Just thought I would post what I spent a lot of my summer doing. Wish I could take credit for the original design idea, but I copied this from a web site http://www.danielswoodland.com It is not as easy as you would think to make a lopsided house, seems to come natural to some, but was hard for me. I used alot of leftover scrap wood, but still have about $1000 into it, mostly the cost of the slide at $400 including shipping.
Dan
“Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” – John Lennon
Replies
That's really, really cool! Josh is a lucky kid.
VERY nice ........how the heck did you make the entrance in the tree trunk?
That thing is FANTASTIC! Great work Dad. Tell us more about the tree trunk entrance if you could.
I've always sauid the only treehouse that's done wrong is the one that never gets built.
But Dads like you make the rest of us look bad. (-:
That's a freaking masterpiece. I want one.
I cut out the inside of the tree trunk with a 24" chainsaw, 2 splitting wedges, 1 double jack and 7 hours labor. The hole through the tree is not really pretty up close, but it works. There is a ladder inside the tree and a trap door in the floor of the treehouse. There is also a ladder on the back side of the balcony for those of us that are on the larger size.
Dan"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Dan.... what serves to support the actual house? Are there posts inside of the tree stump as well? Or is the house bolted/lagged to the stump?
Also curious about whether or not that stump has been relocated. What I mean is, did you hollow it out in place and pour that slab around it? Or did you find a nice stump somewhere and hollow it out and set it on the slab? Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I love the design and want to know more.
Did you take any pictures during construction?
I did not take many pictures during construction to help answer the questions that you are asking. The tree trunk was relocated. It is 6 feet tall and about 4 and a half feet in diameter. The hole through the middle is 2 feet square. The door opening is about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide. The concrete pad is 6 inches thick and has 8 inch piers that go down below the frost line, which are located at 4 points around the tree base where the metal straps are achored to the concrete and bolted to the tree. I used about 1 inch of mortor at the base of the tree to have a nice solid base and also to help elevate the tree some to help keep it dry. There are 2 4x4's that are lag screwed to the top of the tree that act as joist for the floor of the treehouse. I used 1 and a 1/4 inch ply for the floor with 2x6 rim joists. After the tree was in place I then place the floor on the 4x4's and the screwed the floor to them.
Dan"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Thanks for the details Dan.... that thing is very cool.
Here are the only pictures that I could find of the tree, I thought I took more during construction, but that might have been with the film camera and the pictures have not been developed. Not for sure, but this is all I could find on my computer.
Dan
"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Awww man... that's awesome. Gorgeous view too. I think I have the same Stihl chainsaw set up for gang-cutting. I'd be nervous making those plunge cuts on the 'top' section. You're obviously a more experience sawyer than myself though.
Thanks for the lesson. Once again... great work.
Thanks to everyone for the nice comments. Luckily the treehouse is kind of tucked away in the back yard and not too visible, so not too many questions or people stopping by. I don't think many of the neighborhood kids have seen it.
The plunge cuts with the chainsaw are actually real easy. I was a little scared of kickback when I first started, but the saw was very controllable. Just go straight in until you bottom out then work the saw down. The only real problem with the plunge cuts is the sawdust/shavings. Instead of sawdust you get long shavings. These shavings want to plug up the blade cover on the engine. Had to stop several times to clean that area out on the saw. To be honest I was extremely uncomfortable making the sawcuts. I have only used chainsaws to cut down trees and then to cut them up for firewood. This was alot different. It took me 7 hours to bore the hole through the tree, most of the time was spent trying to go slow and be safe.
By the way, I cut the hole through the tree and built the treehouse at my Dad's house, he lives outside of town and you can see for miles and miles. After I was done with most of the construction I hauled it to town.
Dan
"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Edited 10/29/2005 12:41 pm by danlott
By the way, I cut the hole through the tree and built the treehouse at my Dad's house, he lives outside of town and you can see for miles and miles.
Great job but that tree apparently didn't come from your dad's woodlot. Kinda heavy to move out there? I saw a similar bole on a trailer yesterday, thought of your project.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
No the tree did not come from my Dad's place. Not many trees around him. But it did come from a little tiny town about 40 miles away. The name of the town is Paradise, I assume it has that name because it is in the middle of the desert and there are trees there. Here is a picture of the tree before it was cut down.
Dan
"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Edited 10/30/2005 4:48 pm by danlott
Well they did a bang up job of building that fence around it!
Doug
Edited 10/30/2005 8:56 pm ET by DougU
Great pic. That your tree house client?PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Yes that is Josh, my little helper. He loves helping me build stuff, hopefully he won't grow out of that too quickly.
Dan"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Geeze, did you get the last tree standing in that area?! Just looks like brush as far as the eye can see in the tree-carving pics.
What'd you use to move that trunk around. Had to have some weight to it.
Oh, and by the by , that treehouse is cool. jt8
"Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. " --Theodore N. Vail
Not many wild trees in our area, but there are alot of trees in the towns that have been planted. This tree happen to be very large and causing problems to the house foundation, plumbing and also the street. I did not get the base of the tree as I had hope, actually got a 6 foot chunk starting from about 8 feet from the base. I moved the tree around with my Dad's 3-wheel "Scoopmobile".
Dan"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
Dan:
That things awesome! You should be really proud. Great job.
BILL
That is great Dan, well done.
I bet all the other fathers in the neighborhood are pizzed at you!
Doug
Did you get a permit?
I don't think I will be moving to Brentwood anytime soon. To answer your question though, I did not get a permit, should not need one in my area for any structure under 120 square feet that does not have electricity. The tree house with the balcony included is under 45 square feet. I also overbuilt it and anchored it very well. Should not have a problem with it and the city, but will find out soon though as I am starting to remodel our bathroom and I will get a permit for that.
Dan"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon