Description

Tree houses are fun, bonding activities youcan do with your friends or family, and can provide a unique andideal hangout spot surrounded by Mother nature. One of the biggestdifferences in my opinion, between tree houses and other on-groundadd-ons you can build on your property, is the fact that a house upin the trees sways - to varying degrees depending on the height andsize of the tree and branches - and thus can add a unique andsoothing feel.

There are several prerequisites that must be met before thisparticular project would be considered feasible for you. The firstones are also the most obvious:

Do you have a suitable tree within your property on which youcan construct your tree house? This question may be ambiguous tosome, as what kind of tree exactly is considered suitable? Well,this depends largely on the size of the structure in question, aswell as the expected load - number of people, furnishings, etc. Thelarger your tree house is, the larger your tree needs to be.

How are you with heights? Now is not a good time to kid yourselfor anyone else if you happen to be abnormally scared of heights!We're all scared of heights to varying degrees, but if you lack thecourage or ability to comfortably work at the needed height, thisproject may not be for you. Granted, it can be built relatively lowto the ground as well and still be called a "tree house" - in whichcase, this may not apply.
Now that we have those out of the way, we can get into the otheraspects of building. When compared with a structure on the ground,a tree house may somehow seem like a simpler project due to thefact that some of us have grown up "throwing" little makeshift treehouses up here and there. However, it's important to remember thatany halfway decent structure, whether on the ground or up in atree, requires careful planning and implementation of standardsafety code.

Here are some other questions you should ask yourself beforecommencing the planning stage:

What will I use the tree house for? Depending on your answer,you may want a roof and walls, or you may find it unnecessary. Ineither case, a rail and/or walls at least a meter high isrecommended for safety.

How long do I want it to last? You may think that the answer tothis question is obvious, but you should understand that thelifespan of your tree house depends largely on the materials youuse and the quality and number of layers of your protective stain.Tree houses, by virtue of their definition, stand within and underthe canopy of the tree in which they are built. Because of this,they are more susceptible to premature rot due to the prolongedshade and humid nature of their environment. The fallen leaves andbranches scattered across the deck also serve as decay-acceleratorsunless they are regularly swept off.