Build your own treehouse
Before you begin
- Seven stage treehouse design process
- Choose your tree for size and suitability
- Books and recommended tools for treehouse building
- Suppliers of hardware, materials, and accessories
- The treehouse year
- Frequently asked questions
- Glossary of treehouse terms
Preparing your design
- Buy detailed plans designed for beginners at Treehouse Guides
- Using Sketchup to convert your treehouse plans into a 3D model
- How to plan the structure and get around building regulations and restrictions
- Avoid causing dangerous and unnecessary tree damage
- How to prune excess branches to make space for your treehouse
- Security techniques to help protect against attack through common weaknesses
- Overview of electrical supply systems
- Arsenic in some treated timber products
- Embedded metal and the problem it creates for future tree felling
- Simple plan to demonstrate a logical build process
Supports and platform construction
- What type of support will I need?
- Types of flexible support
- Building with rigid framed supports
- Building without any trees, using posts
- Fitting knee braces
- Metal brackets
- Using steel cables
- Fixtures and fastenings including treehouse attachment bolts
- Dangerous things to avoid
- Using a force multiplying 'donkey' to easily lift heavy supports
- How to improve the stability of treehouses that move around excessively
- Attaching to non-flat surfaces
Example support layouts
- Single tree with the treehouse surrounding the trunk or offset
- Two trees for reliable and flexible support with full use of the floor area
- Three trees for larger decks and treehouses
- Four trees for extra large platforms
Building the house on the platform
- Framing and building the treehouse walls, roof, doors and windows
- Install a fireplace to keep warm and cosy, including how to mix concrete
- Build a rope bridge for access from a slope or between trees
- Waterproof key areas of your treehouse to protect it from rot