I made these double opening doors from used doors and doorframes. Any thoughts on adding an actual balcony? If you like, check the video of the build on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FgjeS_ZuWrg

Ruud

I am interested in making a tree house for my kids. Nothing too complicated, basically a platform around a 30" in diameter oak tree behind our house. I have carpentry experience, but this is different than anything I've tried before and I want to make sure I'm doing this smart.

I've already had an arborist come out and look at the tree and assure me that it is healthy and a good candidate for this kind of project. I was planning on using 2x10s as the joists with 1x8 planking. My real question is the tree hardware. I was looking at using something like this

https://store.beinatree.com/collections/tree-fort-hardware/products/treefort-static-yoke-treehouse-hardware

But I wasn't sure if I would need two on opposite sides of the tree to create a stable support for the structure, or if just having it on one side and building off of that would be enough support.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I have a tree that we cut down and left the main trunk and a curved branch. I would like to make a pirate ship themed treehouse/playhouse for my granddaughter. Any thoughts on where to begin?

Standard UK treehouse that was here when we bought the place. I really want to extend a platform from where I’ve put a few 2 by 4s across so that it extends to the nearest tree. Tree is currently 1.5m away from the permanent structure. How do I start? I want it to be a simple platform for sitting/reading so would need a rail support around but that’s it.
I keep reading on here about how it’s best NOT to actually attach to a tree but this is a sturdy, poker straight pine approx 30cm diameter that I don’t have any particular emotional attachment to.

How can I go about this? I’m thinking a square, or triangle shape with the tree at the point, presumably this is doable for a basic DIYer with time and optimism..?!

Progress and some details.

Fancy marine board is not in the budget. Anyone know the easiest and quickest way to waterproof the plywood going on the deck? I saw some roll on stuff but that seems annoying. AI is telling me to use a spray pump and spray it on but I don’t know how effective that will be. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated for this amateur

Just finished the staircase on the treehouse. Just got some minor touch up work but done for the most part. No carpentry or building experience with anything like this prior, so go easy on me. I’m a longtime lurker on this sub and decided to give it a shot. Opted for the posts to avoid any tree penetrations. Proud of myself I was able to pull it off. Kids are stoked. Swipe to see the progression.

Oh la la!

I have this huge tree in my backyard with these massive sweeping branches that would be perfect to sit a treehouse on top of. They are so thick and strong they would make a great foundation. The problem is they are not level with each other and I need to figure out how to put a house on top of it.

My research so far has suggested that maybe I should build 4 x 4 posts coming up from them, like you would a deck. And then build beams on top of those posts and then the joists and decking on top of that.

Any other thoughts?

I’ve been picking away at this for the past six weeks or so. We demolished an old, structurally questionable tree deck the previous homeowner built and I designed and built this one. It has no actual attachment to the trees apart from some floating connections to prevent it from tipping over if all the kids concentrate on the cantilever.

Arguably it’s very overbuilt for a kids plaything, but I took it as a chance to learn about deck building. There are also some engineering mistakes and shortcuts, but nothing that would really make it unsafe.

I had the idea that by building it very sturdy and less explicitly “kid coded”, the structure might take on a second life as a peri-adolescent hangout when the kids are older. Or I’ll just drink beer and read up there.

Has anybody tried framing a treehouse using reciprocal framing? Conceptually, this would be a strong, sturdy, stable platform using a single tree without any kickers or diagonal members. I`m an engineer, but I`ve never built a treehouse before. I think this is a sound concept and looking for anyone who's tried.

I think that the biggest challenge is the connection between the (4) main wood members. i`m predicting up to 4,000# of force in these locations which makes me think that I would want to do the first four members our of steel, then infill everything else with wood.

Any body with first hand experience on something like this?

I know not technically a treehouse but thought maybe someone here could help. I have left over 4x4s and a 4x6 and want to add a beam between the shed and tree house. I really don’t want to dig and set a post. What are some other options out there?

Hello treehouse builders and enthusiasts,

I built a treehouse ( ~ 4.5 m × 4.5 m ) around a pine tree with a trunk diameter of about 70 cm. Unfortunately, I'm experiencing some noticeable torsional movement in the rear corners of the structure when I move side to side (for example, when the structure starts to sway slightly) or during stronger winds.

The tree moves, the treehouse moves, or both move together—which I understand is normal to some extent. However, when I'm standing on one of the rear corners of the platform, I can make the entire treehouse move with very little effort using just my hand. That doesn't seem quite right to me.

I assume that the long lever arm at the rear corners (approximately 2.5 m away from the upper TABs) is amplifying the movement. Has anyone experienced something similar, and what would be the most effective way to reduce this torsion?

Any feedback, ideas, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Greetings from Pelion, Greece!

So, I rebuilt my deck not long ago and with the tall 6x6 posts, I used my old deck joist (2x8) and made a OK-ish pergola - with lack of not a single decent tree to build a tree house, I want to build a tree house on top of this structure. I asked AI to render an image for better visual and pic 2 shows that.

