Treehouse Fixing Ideas.

[Trainee neophyte]

A point to bear in mind: if you cut the bark of a tree all around the trunk, everything above the cut will die. A steel collar might manage to do this, especially if the tree moves a lot in relation to the house it is supporting.

Allegedly (quick web search because you've got me interested - ymmv) wooden shims can be used to press into the trunk.

The website glosses over this incredibly important step, but hopefully it might get you on a new path. Next question is which wood for the shims? Chestnut?

Edit: always useful to include the link: Building a tree house with a focus on the well-being of the tree – The New Generalist

 

[Freddyjersey2016]

An alternative to stainless steel might be silicon bronze bolts - they use them to attach lead keels to wooden boats. they wont corrode

 

[spanner48]

I built a treehouse for my kids some 30 years ago. It's still there, and the tree is unharmed.

1: See what each tree has to offer in the way of support. I chose a 400-year-old yew, which had divided into three trunks, and perched the - triangular, 5 metre - platform on the branches of all three, encircling the centre.
2: The three outer bearers were carved to - loosely - fit over each branch. Then galvanised steel housebuilding straps were fed round each branch, leaving plenty of room for the branch to grow, and gangnailed to the bearers; NOT to the branch. NO metal of any sort was put into the tree.
3: Then the floor planks [all pressure-treated] were oak-dowelled to the bearers.
4: To give the kids access up the trunk, I bored 50mm holes angled downwards through the sapwood; made 50mm stepping pegs out of some of the smaller, lower branches of the same tree, and hammered them tight into the holes – hoping they would be 'accepted' by the tree as grafts. They haven't sprouted as I had hoped; but they haven't rotted either.
5: Then the Wendy House was bolted down to the floor planks with galvanised coachbolts and nuts.

LEARNINGS:

1: Even 400-year-old trees GROW much more that you expect. The branch straps were filled after 20 years, and had to be relaxed, to stop strangling the branch.
2: Even 400-year-old trees MOVE much more that you expect. We could feel the platform shifting and swaying gently when the wind blew. The over-rigid joints between bearers, and between bearers and floorboards, pulled apart. But the overall structure remained. The platform tilted slightly, as one branch grew downwards; the others straight or upwards.
3: The patch where the bearers rested on each branch had rubbed the bark off the top over a surprisingly long part of the branch; but it was otherwise unharmed.
4: Because it follows the tree's natural form, the platform [and the Wendy House] are almost invisible, even from underneath the tree itself. And completely so, from outside.
5: The kids used to play in when they were young; as a 'parent-free zone' where they could take boyfriends/girlfriends, and smoke, when they were teens; then abandoned it, in their twenties.

We sold the house recently. So now the treehouse is awaiting its next load of kids - hopefully - from the new buyers . . . . .

 

[spanner48]

An alternative to stainless steel might be silicon bronze bolts - they use them to attach lead keels to wooden boats. they wont corrode

Not so. I spent an afternoon hammering the dusty remains of a 30mm marine bronze keelbolt out of the kelson of a 1906 Bristol Channel pilot cutter – it having destannified in the salt seawater. We replaced it with 316 Stainless. But we're still keeping eye on that.

 

[Jester129]

Why have they put the wedges in from the top? Surely it is better to wedge from underneath, where any pressure would press down on the wedge, making it more secure?

 

[stuart little]

Why have they put the wedges in from the top? Surely it is better to wedge from underneath, where any pressure would press down on the wedge, making it more secure?

Wouldn't they be more likely to fall out when the tree moved?

 

[Jonm]

When I was about 9-10 years old I built a tree house in our garden. As I recall the tree had four trunks, I tied two horizontal pieces to the trunks, put timbers across and some corrugated steel on top. Platform was 2-3 metres high and fairly small, about 600 by 900.

I built it with a friend out of materials lying about. Do not recall any parental help.

It did not fall down, would have been there for 12 to 18 months. Cannot recall any photos of it but in the early sixties we did not take many.

 

[Inspector]

Jonm when I was a kid all of us took axes, hammers and saws into the bush behind our houses and made tree houses/forts from scrounged wood, plywood, trees we cut down and held it all up with bent nails we straightened. Some were three levels high with the usual rope swings and home made ladders or we shinnied up the tree, When we were bored of it we knocked it down and built another. We ranged in age from 8 to 12 and none of us ever fell or got cut enough to need more than a bandaid (plaster I think you call them), banged a few thumbs with the hammer though. I can't recall anyone having a parent built tree house or fort. Times change.

Pete

 

[JoeS]

So i went down to my local "go ape" at the weekend and was fairly shocked to see that they don't even bother with any kind of wedges. The platforms are more or less all just wedged using two bits of threaded rebar as the pictures will show. The rules are that only 3 people are allowed on a platform at a time, which suggests that this kind of construction has a weight limit, but to be honest...i think that I'm going to go down this route.

In places where the platforms have been in place for the longest time, you can see that the trees have grown into the two supporting struts.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

I went to this place yesterday with my kids-

https://www.bewilderwood.co.uk/
Some truly epic tree house constructions. What caught my eye were the fixings used. Look like fairly normal construction screws holding up a large amount of weight. I imagine you would need all kinds of inspections to get the insurances to open a place like this so the must have engineered these fixing solutions. Everything felt really safe and secure.
I would strongly recommend this place to any one in Norfolk ( or Cheshire?) looking for a fun day with kids.

 

[JoeS]

I ended up provoking an old ankle injury so wasn't able to even get started on this in the end. Will have to wait until i'm back next year. Sorry to be a tease.

 

[DavidRa]

I ended up provoking an old ankle injury so wasn't able to even get started on this in the end. Will have to wait until i'm back next year. Sorry to be a tease.

And did you start?