Phase III of Treehouse project complete

 

Phase I - The Idea and the sketch

Phase II - The Blueprint and the Model

Phase III - The Treehouse Structure

Things have gone well so far...

The roof framing for a hexagon was a challenge. A center plug with twelve sides was first cut. This would give each rafter a solid point for attachment. With any roof load pushs out on the side walls. Cables were attached to opposite rafters. This put the cables in tension and help take the outward thrust forces off the walls.

Picture of roof frame from above with the rafter framing done.

Looking up. Just for fun!

Replacing the temporary 2x4 blocks holding the rollers with some steel that can be bolted to the elevator cage.

The placement of the hoist was another "shoehorn" type of deal. With little to no room to spare the location is perfect. Not to high so that the safety stop allowed the top of the elevator to hit the edge of the roof. 

With 48" sides on the perimeter of the hexagon and a 8' main rafter length a full sheet of OSB sheathing could be cut on the diagonal and cover one sixth of the roof. How lucky was I that it worked out this way (just like I planned it, right?)

Half the roof done, so far so good. But, thinking about sheeting the roof. Now if you have ever done this you know that climbing up on a ladder and getting on to a roof is one thing. Stepping off a roof onto a ladder is another kind of feeling. Now since there will be no 40 foot ladder from the ground to the roof this made me pause a moment... or two.

Ah the solution would be a hatch door in the roof. This required a bit of construction but will do the job nicely. It also provided the extra height I needed to get the hoist in place and if I ever needed to service the hoist I could get at it. The roof vent will also be placed within reach of the hatch opening should there ever be a leak there. Now the next task will be to layout the 15' by 25' rubber membrane to make everything weather proof.

Oh, almost forgot the step in the elevator. Also have installed the safety cross bars. The two on the inside and outside are removable to allow entry and exit from the elevator.

 

These last two photos are just to keep you thinking. Did you see these parts in the pictures? Can you figure out what they are for or where these parts will go? It's all about strength and assembly.

Now it will be on to Phase IV - Building the support structure for the Treehouse into the tree limbs.

 

Build an Airplane in your basement. Who does that?

 

It was not supposed to go this way. I had "planned" to do all the construction in my pole shed but the shed roof trusses were in the way of the Treehouse roof rafters. So I was left with no choice but to move it out. Would it go through the garage door opening? The thought brought back a memory of articles read long ago where someone had built an airplane in their basement only to realize that there was no way to get the finished plane out. Would I be suffering a similar fate?

As they say, "One more coat of paint and it would not have fit through the door." With a little bit of effort and manually raising the door it slipped through. My lucky day. Since it will now be outside for the rest of the construction I decided to give it a coat of finish. Now I can get to work on the elevator.

1 - 1/2" by 1/8" angle iron would make up the frame. The cage would be 24" square and 6' - 6" tall.

Just like the windows drove the size of the hexagon the elevator and hoist drive the roof design. So having the elevator cage made up will help in designing the roof line and hoist placement.

So this went better than I imagined. Two 2x6's are attached on edge to the hexagon post on the right. This is a temporary set-up just to test the proof of concept. The real ones will have a 2x4 stiffeners screwed to the back side forming a T for strength. Two pieces of garage door track are screwed to each 2x6. Garage door rollers are placed at the top and bottom of the cage. The hoist is squeezed into the soffit area just above the door. With 5 foot windows, and using one of them as a door there is a challenge in getting head clearance. This is solved by the elevator stopping 16 inches below the floor of the Treehouse. You can see the cement block in the bottom of the elevator. This represents the "step up" to get into the 5 foot high opening to the Treehouse. Likewise when exiting the Treehouse you step down and your head clears the top header. It works like a charm. Unless you are over 6 feet tall!

Here is a look at it from the inside. The top of the elevator stops at the bottom of the header. On exit you step down 6" to get into the elevator and avoid a "header". A recoil with inertia safety cable will be attached to the elevator frame and roof rafter as a fail safe should the cable snap. 

So next it will be on to finishing up the roof rafter attachments and placing some cable ties to strengthen up the roof system to hold the load of the roof sheathing. Tricky but doable.