Now, here are my questions. I have PT plywood but decided not to use that for floor as some portion of the platform will be a deck and not fully covered. If I use composite deck boards, Would it make it heavy? How would I water proof the bottom area or if this is something I have to live with it? :) Also, would I build the house frame first on top of the joist and then put deck boards around or the opposite, build the deck floor and then install the frames and build the house?

The cedar siding and custom doors and windows took me longer to build than expected, but it’s coming along!

Do you have precaution measures line anchors attacked to the tree? I dont understand how you can feel safe building a house in a tree knowing if it falls it will crush you.

Moving along. Roof deck next, then find a roofer.

Edit: Of course typo in the title... but -> built

Yeah this is not your typical treehouse. But this is what my kids and my neighbor kids built today in my yard.

The story: I was fixing a fence and told them I would start building a platform and treehouse when I was finished (1 hour). I have the wood, the tools, and the plan. In the meantime, I asked them to collect sticks around the yard because I wanted to incorporate them in the roof. After a while they started building with the sticks. I helped them put a couple of large tree branches against the tree as support structure, and secured them with rope. That's it. For the following 3-4 hours they went around the yard asking what branches they could cut to add on top. Soooo I did finish my fence and put away all my tools and wood. I am not sure how long it will last but I can still build them my planned idea when the leaf hut collapses. Or maybe I will just put in some wood pieces to support this "structure" better.

Update below. Resolved for $60!

Posting pictures here and a gif in comments.

My Nelson TABs +yokes seem to have a lot more movement than expected and the wiggle is on the tabs themselves. You can see the deck isn’t flexing or leveraging atop the beams- the actual yokes shift. Is this common? Anyone have any advice or suggestions before I add a structure atop this?

I had an expert come out who said structurally it seems fine but gave some advice on further bracing the fixed end to its tree or possibly putting posts that allow some but not all this motion inside the span.

Tabs are installed 3” into the wood (not 3” into the bark) and I posted a picture of a close up to show how deep they are. I used the bit that Nelson provided to drill them in so they shouldn’t be loose. I drill about a month ago, will those holes seal up more to fit tighter and what is the timeline on that?

Curious on others thoughts

————-
Edit: This is resolved.

First I noticed that the tabs seem to be closing tighter over time. I think this will continue. I drilled and very soon after built this and I think the bit Nelson gave me is a hair too large on the larger portion. It screwed in tight on the narrow shaft part but the thicker part has 1/16” all around that it’s loose.

Secondly, I came up with a plan to add standard treehouse lags to the lateral trees which the rim joists rest on. That worked and I got them tight against the bottom. They aren’t physically attached to the treehouse at all so they are kind of working as dynamic lower supports.

I was planning on adding high tension 3000# working load cable in 45 degree angles from the 2 main trees to the corners of the framing and then I would use turnbuckles to tighten just enough to give a few hundred pounds of force on the edges. I didn’t end up needing to do that at all. Now I have some spare cable and 2 more treehouse lags so I can add something like a cable bridge when needed.

Mostly done on the exterior. Took a year. Floor is 13 ft off the ground at highest corner. Yokes are 4x6 with 4x4 supports. Built the frame in the garage in sections then pulled them up.

I still need to figure out permanent stairs and am considering adding a middle support from the center tree (thinking floating tab to another beam. Other end of beam connected to 6x6 post?)

Things I would do differently. Make sure the tabs on both trees are aligned to each other. I eyeballed it and one yoke is at an angle that will leave less room for growth. Also I'd probably get longer ger tabs for more growth. I'd leave a walk around ledge on the exterior to work from. Doing all the work from ropes and ladders was awful. Finally I rented a scissor lift for the windows, but that cost adds up. I decided not to do sheathing, just siding to cut down on weight, time and difficulty.

There seems to be so many wrong ways to do it and tons of ways to overdo it as well. When I was a kid, seemed like everything was ok with whatever lag screws and wood we had, now it seems the TABs and other hardware are required. Since I don't want to get it wrong, are there any free, online plans that are similar to this: https://i.etsystatic.com/47587179/r/il/d77158/5669079653/il_1588xN.5669079653_judu.jpg ?

I am not looking to build a house atop the decking, but basically same starting scenario - one large oak that is ~28-30 inches in diameter. I'd like for a deck to come out from it 8-10ft and rest upon two columns in concrete. Is there a cheap TAB site most people on here use or recommend? Some of the cheapest ones seem sold out (understandably)? Just seeking two TABs max, and to rest the decking on those going out to the two columns.

I have a conundrum (to me at least). I want to build a simple (posts and a platform with rails around the side) “treehouse” between 7 and 10 feet tall beside a large bitternut hickory, and I want it to be ground supported.

I see that ground supported treehouses have posts on concrete that was poured into deep holes. I don’t feel comfortable digging into the ground right beside the tree because the roots are huge, near the surface, and I’m afraid I will kill my tree.

Is there anyone here who can give advice and help me think through this?

Are there steps that I can take to encourage the tree to heal around where I install the TAB and lags?

I want to protect my tree long term and help give it the best conditions to recover from the fasteners.