Life In The Trees With The Treehouse Masters

of all of the spaces we visit perhaps none capture the imagination more than a treehouse today we've traveled to Seattle Washington to meet Nelson treehouse and supply and see one of their incredible new projects [Music] hey Garrett hey awesome to meet you mate glad you can make it welcome me too dude what can I even say about the treehouse this is so impressive pretty cool huh Nelson treehouse and supply was founded by Pete Nelson you might also know him from the TV show treehouse masters on Animal Planet Pete has been building treehouses for 40 plus years he's built over 250 treehouses and in 2010 he started Nelson treehouse and supply and basically we traveled the world building luxury liveable voice function fully furnished treehouses so tell me a little bit about the construction of this thing because this doesn't look like the sort of thing that you just throw together on your back yeah there is some pretty heavy hardware that's holding this thing up isn't there yeah so the whole treehouse is fully engineered we have our treehouse attachment bolt that basically holds the whole thing together it is 18 pounds of heat treated steel bolt right into the tree steel yoke holding two steel beams it sounds there could be an earthquake and a windstorm in this thing is not going anywhere this is definitely really well attached but the question that I have to ask is how does this actually affect the tree I mean they look quite invasive in there don't they we get that question so often and the way a tree grows is all the nutrients flows through the cambium layer which is the thin layer between the bark and the actual inside of the tree so when you install this tab basically you're making a three-inch circle and the cambium layer so really that just triggers reaction wood and makes the tree grow around the tab and makes the connection even stronger over time one of the other really unique things about this sit-up is it's actually not just attached to one tree it's actually fixed to two so how do you get around that challenge the tree house is engineered with a static tree and a dynamic tree so basically everything is bolted onto this tree and the whole platform treehouse will move with this tree that tree on the other hand is dynamic you can see up there our connection is using dynamic uplift arrestor ease that allows the tree to move in the wind and slide around and keeps the bolts intact and keeps the treehouse from getting any damage so it's kind of like you figure out which you want to be static and you figure out which tree you want to move and you engineer the tree house to kind of be dynamic and move with the forces of nature so how do these tree houses actually cope with the growth of the tree you're only going to see growth outward so you don't need to worry so much as trees growing different rates or you know this tree is going to grow five feet in this tree is going to go three because they're kind of grown from their tips and not so much at the base so the tabs really stay where you put them and that's where they're going to live and it's good to see as well that you've also utilized the space underneath the tree house yeah so this is a Kodama zone and I mean what better way to hang a swinging chair than from the bottom of the tree house that's actually one of the really cool things about tree houses as well because all of the land underneath is actually still understood isn't it right yeah so you're basically taking the foundation of the house and you know lifting it in this case 14 17 feet off the ground so there's still kind of like a ground ecosystem that can exist under the tree house well enough of being on the ground let's get in the tree yeah what setup I'll show you around okay so we have a curved stair set outfitted with natural cedar branch railing kind of a code to the treehouse life style this tree house is like 80% built from cedar you know yeah cedar stair tread cedar decking cedar siding cedar railings I mean we have a lot of cedar here in Washington and it's great because cedar is actually weather resistant so it can stand for years out in rainstorms and it's never going to rot which especially when you're this high up is really employed right yeah you don't want to fall through the floorboards definitely not right and what a great space you've got up here having especially this balcony area it really allows the house to take advantage of its location doesn't it right well I mean a big thing about having a tree house is being able to be next to the tree and so it's pretty important that every tree house has a deck and like I said we get a lot of rain so the sleeping loft actually acts as a canopy for the table here and we have a curved hog wire paneled railing here so it adds kind of a nice natural detail and one of the other things I notice obviously the treehouse itself is quite squared but you do have a lot of features that are curved in this as well kind of hiking back to the tree right right around yeah I mean it's definitely somewhat more of a modern treehouse we have a lot of 90 corners and lines and you know I think it's complemented pretty cool with the curse they're set in the curved deck and it kind of just creates that contrast between like new and modern and back to nature can we have a look inside yeah that's what we came for let's go check it out welcome to the treehouse this is really cool standing in here it feels very much like I'm actually in a normal house it's incredibly stable and it's not until I actually look out the windows that I realized yes I'm actually standing in the treehouse right now yeah I think that's a big thing about tiny living and treehouse living is that you know you want to feel at home you don't want to feel like you're living in a plastic box and so you know all the wood and the smell and the structure just really makes you feel at home so when you're actually building a treehouse to what extent does the tree dictate what you're able to do with the structure that you're