Tree house supports

codea

Hi all,
I'm looking to build a tree house on stilts (no big enough tree on property).
Has anyone done this before?

The platform will be approx 12ft square and I was thinking of using 4x4 posts bedded in concrete one at each corner and one in the centre. All sides will be cross braced.

Tree house on top would be standard 'cabin' 8x8ft with veranda around.

Question is, is 4x4 posts strong enough to hold the weight???

Thanks in advance,
Colum

Lumen

codea wrote: »

Question is, is 4x4 posts strong enough to hold the weight???

Structural advice is not permitted here AFAIK, but it's not just about the weight. You also have side load from wind, which is very significant, even uplift depending on the roof design and distribution of mass.

Those 4x4 posts will be acting like enormous levers, and the forces will over time tend to wiggle the posts around until they're loose.

Plus you have movement of the tree to contend with.

looksee

As Lumen says, a 12 ft square platform would be like a sail. 12ft is huge, you would need some serious engineering advice for that.