The Tree House

Well, it started as an idea before our children were even born. Like any young boy, I had always wanted a treehouse and as a father I wanted that dream for my children. Five years ago we started talking about building a tree house, but lacked the space and trees for the project. A year ago, we purchased a new home on an acre of ground. There were several mature trees and my children reminded me of the treehouse idea. About a weeks ago I scrounged up some of my scrap wood and began constructing a rudimentary frame for the structure on one of three large maply trees in a triangular pattern in the back yard. After getting some of the lumber up, I realized that I had a definite safety concern with using these old 2"x4"s. I quickly scraped this idea deconstructed the frame and went to Menards for some treated 4"x4" posts and 2"x6" lumber. As of yesterday, May 31, 2008, I have three sides of the main supports up. I used 7/16"x6" lag screws to attach the the first 2"x12" support in place and attached the 2"x6" frame rails to the 4"x4" supports with 7/16"x6" carriage bolts. I still have to put the last two pieces of framing onto the tree and connect with the rest of the framing. Everything should move fairly smoothly after this as I can get the floor down and have a firm platform on which to work.

At this point, it appears that the bsae floor plan will consist of a 10' x 10' "L" shaped area with a small front porch and nook. Once the floor is down, I will be able to visualize it better. The front porch will have 2 exit points with a 4"x"4 roof support on the corner. I will probably keep the porch secured until I can finish the rest of the plans. I am thinking of two smaller tree houses on the adjacent trees with a cable walkway running between them. The entire "village" will be in a triangle shape. One of the other houses will probably be nothing more than a look out tower.

Pictures of the construction process will be forth coming.