Will your tree hold a treehouse? Find out before we drive over.
We have looked up more than 1,100 backyard trees around Fairmount since 2013 and built in 420 of them. Four answers tell you if yours is likely, which size fits and what it costs. Then we come and see it, free.
4.9 from 420 families (sample)
Will my tree work?
Four answers. You get a verdict, the reasons and a budget for three sizes.
0 of 4 answered
- From $24,000A finished Lookout with railings, ladder and trapdoor
- Free site visitAnywhere within 60 miles of Fairmount
- 4.9 from 420 familiesReviews since 2013 (sample)
- Arborist on every visitDana Reyes checks the tree before we quote
$24,000, $38,000 or $62,000: the three treehouses we build most
Nine in ten of our builds start as one of these. Prices are finished and installed, before paint and extras. Posts, stairs over 12 feet and second-tree brackets are the only things that move them.
The Lookout
from $24,000
8 by 8 ft platform, 6 by 6 ft hut, ladder and trapdoor.
- 6 days on site
- Ages 4 to 10
- One tree, 30 inches around or more
The Hideout
from $38,000
10 by 12 ft cabin, 4 ft deck on three sides, stairs, real windows.
- 9 days on site
- Ages 6 to 14, and parents with coffee
- One big tree, or two of any size
The Clubhouse
from $62,000
Two levels, 160 sq ft, a sleeping loft for four, rope bridge optional.
- 3 weeks on site
- Sleepovers, teenagers, a home office
- Two trees, or one over 60 inches around
One bolt holds 8,000 pounds, and the tree grows around it
A treehouse is a house on something alive. This is how we keep both standing for the 25 years the kids will want it.
1Two bolts, not forty nails
Each trunk gets one or two 1.25-inch treehouse attachment bolts, each rated for 8,000 pounds. A clean hole is a wound the tree can seal. Forty nails are forty wounds, and that is how backyard treehouses from the 1980s killed their trees.
2A bracket that lets the trees move
Two trees never sway together. On the second trunk the beam sits in a floating bracket that slides up to 4 inches, so a March storm moves the tree and not your deck.
3Two inches of growing room
Every trunk that passes through a deck gets a 2-inch gap and a rubber collar. We come back at year three to widen it, free, because a growing tree will lift a deck that is fitted tight.
4Posts when the tree says no
Young trees, silver maples and lone pines get cedar posts on concrete footings instead. The tree still runs up through the middle of the deck. It just does not carry anything.
The Brennans' oak on Linden Street, 23 days apart
A 70-year-old white oak, 58 inches around, and two kids who had been asking since they could climb. The checker said likely. Dana agreed. We built a Hideout at 9 feet with the stairs on the sunny side.
From the tape measure to the first sleepover in about eight weeks
1Check your tree
Tonight
Four answers in the checker above. You see the verdict and a budget for three sizes before anyone calls you.
2Site visit
Week 1
45 minutes in your yard with Dana and one of the builders. Tape, a mallet for the sound test and a drone photo. A fixed price in writing within 48 hours.
3Drawings and permit
Weeks 2 to 5
You sign off the drawings, then we file with your township and your HOA. Most want a permit over 200 sq ft or 12 feet up, and we handle the paperwork.
4Build and first sleepover
Weeks 6 to 8
Six days on site for a Lookout, three weeks for a Clubhouse. On the last day we hand the kids the trapdoor key.
A 4.9 from 420 families, and three who wrote it down
4.9 average (sample)
“We were sure our silver maple was fine. Dana found the crack at the fork in ten minutes, and we built a Hideout on the oak instead. The twins have slept out there every Friday since June.”
Priya S.
Hideout, Fairmount. Sample review.
“The checker said better on posts for our young beech and they did not try to talk us out of it. Four cedar posts, the tree grows up through the deck, and it has put on two inches since.”
Mark and Lee T.
Lookout on posts, Cold Spring. Sample review.
“Price in two days, built in nine, and they swept up every pile of sawdust. My dad built me a plywood one in 1989 and he has been up this one more than my son has.”
Carla D.
Hideout, Ashby. Sample review.
60 free miles from our yard on Route 9
Inside the ring the site visit is free and the crew drives home every night. Past 60 miles the visit is $2 a mile each way, taken off the build if you go ahead. Past 120 miles we add crew lodging at $180 a night.
- FairmountHome
- Ashby14 mi
- Cold Spring22 mi
- Harlan Mills31 mi
- Wexford38 mi
- Port Alder47 mi
- Greenbriar58 mi
What parents ask Dana on the site visit
Anything else, call the office on (555) 014-2023. A builder calls back the same day.
How do I measure my trunk for the checker?
Wrap a soft tape measure, or a piece of string you then lay against a ruler, around the trunk at chest height, about 4.5 feet off the ground. If the trunk splits below that, measure the narrowest point under the split. Anything between two bands, pick the lower one. Dana measures again on the visit anyway.
Does the bolt hurt the tree?
A healthy tree treats the bolt like a lost branch and grows a collar of new wood around it, which makes the joint stronger each year. What hurts trees is lots of small fixings, tight-fitted decks and soil packed down around the roots. We use one or two bolts per trunk, leave growing room and lay plywood paths for the crew so the root zone is not crushed.
The checker said better on posts. Is that a worse treehouse?
No, it is the same treehouse on a different foundation. Posts add about $3,500 and let us build in young trees, pines and species we will not bolt into. Around one build in four goes on posts, including some of our favourites. The tree still grows through the deck, so it looks and feels the same from the ladder.
Do I need a permit or HOA approval?
Most townships within our 60 miles want a building permit for anything over 200 square feet or with a deck higher than 12 feet, so most Lookouts need none and most Clubhouses do. We draw the plans, file them and meet the inspector. If you have an HOA, we send them the drawings and a rendering in the format they ask for.
What does the price include, and how do we pay?
Design, permit drawings, materials, the build, railings to code, a ladder or stairs, and hauling off every offcut. Paint, electrics and a zip line are extras you can add at the site visit. You pay 30% when you sign the drawings, 40% on the first build day and 30% at handover, once the kids have been up.
The tree has been growing for 40 years. The visit takes 45 minutes.
Run the checker tonight, or call and tell us about the tree. We book site visits Tuesday to Saturday and send the fixed price within 48 hours.