building on it you're definitely confined to X amount of space because you have to build off the trees so in the design phase you know you're looking at where does this branch go where does that branch go and so you kind of build the structure to fit within the trees and so that actually drives a lot of the design processes this tree house really does look like it has been built so it could be lived in full time yeah I mean that's definitely an option we wanted to keep open just because no one losing it now doesn't mean someone can move in later and I think the place is designed with that in mind you know is that like you got your kitchen and your reading nook in your loft and it's like it has all the things at least for an extended stay at minimum so we've got the kitchen over here then yep the kitchen space for a little mini fridge you have a toaster oven and a microwave it's actually kind of impressive what they managed to sit in this little space and I say you've got to pull out table here as well yeah yeah this is just will pull out table made from some of the reclaimed materials at the end of the project and good to be resourceful yeah easy to transform the space from you know entertainment living room area so more of like a dining room table if you want to cook dinner or something and is that it close up behind you this yeah yeah this is a closet it's actually kind of built into the structure there's some beam's that cantilever out the side of the street house and this whole kind of nook was built around having a closet here so some extra storage space and just like these bins down here under the the reading nook you know those pull out and give extra storage and what's out this tool whew I'm glad you asked we have an outdoor shower kind of cool oh no way yep what better way to get in touch with nature than literally reaching out and grabbing a tree branch while you're taking a shower I'll say showering and the canopy what could you ask cool it's hard to beat man it's really hard to be kind of a complemented with this corrugated siding it creates privacy and still really allows you to feel like you're outside and then up here still to go we've got the sleeping area yeah yeah so you know there's a whole queen bed up here right above the entryway that you walk in and you access it via this kind of cool rustic ladder why don't we head up and take a look let's do it oh this is so nice up here there's a lot of people who don't really like the idea of a sleeping loft because of accessibility issues but I think if accessibility is not a problem then it's definitely a more efficient use of the space I mean this whole area is deceivingly large you know you come up the ladder and you almost feel like you're in a separate room there's this aesthetic about it that like you've almost entered into like a zone you know that's totally different from the space below and with a treehouse like this of course you have to have skylight yeah skylights I mean you can lay in bed and literally look right up at the canopy of the tree there's even like enough room to stand up and from up here there's a great view of the rest of the house as well right I mean it feels spacious you know for such a small space this is a really functional home but being a treehouse of this nature there's also a ton of engineering that's gone into it what kind of cost would you be looking at to build something like this with a custom steel substructure fully engineered material cost labor cost you're probably looking at about $150,000 so it's not super cheap but when you think about everything that's going into it it's not super expensive either is it right I mean it's essentially a fully functioning home but 17 feet off the ground so a big part of that is the labor and the steel substructure and the engineering and all the thought that goes in to making it safe so when you talk about that there is obviously this real engineering factor to building treehouses is there a big DIY element do people actually go out and build these themselves or do you guys not recommend that yeah we've actually recently with the whole tiny house movement seen a whole lot of desire from people to do DIY builds and we actually sell the hardware to people online all the time and we have multiple videos that instruct people how to install our hardware so I'd say that is definitely becoming more and more trending as the scene kind of expands we really do want to give the power to the people and give them the opportunity if they can't afford 150 thousand dollar house they can go and DIY it so what would you say your absolute favorite thing about treehouses is I'd say immediately what comes to mind is to escape from reality you know you open up the front door and you walk in and you're kind of just like totally taken aback from all your world troubles and you're just like taken back down to Ground Zero and basically just become a kid again so that stress-free feeling that is I think so important ever since I was a kid I have been obsessed with tree houses and getting to walk into this space until this home is an absolute dream come true for me thank you so much for sharing it with me going - pleasure to meet you ma'am thanks man I think this home proves that treehouses are not just for kids yeah it's adventurous yet maybe a little bit crazy but when you think about all the engineering that's gone into it this is an incredibly safe and sturdy home perfectly well-suited to full-time living and if it were up to me I'd be moving in tomorrow [Music] you

Channel: Living Big In A Tiny House

Views: 3,048,238

Keywords: Treehouse, Treehouse Masters, Tiny House, Small House, Alternative Living, Tiny House Movement, Living Big in a Tiny House, Pete Nelson, Bryce Langston, Nelson Treehouse and Supply, Nelson Treehouse, Washington, Tree, House, treefort, Architecture, Design, DIY, Treehouse Building, How To, TAB, Structure, Support, Building a Treehouse

Id: 4ynwWift_ts

Length: 11min 47sec (707 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 17 2017