Mamas & Papas-
If you wanted to build one, and I don't mean a kit, but a DIY tree house in a tree, do you know if you could under your local zoning laws? Checking with our city council person to see what they have to say on the matter. I expect there might be some regs regarding set backs, maximum height, maximum square footage etc.
If you have a tree house, what was your experience with the planning/ permit/ approval process, if any? Those of you who just went ahead and built one, I envy you.
Thanks,
F. B.
Spoke with the local councilperson. The office advised that it would be regarded as a backyard obstruction, and would have to be taken down.
My in laws have one they built with my son on their property. They checked with their home owners association and it was approved "as long as it couldn't be seen from the street". I doubt they cleared anything with the city. sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. ANd this one was built with scrap material and stuff they had on hand. No real investment, so no huge ordeal if the city demands it come down.
We just went ahead and built it. It's a 6x10 lifted shed, basically, not a tree-mansion. ;-)
I know that in our community we are supposed to get clearance from the HOA when we built a treehouse for my nieces, but we didn't. When we ran into the president of the board about a year later, he mentioned that he knew about the treehouse, but he said that while there are rules in the covenants, nobody ever pays attention to them.
Frankly, it never crossed our minds to go to the city about our treehouse. That seems a bit too much to me. I mean, it;s just a treehouse, right? Wy would the city care?
We had one when I was growing up, in the woods behind the house and built by my engineer father. It was between 2 trees but designed to flex and not fall apart when the wind blew the trees. Quite the design.
My neighbors built one on their own and then wound up with a visit from the inspector. So it's best to avoid that!
You also need to talk to your insurance agent - it's amazing how much coverage people need for trampolines and swimming pools. You may have requirements for railings and removing or folding up the ladder so little kids can't get up there unsupervised. People sue at the drop of a hat these days, so as inconvenient as it seems, you really want to be on top of the details before you start. And always assume that kids will not use it as intended!
I think the law depends on where you live. We lived in the country and no one cared.
I would go thru all the proper channels. If you don't, you could be made to take it down.
B.,
We looked into it. We live in an HOA area, so it would have fallen under the building codes and permits. And then to top it off, we live IN an HOA (our town is an "association" as well) and our HOA would have made us insurance - just like a pool - that attractive nuisance penalty - so if anyone trespasses (since it would be considered attractive to someone walking by).
So no. We don't have one. Then to top it off, the trees we were wanting to build it between were cut down by our HOA. Lovely, eh?
