exigetastic
Established Member
Some friends of mine sparked off the whole idea of building a tree house, and being a big kid, I just had to do it 
First off was choosing a suitable location. I have few BIG trees, but they were either too high, too near the boundary etc. etc. So I choose 3 smaller trees as the site.
Building a structure over multiple trees has some additional complexity, in that a fair amount of flexibility is needed in the structure to allow for the movement of the trees in relationship to each other.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653252274844210
You can probably pick out the "J" shaped bracket. The point of the triangle is bolted directly to the tree using 20mm stainless steel rod, and the J brackets are bolted to the other two trees, with the 9x2s allowed to slide within the brackets.
On top of this triangle I the base for the floor. Again this needs to allow for movement, so it is only fixed to one of the main support beams.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653329584255586
Decking boards were then layed on top, withe suitable spacing to allow movement.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653544332620530
The final "Base" looked like this
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653582987326226
The rest was a pretty straightforward "shed" built on top of this base
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653595872228130
Finishing touches are a trapdoor (obviously ) and a custom made ladder
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653716131312562
And my favourite part of the project a cunning counterbalance system to allow the ladder to be raised up and under the "veranda"
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653698951443362
All done with ropes and pulleys....
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653668886672258
Obviously not a piece of fine furniture making (my wood butchery skills aren't a patch on some of the beautiful bits I've seen on here) But it was fun planning/ building and my kids love playing in it!
Si
First off was choosing a suitable location. I have few BIG trees, but they were either too high, too near the boundary etc. etc. So I choose 3 smaller trees as the site.
Building a structure over multiple trees has some additional complexity, in that a fair amount of flexibility is needed in the structure to allow for the movement of the trees in relationship to each other.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653252274844210
You can probably pick out the "J" shaped bracket. The point of the triangle is bolted directly to the tree using 20mm stainless steel rod, and the J brackets are bolted to the other two trees, with the 9x2s allowed to slide within the brackets.
On top of this triangle I the base for the floor. Again this needs to allow for movement, so it is only fixed to one of the main support beams.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653329584255586
Decking boards were then layed on top, withe suitable spacing to allow movement.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653544332620530
The final "Base" looked like this
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653582987326226
The rest was a pretty straightforward "shed" built on top of this base
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653595872228130
Finishing touches are a trapdoor (obviously
) and a custom made ladderhttp://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653716131312562
And my favourite part of the project a cunning counterbalance system to allow the ladder to be raised up and under the "veranda"
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653698951443362
All done with ropes and pulleys....
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/exige...photo?authkey=-R6dypqgFHY#5132653668886672258
Obviously not a piece of fine furniture making (my wood butchery skills aren't a patch on some of the beautiful bits I've seen on here) But it was fun planning/ building and my kids love playing in it!
Si
