Step-by-Step Plan

A treehouse is built with one or more platforms. The simplest type of platform being one with four trees as fixed points. The primary beams are attached to two trees which are parallel to each other. A knot technique called "lashing knot" is used for fixing. From primary beam to primary beam a second layer of beams is laid, which are called secondary beams. These are only fixed provisionally, since a floor layer is nailed over the secondary beams, which finally fixes them. The platforms are surrounded by a two-layer railing, which is also tied to the trees with lashing knots. The roof is created with tent sheets in such a way that it can be quickly lowered during storms.

The trees are not damaged by the construction, because the connections to the trees are made by lashing knots.The knots are described in further detail here. The system is stiffened by the trees as cantilever supports. The trees have defied storm after storm for years, nevertheless the health of the trees should be checked before construction. More about this here. As long as the trees are not thinner than the actual beams, it can be assumed that the trees are sufficiently load-bearing. In addition, the treehouse should not be used during severe storms. The essential and decisive components should be measured in a static calculation. Most important are the components which have the highest span width and the highest load absorption width and thus the highest load. If necessary, the structure can be simplified and reinforced, staying on the safe side so that a simple and generally valid verification can be achieved for such components.

For an optimal execution, it is important to consider many important planning elements: how many people can be used for which tasks, which work can be carried out simultaneously, and which parts of the project require significant amounts of time, such as linking the roofing membranes. In general it can be said that the structure of the process can be more flexible and the participants can be more easily distributed among the tasks towards the end of the building process. At the beginning especially it is important to be able to provide everyone with tasks to create a good work ethic.