Tree House Structure...

 

Growing Upward.... 

In Case you wondered, Dear Readers, the Tree House Structure was deliberately designed from the beginning to be a bit flexible, but based on a few basic principles. The House would be vertical, like a tree trunk with the rooms stacked one on top of the other as far up as would fit the landscape of The Folly Garden, with the opening doors to access the rooms all on one side of the Tree, and hinged to a sturdy post which was attached at the base and runs all the way to the top of the tree trunk. The other "corners" of the rooms, or the tree trunk depending on how you look at it, are made from a sturdy metal wire that also attaches at the base and runs all the way up to the top of the tree trunk. Because the wires can be bent a little and are not rigid, the size of the rooms can vary in shape and dimensions. Each floor, above the ground level kitchen, that is, is made from a piece of thin plywood which has holes drilled through it where the wires go up and can therefore be slid onto the wires forming a very sturdy structure when it rests on the walls of the room below. If you look closely at the above picture, you can see several of these wires as they continue upward between the floors and stick out at the top. The only problem with this structure happens when you add rooms to the side of the main room and then need another hinged outer door on a different side... so I managed to add several other wooden "hinge posts" along the way, notably for the dressing room and the Nanny's Room. They have to be carefully "based" on a part of the floor that can be screwed into from below in order to be sturdily attached. As I was recently reviewing the Tree House structure, I realized I was going to want or need another sturdy corner post at the top for the "branches" of the Tree House to be attached to when we get that high!

 But before we could get to that step, I realized that I would need to have the next "floor" or the ceiling of the Nursery properly cut and fitted, which required making a floor plan or map in order for it to fit right on the wires and around the posts already in place. Here you can see my beginning steps... a piece of paper poked through by the wires and cut to fit around the existing posts. Then I could cut the plywood and know right where the wire holes needed to be drilled!

 

Here you can see the new correctly fitted Nursery ceiling or Attic Floor.

 It will not be glued in place until all the construction and decorating

 for the Nursery and Nanny's Rooms is finished,

 but it can be slid up or down and provides a very sturdy 

alignment guide for the room walls as I construct them.

 

And while I was making new correctly fitted sections, 

the Nanny's Room opening Door inner wall frame

 needed to be re-cut as the first (very old) version

 was an eighth of an inch too short

 and a 1/16th of an inch too narrow. 

 

And another wall section that needed lots of fixing was

 the inner wall of the bump-out that will hold bunk bed

 sleeping nooks on the side wall of The Nursery.

 This had been started all those years ago

 but had very poor shaping to the opening. 

I made the opening more symmetrical by carefully cutting

 a patch to fit the already cut opening 

and gluing them together.

 The crack will be covered by all the future

 construction so it is not a problem.

And Along the way, Dear Readers,

 I was constantly "strengthening" many small parts 

of the previous construction. 

The windows all will need a layer of the "paper twist"

 that resembles a wooden root or something like it,

 as an edging before the paper-mache outer bark is eventually added. 

 

As you can see here with the Bathroom outer window.

 

And along the outer edge of the Balcony structure.

 Because the shape of the balcony roof is irregular,

 the twist didn't want to stay put while the glue dried....

 

 So I had to wrap it with thread to hold it in place

 for several hours as the glue dried.

 

While I wrapped the twist the rest of the way

 around the opening and glued it in place. 

And those bunk beds...? 

I have been planning them forever, it seems,

 and finally just got going on them!

 

I am using plain old corrugated cardboard for the shape of the hollow.

 

Adding the platforms for the mattresses... thin plywood scraps.

 

 

And starting to add the thin

 matchstick paneling to the insides....

 yes, these are cut from match sticks!

 

 

Of course, It has to be constantly tested in place

 in the Nursery to see how it fits and looks!

 

And eventually getting the matchstick paneling all around the bunk beds.

 

The bunk beds have to have some of 

that Twist to frame the openings...

 

And a coat of stain applied... 

although it doesn't exactly match the other walls... 

that old can is long gone!

 

And then we finally get to the point of needing to remove

 all the walls to The Nursery and Nanny's Room

 so I can "engineer" the attachment of the Extra Post

 at the back of the structure beside the stairs.

And in order to be able to use my drill, 

I discover I even have to remove most of the stairs! 

 

And the next steps were so complicated 

and required so much careful focus..... 

I forgot to take any photos...

 but the "operation" was a success! 

The Post got firmly attached (glued and screwed) to the floor...

 

Here you can see it in place at the back on the left side,

 with the Nursery Walls and the ceiling in place to make sure it all fits right.

 

Here you can see the new Post with the 

bunk beds wall in place and the stairs reattached. 

And you can see the tiny little piece of floor I had to attach it to!

 

And here's the view from the front opening side... 

those taller posts can now have the tree branches built onto them

 and the bulk of the weight will be at the back

 of the Tree instead of the front side...

 the Tree does lean a bit out towards the brook... 

it needed to be balanced!

 

And the Balcony also needed the matchstick paneling

 added to the inside of the opening.

 This increases the sturdiness and will look more "finished"

 when the outer bark surface is added.

 

And lest you think I have ignored the original 

sleeping nook in the opening door wall, 

I have added little steps up to the bed level

 and am adding more of the paper twist around the opening.

 These are supposed to be hollow interiors of old cut off tree branches...

 so they need to look cozy and very rustic.

 

And the matchstick wall paneling too,

 to match the rest of the Nursery walls! 

These will be stained to (hopefully) match the first walls. 

 

And even the tiny wall with the tiny window

 in the Nanny's room is getting the matchstick paneling!

 

I hope I have not completely bored you, Dear Readers,

 with this very technical description of the 

Tree House structural improvements, 

But at least we can see it is finally 

Growing Upward again!