How to Build a Treehouse Part 4: Finishing Touches

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Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…how to finish your treehouse.

What, you haven’t all been waiting for this?  Well, I know at least a few of you have since I’ve gotten several emails recently begging for us to finish up the series so they can see the final product.  Here it is folks:

 

The fun part is that there are 2 levels to this, but the top one is totally hidden in the trees, just adding to the fun and adventure!

 

In case you missed it, you can find all the parts of our treehouse series here, here, and here.

At this point, most of our tips will be pretty straightforward, but things we noticed made a difference.

1.  When installing your decking, make sure to use deck screws.  Although these cost a little more than regular screws, the money is well worth it.  They are stronger, go in easier, last longer, and the heads won’t strip.

2.  Walls:  COnsider having your main support posts also double as wall posts.  Walls can easily be made of plywood or strips of lumber.  We used the same 2×6’s that we used on the rest of the treehouse since we got a little carried away at Home Depot and bought too many.

3.  Rails:  When installing your rails, make sure you have them high enough that your kids can’t just lean over a little and flip over.  This is high up in the air so use some common sense.  Make sure that there is some sort of side on your rail as well.  We chose to do a cargo-next style of rope that we tied together.  While not as secure at trapping kids in (I mean this is a treehouse afterall…where’s your sense of adventure…) it looks awesome!

4.  Ladders.  Don’t forget you’ll need some way to get up.  We used steep stairs for one section and boards into the tree for another and we love both.

5.  Accessories.  Make sure to include your kids in the planning of this.  Ours features a rock climbing wall, hammock underneath (so I can still feel like I’m supervising my kids while I lay down and read) and a bucket and rope to bring things up from the ground.  Other fun ideas are a zip line, telescope, or a fire pole.  Give your kids some freedom with this part and they will undoubtably surprise you with the awesome ideas that they have.

 6.  Get help.  Not only will an extra set of hands make the job go faster, it also makes it more fun.  Unless those hands are little people hands, in which case you can double the fun and quadruple the time.  We were lucky enough to enlist my brothers!

When you wrap things all up, consider staining your wood.  Not only will it make it look nicer, but the stain will also protect the wood helping it last longer.

Now a word on anchors/screws.  I mentioned in the previous post about framing that we used lag bolts a lot.  Our rule of thumb was that we would use those for areas where there is a lot of weight supported or potentially a lot of stress on the structure.  For our rails and walls, we simply used longer screws and have yet to have a problem.

 

Now RUN and go start making your own treehouse this weekend!

About Jessica Averett

Hi, I’m Jessica, a mom of 5 kids and married to my favorite adventure partner. I love to bike, ski, camp and hike. We've visited over 40 countries with our kids, but are equally happy on the road as we are exploring our home state of Utah.

4 thoughts on “How to Build a Treehouse Part 4: Finishing Touches”

  1. I am building a tree house for my kids and would love to use the rope railing system you have in the pictures. The only thing is I have no idea how to even start tying those. Could you give me an idea of how to do that?

    Thanks

    J

    Reply
  2. I think lots of professional available in this which always ready to help when any personal express the thoughts to build a tree house. when my kids argues to build a tree house then I get the professional service.

    Reply
  3. Hi! Any advice on how to tie the rope railing. I have been trying to find tutorials online, but have not had any luck.

    Reply

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