When I was 5, my best friend moved from my block to a house a few blocks away. I was devastated — until I saw his backyard.
His enormous, grassy yard was perfect for playing games, and three trees were practically begging for a treehouse.
My friend and his dad spent hours and hours working on that treehouse, and I helped a few times when I went over. As soon as it was built, we started spending all our time up there.
It wasn't even an amazing treehouse; just a platform with a railing around it. But it didn't matter, because we loved it.
Kids everywhere absolutely love treehouses. They give youngsters their own space, get them outside, plus, helping with the building process encourages them to work with their hands.
One dad knew for years that he wanted to build a treehouse for his kids. When his son was born, he started planning. Five years later, they started working on it together.
The dad, who goes by ClenseYourPallet on Instructables, shared his work process online.
He began by writing:
The Tree House. What could be cooler to a young boy or girl than a tree house?
There is just something about having a structure in a tree that is really alluring. I remember dreaming about my perfect tree house when I was young.
I came up with all sorts of things that would be included in my tree house like a rope ladder, a pulley for pulling up various treasures, a secrete door that no one knew about but me, and the list goes on and on.
When I did finally build my tree house I was not quite what I had imagined. It was 3, 8 foot boards nailed into two horizontal branches. I LOVED IT!
It didn’t matter that it wasn’t much to look at and it didn’t have all of the bells and whistles that I had imagined. It was mine and I spent quite a lot of time in it.
So when I had my son 5 years ago, one of the first father son actives I wanted to do with him was build a tree house.
I started to plan and slowly but surely I started on our tree house.
To start, he picked out three walnut trees in his yard that would be perfect for a treehouse.
He found a triangle that would work for the base, and created the main frame.
Next, he started building walls on top of the triangular base.
He quickly realized the triangle shape wasn’t going to work, so he built a new rectangular frame to sit atop the triangle.
With the rectangular base, the walls were much easier to put up.
He decided to go with five-foot walls to create a good scale for his kids. He also put in some great windows and a doorframe.
After he put the sheeting on the roof, it was time to put siding all over the treehouse.
Although it wasn’t the easiest step, it definitely gave the treehouse a very finished look.
He built almost everything out of reclaimed and recycled materials, which is why the treehouse looks so rustic.
Even though the house took a long time to build, it was totally worth it in the end.
Would you have loved a treehouse like this when you were a kid?
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