vancouver Island), so they grow pretty slow here. A solid gnarly collection of old trees, each about 1 ft in diameter at 9 ft up.
Start by figuring out how high you want the treehouse. 9 feet is exciting for kids but not scary. You can of course go higher, but you'll have to take more account of movement.
Start by figuring out how high you want the treehouse. 9 feet is exciting for kids but not scary. You can of course go higher, but you'll have to take more account of movement.
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Just need the basket with the pulley now, and perhaps a zip line.
All fun stuff. Thanks,
Its just so nice to see that even when others are being rude to you (and thats crazy as it is seeing that your posting a free gide and if they dont like it they can move on) your not lashing out.
Looks to me like your kids have two things to be proud of, a wonderful treehouse, and a dad who acts like a kind and levelminded adult. <3
Three per tree in each board are recommended.
Two would be better than what you have.
The problem with your application is that the trees in high winds can exert a HUGE horizontal torque force on the bolt heads that could bend, tear out, or shear them.
What we did in our very similar situation was to drill several holes (just a bit bigger than the bolt diameter) next to each other in the boards.
ooo
Then we chiseled them out into slots.
(___)
Then added a bolt with a BIG washer in the middle of each slot.
(_O_)
This design allows the trees to move in high winds independent of each other without snapping or bending the bolts.
Also the bolts should NOT be tightened. The washers should be able to rotate. This allows the bolts to move side to side in high winds, and for the whole structure to "give" a little.
If you think of the tree as a huge lever, and the distance the wind can move it both ways, you start to understand the amazing forces at work here.
We love your treehouse.
Come to think of it, we love all of them.
You're right about Step 4.
A foot, yes 12-inches, would be recommended.
Why?
Because that treehouse may outlive all of us.
Because kids will be in it.
Because kids will invite their friends.
Because whole scout troops or classrooms full of kids might descend upon it (both have happened to ours).
Because adults have a habit of frequenting treehouses along with refreshing adult beverages that make them do silly dangerous things. In groups.
So.
I beg you to grab your socket and ratchet set, remove the 4-inch bolts, and replace them with big fat 12-inch galvanized lag bolts.
They're cheap.
It may sound like overkill, but the wind forces on treehouses are staggering, and if a storm weakens them, the next kids who venture up there could be in serious danger.
It is one thing for a kid to fall out of a treehouse.
It is another to have the treehouse fall or fail with a kid inside.
Thanks for considering this.
ricardo
A 12" lag screw would go clear through the tree (especially if I put in 3 per board per tree, as you counsel; that would seriously compromise the structural integrity of the trunk). As for the "cheap big fat lag bolts" - perhaps you can point out a source for the benefit of others? I certainly couldn't find them in hardware stores or even online; the pros have them custom-made.
I suspect you're right about the failure.
I hope you are.
We found huge cheap lag bolts at Home Depot.
Putting a bolt through the trunk shouldn't compromise it's integrity. You'd need to predrill it, and the great percentage of the trunk—excluding the live cambium which comprises the outermost layers—is dead wood anyway.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/text/tree_anatomy.html
Putting two or three bolts in a tree trunk vertically is a good solution if you do not have access to a custom fastener fabrication shop.
And it works just fine if you loosen the bolts annually to allow for growth and space between beams and trunk.
Anyway, thanks - and I can confirm the treehouse is still standing :)
they had a small wooden fence right by a tree and it just so happened a branch and the fence ran paralell so I just added a bunch of boards there as the floor
added a door and after I added a tarp for the roof I was finished
ION (in other news) I can't stop listening to nox hej dunarol