Designing and building a treehouse is definitely a bucket list item. I mean who wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse similar to those inhabited by Ewoks in Star Wars? Inspired by these furry little guys, this post kicks off a two-part series discovering that magical world. No, not the Ewoks, I’m talking about the the world of treehouses.
In this first part we’ll look at how to pick the right trees and how that selection effects the treehouse layout. Then we’ll focus on the support beams that hold everything together, and how they are fixed in a way that causes minimal interfere with the trees natural growth and movement. In Part II, we’ll cover the actual treehouse design itself.
DESIGN INTENT
As Einstein once put it ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’. And that certainly applies in treehouse design, because a treehouse should be anything you want it to be – no matter how silly, unconventional or unpractical. It’s all about channeling your inner child and letting those creative juices run free. It’s about creating your own world up in the trees where you can escape the busy world below. Being in nature has proven benefits for our mental wellbeing, so we want create something that makes us feel like we’re part of that nature. Part of all that calmness and isolation of the forest, rather than just some raised cabin with some trees in the background.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
The most important thing to remember here is that trees are not still, static supports – they move as the wind blows, all independent from each other. They are living organisms that grow over time, in girth and in height. These are all factors that need to be taken into consideration when coming up with a treehouse design.
We can’t force the trees to be still, and it would bad for the tree’s health trying to prevent these natural forces. Not to mention it can have catastrophic effects on the treehouse’s structural integrity. So the main challenge then becomes figuring out how to design a structurally sound support that allows for all this tree movement.
1. TREE & SITE SELECTION
Before we can start designing the support structure, we need to find some trees. We’re not going design a treehouse first, and then go out looking for trees to match that design. Instead, we need to find suitable trees first and let them dictate the type of treehouse we can build. Not all trees are created equal, so there are few things to look out for. As a rule of thumb, spanning multiple trees with beams is easier than trying to build a large structure in a single tree.
We want to pick the strong and healthy trees. The bigger the better really, as they’re generally stronger and move less. Also, the better we understand the environment where we want to build, the better chances we have of completing the project successfully. So it might be worth calling an arborist, or a tree surgeon, who can come and verify the health of the tree(s) you’re planning to use. They’ll be able to confirm if that particular tree, or trees, are structurally sound to build with. As a guide, some of the ideal (and not so ideal) trees are listed in the table below.
Another site consideration is to figure out just how practical it is to build on. Remember that there has to be access to the site, to unload and move materials, and to be able to work at heights. We also need to think about how the finished treehouse design will interact with its surroundings. For instance, any possible neighbours may not be so ecstatic about a backyard treehouse if it ends up blocking their evening sun.
So we need to ask ourselves which views do we want to capture? Can we make use of the sunlight to keep the treehouse warm? Or do we want to use shade from the surrounding trees to keep it cool?
2. TREEHOUSE LAYOUT
Next step is to draw up the treehouse layout. It all starts with a rough sketch of all the trees and their major branches on site. Then we’ll take out the tape measure (or preferably a laser measure) and add measurements as we work our way through. The dimensions required include distances between the trees, as well as the tree trunk diameters. The final sketch will look something like the drawing below.
These distances between the trees will tell us how long our support beams need to be. There are quite a few variations you can fix these beams to the trees. As long as they provide enough support for the treehouse and allow for the movement in the trees, it doesn’t really matter which option you go for.
So what about the height? Well, we could build our treehouse at almost any height, but just remember that the higher you go the more the trees will move. As a general guide, 3 to 6 meters (or 10 to 20 feet) is considered a safer and more enjoyable height to build a treehouse. And let’s not forget – when working at any height, safety should always be number one priority.
3. TREE GROWTH
Trees grow in two directions: upward and outward. Upward tree growth only happens at the tops and tips of the trees. Meaning that a treehouse will stay at the same height even when the trees grow taller. Which leaves us with the outward growth – the increase in tree girth. So how do we make sure the tree doesn’t just push our support beams out as it grows over time?
At this point, let me introduce you to a piece of hardware called the treehouse attachment bolt, or TAB. These TABs are designed to allow for increases in tree girth. As the tree grows, it will grow around the TAB, rather than pushing the piece of hardware of out the tree.
So eventually the tree will swallow up the TAB and start pushing the beam outward along the shaft. This swallowing up process is also known as growing reaction wood around the perimeter of the boss. This is the tree’s own natural defence mechanism as it seals off the possibilities of diseases and fungus infiltrating the tree.
4. TREE MOVEMENT
The TABs will let the trees grow in girth, but what about the swaying in the wind? All trees move to their own, regardless of how other trees are moving around them. So we need to allow for this independent tree movement and not try to rigidly fix trees together with beams.
As you might expect, there is a specific piece of hardware designed for this very purpose – called the dynamic uplift arrestor. This fixing will allow us to safely connect a beam to more than one tree while still allowing for lateral movement. It also prevents vertical movement of the beam. The purpose of these fixings is that they allow the beam to stay pretty stationary while the trees move in the wind.
The TAB will slide back and forth within the slot, but the dynamic uplift arrestor stays still. This is because there is a piece of UHMW fixed within the slot. UHMW is basically a plastic pad that allows the beam to slide on top of the steel bolts.
And remember, the higher we build, the more tree movement we need to account for. The maximum movement allowed by a large dynamic uplift arrestor is 14 inches (roughly 350 mm). If too much tree movement becomes an issue, TABs can also be used to hang loads.
5. THE DYNAMIC TRIANGLE
Finally, we can add some extra strength to the fixings by introducing a cable suspension assembly to the end of the TAB. This combination is also known as the dynamic triangle – and is shown in Fig. 9 below. First, a K-nut is threaded onto the end of the TAB after the timber beams have been installed. Then a turnbuckle is used to connect the K-nut and a cable sling, which is then anchored into the tree with a lag screw. The slack from the cable sling is then removed by turning the turnbuckle by hand.
CONCLUSION
So that’s it for the first part of the tutorial. You should now know the basics of mapping out a treehouse layout, and be familiar with the different beam fixtures. Allowing for tree moment is the main lesson to remember here. Over time, the beam positions with respect to each other will change so that’s why the beams can’t be rigidly fixed. Otherwise something’s got to give – and it’s usually the treehouse structure!
If you want to learn more about the topic, I’d recommend getting your hands on Pete Nelson’s Be in a Treehouse. It was by far the most useful practical guide I came across while researching for this project. There are plenty of good books that have cool projects for inspiration, some of which I’ve linked in the references. You can also check out some TAB installation tips on YouTube.
In the next next post we’ll focus on the treehouse design itself, with its rope ladder and all. In the meantime, if you have designed and built a treehouse before, or have any questions or comments, please let me know in the comments below.
REFERENCES & FURTHER READING
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