Design

You fell in love with your treehouse conceptual drawing and we can’t blame you! Now it’s time to take the next step. First, we will ask you for a deposit to secure a spot for you in our schedule. Once you are locked into our schedule we will start to create the working drawings which will be used to build your treehouse! The Treehouse Guys believe that while designing and building treehouses IN the trees, we like to base our design aesthetic to be OF the trees, meaning, we are fond of using actual trees and their limbs as both structural and visual components, as well as locally rough sawn lumber to give our treehouses a real rustic and whimsical look and feel!


The Design Process has several components:

  • Working Drawings
  • Material Review
  • Engineering
  • Permitting

The Treehouse Guys will help guide you through each of these components.


Working Drawings

From the site visit the designer now has a better idea of what you would like in your treehouse. The conceptual drawing will be used to help create the working drawings of the treehouse – meaning the drawings we’ll build from.

Working drawings include:

  • Detailed platform, substructure and deck framing. Like the roots of a tree, the platform is the most vital part of the process to create a strong, long lasting treehouse.
  • North, South, East, West views. Elevation drawings to see all sides of the treehouse.

Working drawings are the blueprints of our treehouses. They will be used by our builders to construct the treehouse and are used for engineering and permitting if necessary.

Once the working drawings are complete they will be sent to the client for approval. Each client has two rounds of revisions included in the design cost. When the final approval has been given a contract will be written.


Materials

There are a variety of materials that can be used when building a treehouse. As the working drawings are being created you will be able to discuss what materials you are interested in for your design. Our designer is happy to make suggestions and we encourage you to look through images of our past jobs to help give you an idea of the different looks each material provides.


Engineering

If desired or required by your city or state, we hand over our working drawings to the engineer. The engineer will then turn them into CAD drawings and do structural analysis. We have treehouse specific engineers that will have a consultation with your local engineer if needed to understand the dynamics of trees.


Permitting

If your treehouse is large in scale or will be one that you will be renting you will likely need to get a permit. This requirement is different state to state and sometimes town to town. It is the responsibility of the client to contact the town about required permits. You should start this process immediately to gather information and to find the proper contacts. You will be able to submit for permits once you have received the stamped drawings from our engineer.


Design Costs

Working drawings cost an average range of $1,000-$5,000.  Please note that engineered drawings can cost anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 depending on the location, size and purpose of treehouse.


Contract

Once the engineered drawings are received by The Treehouse Guys a final estimate will be given to you. At this time a contract will be written and sent to you for your approval and signature.


What’s next?  Visit our Construction page.