The Tree House Builder's Blueprint For Success

These days, the news can be depressing, and many people are turning to hobbies and entertainment for a distraction. Instead of consumption, the emphasis has recently turned to creation. Are you looking for an escape? Why not build a tree house? The benefits are twofold: You can indulge your creative side and leave your worries behind while erecting a safe haven for your child - or for your inner child.

"Tree houses are growing in popularity and in numbers," said Robert Miskimon, author of The Complete Guide to Building Your Own Tree House: For Parents and Adults Who are Kids at Heart. "It is possible to build a functional tree house with the barest of materials - including materials you can find and reclaim."

Tree Blue

Building a backyard sanctuary can be a special project to share with your children. Stimulate their creativity and get them outdoors with the added benefit of increasing quality family time.

But tree houses aren't just for kids anymore. Adults are getting in on the act, too - take Corbin Dunn, 31, an Apple employee who took up a permanent residence in a tree house in Santa Cruz, California five years ago.

Would you like to create one of these sky-high getaways but don't know which nail to hit first? To get started in designing and building your ultimate treetop haven, follow these seven basic tips:

· Use new wood for support beams: These are probably the most crucial structural and safety components of your tree house. They must be of good quality wood and adequate size to suspend the weight of your structure. Avoid knotty pine because of its reduced load-bearing capacity.

· Carefully check recycled wood: Often, it is the interesting and odd-shaped pieces of found wood that give a tree house its own personality and appearance. But when it comes to recycling old pieces of wood for structural members, you should carefully examine them before usage. Scrutinize the wood for any evidence of decay, rot, insect damage, or cracks.

· Avoid bolting support beams directly between tree trunks: Even at lower levels, large trees can experience substantial movement in strong winds, causing the bolts to snap. The better way to attach beams is by using a flexible joint at one end to allow the structure slide, rather than shear, in that situation.

· Use large bolts, not nails, for support: A single, large lag bolt at each attachment to a tree not only causes less damage to the tree but also provides more structural support. Check support ratings for the lag bolts, and overbuild every joint to support three times the estimated weight of the structure with people on it.

· Do not tie ropes, straps, or cables around the tree: These will eventually strangle the tree and cause it to die. To allow for tree growth, provide a 2-inch gap around the tree if it will pass through the floor and a 3-inch space it if passes through the roof. Observe the behavior of similar trees in windstorms to get an idea of how much sway you need to compensate for.

· Build your tree house in sections on the ground and hoist them into position: This is important from both a safety and convenience standpoint. Involve the kids here - have them hoist built pieces up using a rope and pulley.

· Use diagonal braces to provide the greatest amount of support possible: That is because of the inherent structural strength of a triangle compared to a square or rectangle. Once you have aligned the beam and brace over each other, make a notch on the underside of the beam using a jigsaw, place the beam in the notch, and screw or bolt the beam to the brace.

The Tree House Builder's Blueprint For Success

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