Anyone built a tree house?

[electricd]

Hello,

I have a 3 year old son who loves the outdoors.  I also have a HUGE (read 60-foot) chinese elm tree in my back yard about to get "Topped".  I would like to top it all the way down to about a 10-foot "stump" which would be about 4 foot in diameter.  My question is, can I attach a tree house to that stump using the flat surface of the stump as a base and then just lay floor joyces (sp?) on top of it?  Never built a tree house, and want to make sure I do it right and make it look good so the wife is happy as well.  Thanks in advance!!

ED7

[crashwg]

Joists!  Some will argue that I'm sure, but joists is plurral for joist as nails is plurral for nail!

Can ya tell I've been annoyed by that before? 

As for your question, it's not the way normally done but I'm sure it'd work.  What you should do is find a couple or three sets of branches that are semi-parallel you can atatch two or three joists to and build off of that.

Something like this...

[Ed_McCarron]

4' diameter?  You could probably build an 8x8 platform on top - it'd only cantilever 2' on each side.  To be safe, run diagonal braces from the floor frame back down to the trunk at a 45 degree angle.  Lag bolt into the tree w/ at least 6 or 8" lag bolts.

Its your kids up there.  Overkill is best.

[electricd]

Thanks for all the good advice!  Will this tree stump eventually die or what?  I mean how long will this treehouse be safe  up there if built correctly? 

[Ed_McCarron]

Eventually, sure, the tree will rot.  If its a dense wood, hopefully your kids will be in college before this occurs.

Theres dead trees at my parents house that I used for tree houses as a kid.  I'm 34.  The trees are still pretty solid.  Your milage may vary - just check the sturdyness of the thing every now and again.

[Stingray]

I have dead trees on my property that were dead when I bought it almost 11 years ago that are still standing.

-S

[electricd]

Awesome...Im not much of the outdoorsman, but I think a tree house would be something great that we can both enjoy for a long time.  I have him playing pacman now, so maybe I will put a little bartop arcade in there.  I have been looking for an excuse to build one for a LONG time

[hypernova]

Good luck running electricity up there!

[electricd]

I thought I would just put a socket somewhere and then use an extension cord.  Don't want the city to think its not a "temporary dwelling"...last thing I want to do is pay taxes on another dwelling!

[SithMaster]

make it with an escape hatch and maybe a zip line.  yeah that would be kewl.

[97thruhiker]

Wow! a topic on this site that I actually have professional training in.  I'm a forester by profession, went to the University of Florida and got a degree in Forest Resources and Conservation.  You should be fine building the tree house as long as the bole of the tree is currently in good shape (no major rot / animal holes / etc).  The tree stump will lose some of its density over time as it slowly dries but should be structually sound for many years (at least as long as they would have interest in a tree house).  As someone previously mentioned go overkill on the construction considering your kids safety is involved.  Here's a link to a stat sheet on this species

http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/ULMPARA.pdf

Heres an example of an old firetower.  Don't think you want to go that extreme for your kids.