Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Treehouses, 2nd edition: Design & Build Your Kids a Treehouse

Thick book with ALL the information! Seriously, I got this book for my dad for Father’s Day and he loved it. Even though we have trees picked out, it tells you what to consider when picking a good tree, how to start the base, how to design around multiple trees or just one. It also has how-to’s on fun extras like a water blaster, a talking tube, and a zipline landing. The roof, windows, ladders, and hatch doors were also in there. This book really has way more than you would imagine, and helps you get creative.

This is a good basic level book, comprehendible even if you are not a builder or carpenter. There were several unique designs included in the book, and there was good background info included such as selecting an appropriate tree and correctly mounting anchors to a tree. I would say it is mostly focused on building on or around a tree, not free standing platforms.

Comprehensive instructions and really cool ideas! There are several methods of tree-house building, from open roofed scout towers to completely functional tree homes with electricity. I foresee a lot of fun in the future!

Very helpful, I was able to get building ideas and learn how to attach to the trees with out causing harm the trees. I found that using one or two trees and post for the of the support of the deck gave me more options.

I actually purchased for my husband as one of his Christmas gifts - as we are thinking about attempting a tree house for our grandsons - 11 and 8 years old. There are GREAT pictures, outlines and ideas. This book is even better than I expected. If you're thinking about it - this is where to start for real. Having said all of this, I never hesitate to update my reviews should new info seem useful.

If you are thinking about building a treehouse this book (Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Treehouses (2nd ed.)) is one of the few published resources available. It covers basic information about zoning, how to choose a tree, and safety, how to build treehouse accessories (like ziplines, slides, and swings), and it has plans for 6 different styles of treehouse. Before buying this book, you should know that the plans are really just guidelines, not detailed instructions. The book seems aimed at people with framing carpentry experience (if you are a complete beginner, it is probably better to get some experience building things on the ground before you build things in the air). Even though I am fairly advanced for an amateur, I got bogged down when building one of the projects in the book: a platform using a single tree as a center post. This project involves building diagonal supports called knee braces from the corners of the treehouse platform down to the trunk below. The knee braces transfer the weight on the platform downward and inward to the tree trunk. The book does an adequate job illustrating how to attach the BOTTOMS of the knee braces to the trunk, but it completely glosses over how to attach the TOPS of the knee braces to the platform in a way that is structurally sound. The instructions basically say "attach the knee brace to the the platform with nails and hardware". There are several photos of treehouses built in this way, but none of them shows any detail of the knee-brace to platform connection. The photos seem to show knee braces nailed to an outside corner where the sill joist is butted to joist header, which seems very dangerous. Why? Well, remember that "every force results in an equal and opposite force" so as the knee brace is pushing the tree downward and inward, the tree is pushing the knee brace upward and outward. The outward force is what is most concerning as it would probably result in separation of the header joist from the joists, leading to collapse of the platform. I am still working on how to change the plans to prevent the knee brace from collapsing outward when the platform carries a load. Some other books show examples of knee braces that are only ever joined at the top to a horizontal joist that attaches to the trunk at one end, and to the knee brace at the other end. This horizontal joist is placed under tension when the knee brace is loaded. Another workaround could be to add steel reinforcing to all the corners to prevent separation (in which case the outer sill joists and joist headers are placed under tension.

The book was extremely helpful in building our treehouse. Easy to follow and multiple options for number of trees, design, accessories, etc. a very good book for a beginner or someone with some general carpentry skills.

We used this book to build two platform/treehouses with a zipline connecting the two. This book has great plans for all different set ups and was the perfect guide for us to get the job done and done right.

My husband has some diy skills ,and tools ,but was daunted by the thought of building a treehouse platform for our grandaughter.He read this book,it gave great ideas and explained steps and techniques clearly,with good photos.This gave him confidence to go ahead with such a big project .It was safely constructed,was customised to our area and trees and it was a huge success!He has received compliments from neighbours and,of course, it has also saved a good deal of cost from quotes we had!If you are even thinking you might build one,this book is excellent!

Very good quality.

An excellent book to get started building a treehouse. Most of the plans are easy to follow for someone who has a bit of experience in building. It does get a bit thin in the fine details in places, sometimes moving into the 'advanced builder' zone, but the bulk of the book lays out the foundations and principles to build a very solid treehouse.

Il libro è molto dettagliato e offre spunti molto interessanti per costruire una bella casa sull'albero. La progettazione e realizzazione vengono spiegate nel dettaglio. Include anche alcuni progetti già fatti. Unica pecca l'inglese spesso molto specifico (falegnameria) e quindi poco intuibile senza un buon dizionario.

Parfait, tout ce qu'on a besoin de savoir avec bcp des photos en couleur pour aider a construire les differents etapes d'une maison dans un arbre pour enfants.