One of the most sublime masculine pleasures is mastery and the ability to operate effectively in the physical world. Working with our hands, repairing or building things, activates all the parts of the brain optimized in males – spatial thinking, hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and a sense of achievement.
For the past few years I have been working with my nephew building a tree house. “Years spent building a TREE HOUSE?!?!” I hear you scoff. But, there are tree houses, and then there are tree houses.
This one is constructed out of steel, has about 350 square feet of floor space, an observation deck on the roof, and a patio. The floor and roof are made of 8 triangular sections bolted together to form an octagon. The original plan was to have it actually suspended from a large oak tree with chains, but as the design got elborated it quickly became too heavy for a living tree to support. It might work OK built around a huge wooden pole at least 24″ in diameter, but a living tree is too flexible and chains cut into the soft growing wood too deeply due to the weight.
The sections were built off-site using a jig to place and hold the individual pieces, which were then welded. They were then transported to the site and bolted together with stainless steel bolts. When the basic structure was assembled, it was raised using 4 come-alongs to approximately its permanent height.
It was supported during the next phase of finishing by a wooden framework, which has since been replaced by a steel one. When finished, it will have a water tank, working toilet, and 10′x10′ patio.
Boys and their toys, eh?
