A Couple Of Tree House Building Pointers...
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| A monk's tiny tree house- with permission from the publishers |
This one's been featured in one of Pete Nelson's tree house books, and in another one or two, and I've always loved the look of it. Note the very simple stairs, the roof hatch, and beneath the cabin, what I imagine to be a storage bin, accessed through a floor hatch within the hut. I've looked for more info on this little shelter time and time again, but never can find much- just that its in the Berkshires in MA (and debatable, from sources, at that), part of a monastery retreat that used to feature/house a few dwellers and tree houses, and that as of more recently, only one man was left at the compound, and he only used this place occasionally. Man, I'd love to visit.
WHAT I WOULDN'T DO (as I've built a half dozen tree houses or so): It looks like the support girders are merely 2 by 4's, probably not treated ones too (although you can get away with that in some cases/applications). I see that they've backed up each attaching point with a 2 by 4 scrap beneath it (a good idea)- but again, I'd use something heftier, and would use carriage screws or bolts, not mere nails (they're bound to eventually pull from their anchored positions).
Two of the trees they've built off look about only 4" or so in diameter too- which I'd stray from, if possible- although, they are two of four trees holding this place up, so in that case, its probably fine, and perhaps we're dealing with a very petite monk here.
If possible, I personally TRY to only use trees that are 10" in diameter, but in some cases you're forced to work with what you're given.
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
