Fine Tree house Build ing

How to Build the Perfect Treehouse (for you)

Sometimes it's the tree that gives you the idea. You start to notice it in a new way, maybe, you find yourself touching the bark with your hand to feel its texture, maybe you sit on the ground under its canopy and relax a minute, or maybe you even put a tent or a tipi or a picnic table there - but anyway you've discovered a friendly tree on your property, and you've started to day dream about having some kind of structure in it or encompassing it where you can sit or lie. Be clear about why you're wanting a treehouse. Maybe you want a tree house for your child to play in, maybe you want for yourself a quiet cozy retreat, extra office, maybe for a guest bedroom, maybe for a multipurpose space? Treehouse 'bed and breakfast' rentals are even becoming popular with the organic traveling set. Make a list of the attributes that you expect in a treehouse, of the purposes you want to achieve. Study the tree you have in mind. It should be situated to suit your requirements. Maybe you want a private treehouse in your huge secluded and woodsy backyard, but maybe the kids want a treehouse in the front of the house, overlooking the sidewalk, where they can playfully launch missiles at their friends walking by. Talk it over. Then there are height issues, which for parents means needing to keep the treehouse reasonably close to the ground for safety reasons, for the sake of children climbing up to it, or possibly falling out of it, or God forbid somehow climbing on the roof of it, VS wanting to further elevate the treehouse to glimse a view or catch a breeze or maybe just for the thrill of being able to safely hang out in a structure suspended high off the ground. Now consider the tree. Maybe you see a private treehouse in the big oak in the middle of your huge overgrown backyard, but maybe the kids want their treehouse in front of the house overlooking the sidewalk, where they can playfully launch missiles at their friends walking by. Look at the tree that you have in mind. It should be situated to suit your requirements. Maybe there are height issues, which usually means you wanting to keep the treehouse reasonably close to the ground for safety reasons, for the sake of children climbing up to it, or possibly falling out of it, or God forbid somehow climbing on the roof of it, VS some family member wanting to further elevate the treehouse to glimse a view or catch a breeze or maybe just for the thrill of being able to safely sit in a structure suspended high off the ground. Many city zoning departments view treehouses as "accessory structures", which like sheds (check your own local codes!) don't need to follow standard building codes or require a building permit as long the building stays under a certain height (usually top of roof 12-15 ft. from the ground) and is less than 120 sq ft in area (sometimes interpreted to mean floor area, sometimes roof area - again check with your local zoning dept. Sometimes in rural or backwoods situations treehouses aren't covered by any code or law. Even in cities that have tight zoning and building code requirements, treehouse *violations* usually aren't pursued by city officials, unless a neighbor complains that is. For that reason you are well advised to seek the consent of any neighbor whose view or quiet is affected by your proposed treehouse, and bear in mind that your agreeable neighbor's home might be sold one day to a person not so agreeable. A good reason to make your treehouse low-profile, simple and rustic, not overly ornate or attention getting. Okay, for the sake of this article let's assume this treehouse you're building is of moderate size and height, safe for the kids to access, yet easy enough for the adults in the family to enter and read or meditate or nap, yet low-key enough to blend it with its woodsy surroundings, and not raise the hackles of any neighbor or passerby who perchance happens to notice it. Next, budget? Or more to the point maybe, what material do you have to build a treehouse with? Treehouses seem to turn out best when there is an ample stack of salvage lumber, boards and beams, to accomplish the feat. Maybe while the design possiblities are percolating in your brain you can start looking around your neighborhood for the occasional construction dumpsters that appear on the street and usually herald a major remodeling or reconstruction project. Particularly look for old growth redwood, sometimes a 50's era deck developed a weak spot or two and the entire structure gets dismantled and tossed out. If it's in the dumpster it's usually free to take. Watch for nails! If you're going to use recylced lumber for a kids' treehouse interior, you may want to sand it first. Find a way to integrate your extant possibilities with your desires and make it all work out. How about a funky old door? Those get put in dumpsters a lot. Old windows too. Watch for old lead paint on those two items. But mind that regular glass windows can be problematic and dangerous for active children, especially if you're wanting to have a large picture-type window. In a kids treehouse it would be best to go with laminated glass. Laminated glass is two pieces of glass sandwiched together with a special plastic inner layer, which glues them together, stops vibrations, and prevents the glass from breaking into many pieces when it is broken. When it does break, it stays together - like your car's front windshield, which is also laminated glass. Used laminated glass panels are not that hard to find. Along with "tempered glass", laminated glass is a "safety glass" commonly used in some shower doors and sliding patio doors and larger windows. To verify that a salvage door or window contains lamimated glass look in the corners of the glass sheet. You should see a little "laminated" or "tempered" sticker etched or stuck to the sheet. Tempered glass is a safety glass too, but it shatters into thousands of tiny pieces rather easily. You maybe don't get cut up, but you can fly right through it. On ground floors, builders use tempered for extertior windows, on higher floors they use laminated. next segment coming soon Site last updated ... March 4, 2014 Thanks to http://www.favicon.co.uk/ for the free favicon generator.