so far during this build, the treehouse has been a pretty dangerous place for kids. the no windows part isn't such a biggie, but there is no trap door, only a hole in the floor, and the worst is that whole deck with the handrail that most kids could just walk under to step off the platform.

so... it's a relief to finally get to work on this part.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th172.jpg

"goat and sheep" panel from tractor supply:

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th173.jpg

panels are preassembled before installation to the treehouse, but without any fasteners. each rail (top, bottom, both sides) is drilled for the panel 1/4" wire to be inserted, making for strong reinforcement against kick out. also, this gives dimensional flexibility so that the panels can sqeeze in or spread out a little to exactly fit the spaces i'm building them for.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th174.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th175.jpg

assembled, ready to be hoisted up in the tractor bucket.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th176.jpg



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the panels on either end of the handrail were a little wonky, because they filled a non-rectangular space. picture tells it better than i can, stumbling over my words. in summary, this was a good time to be using panels not already fastened, but instead with some adjustability.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th177.jpg

getting there...

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th178.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th179.jpg



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THAT!!! LOOKS!!! nice o.o

lol

Looks good man!!!

Wow!

That thing is ready for the master bath and kitchen.

Beautiful. Now emagine a donut shaped pool at the bottom, diving(or sliding on a spiral ) right from the porch!

That is really really awesome Man. You really deserve a pat on the back, not to mention it's all for your son. Great job.

Just goes to show you, once you build a chopper, you can build ANYTHING.

ha! thanks! and yeah, i can definitely say that building my bike lent a lot of skills--and confidence--to what i took on here. and also, as you point out, if feels so much better, because it's for my son. although, to be honest, i really enjoy my time up there, too! ;)

i really didn't get good pics of the window part of the build, so i'll just use a couple of old ones.

These windows, cut to uniform size with a 20 degree slope out on bottom edge:

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...20158109_o.jpg

painted up like so...

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...23717358_o.jpg

got dropped into the 2x4 frames in the foreground of this pic.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th088.jpg

those frames were top hinged and hung, with 1x6 fence board trim attached to the frame, so it swings out with the frame. i did this to help maintain a weatherproof covering around the openings. sorry i don't have good pictures of that. i'll try to document that better at a later time.

Man this would be cool to add a little projector and stream movies out of lol. Theater style

last august, my son and i had our first treehouse campout. we were still using the aluminum extension construction ladder, and an improvised piece of plywood in lieu of a proper trap door, but otherwise we had what we needed.

except more spider killer spray. we definitely could have used that.

so, the next morning, while we were hanging out up there and enjoying our spot, i started putting a huge roll of 2" manila rope to use covering the gaps between trunks, limbs, and treehouse.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th180.jpg

considerable time was spent whipping the ends of the rope with jute twine, to combat fraying. rope was then screwed into place with the least number of construction screws i could get away with.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th182.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th183.jpg

to answer a previous question, this is how gaps in the wall breaches are addressed. since these gaps don't get as heavy an assault with water as the roof ones, i'm less concerned about waterproofing them. after all, the floor is gapped decking like your deck behind your house.

view from the hammock before:

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th184.jpg

and after:

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th187.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th185.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th186.jpg

this rope lays over the trim for the one window that does not open and shut (because of limb clearance--all the other 7 do).

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th188.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th190.jpg




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on the other side, where the window needs to open, the trim board was split accordingly.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th189.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th191.jpg

noted some leaves/small branches on the big limbs that come out of the house.
wonder if any would /could grow inside the house and survive- that might be nice in house plants...

bob, here is the last and probably most important step in waterproofing trunk breaches through the roof: what some have called the brazilian necklace, in a nod to its inventor, brazilian treehouse builder ricardo brunelli. he described his method to me, which included the foil tape flashing and the spackeled rubberized asphalt roofing cement, and this rope gutter idea that diverts 90%+ of the rainwater that would otherwise trickle down to those breaches. the rope is attached at an angle, with the two end pieces connected to carry trickling water away from the breach and onto the roof surface. sealant is applied between rope and tree to fill bark crevices and to create a gutter. it works wonderfully.

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th194.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th195.jpg

http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...dium/th196.jpg



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and, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. hurricane matthew was the first big test of this setup, and it performed beautifully.



slight tweak after this was using long (16") construction lags to support the bottom portion of the "neckties" at an angle less vertical, to better divert that flowing rainwater away to the flat, hard roof.

interestingly, the shoots that sprout from the trunk and limbs inside seem to attract too much attention to themselves, and most everyone--myself included-- removes them almost without thinking.

currently, inside greenery consists of three separate venus fly traps. but they're not the hardiest, so i'm sure that will be revisited.