Building A Tree House
Use the Right Materials
The framing of the treehouse needs to be treated the same as any exterior deck or structure. Use treated framing material, utilize structural plywood where you can and chose cladding that will keep water out and protect the structure from rot.
Support the Tree House
Prior to building your tree house frame and tree attachment, there are two things to consider with tree houses are:
- Tree grow
- Trees move in the wind [sway]
Trees Grow
The tree you are using will NOT stay the same forever. The trunks and branches will continue to grow.
Trees Move
Don’t bolt beams directly between thick trunks. Tree trunkscan generate immense pressure near the ground when the wind moves the branches higher up. When a tree moves thousands of pounds of force is generated and can easily shear nails, screws or bolts. If you bolt a treehouse support beam between two trees, you’ll run the risk of the bolts snapping in strong wind.
We were curious to see how much our trees moved in the wind. Prior to building we held a 16-foot straight edge and level at the base of the tree on a very windy day.
At 8-feet up the tree moved ½” and at 16-feet it swayed 1-inch plus. The funny part was this movement was invisibly to the naked eye.
