Step 2: Treehouse costs – build it yourself or hire a professional
How much does a treehouse cost – build it yourself or hire a professional?
✔ DIY treehouse: £8,000 - £13,000
✔ DIY construction time: 1 - 6 months
✔ Professional treehouse: £8,000 - £250,000 (Pete Nelson)
✔ Professional assembly time: 3 - 10 days
Money-saving tip for DIY enthusiasts: Save a lot of money and build your treehouse yourself – it's a unique adventure that children, family and friends will remember for a lifetime.
How much does a treehouse cost?
Together with the carpentry firm Baumbaron from southern Germany, we have already built over 300 treehouses throughout Europe.
To help you better estimate the costs, we have put together six treehouse types to show you the material costs and effort involved in building your own treehouse:
Visit our treehouse shop!1. Examples: 6 treehouses & material costs
The cost of a treehouse depends greatly on the quality of the building materials and the planned lifespan:
- A simple kids treehouse for hiding and playing, which is only used in the summer, can be built very cheaply (from £850).
- A heated treehouse for living, which is also used in the cold winter months, costs upwards of £5,000 (building materials only).
Below, we show realistic material costs for different types of treehouses – without tree fastenings, labour, tools, etc.
The estimated DIY construction time is based on people with previous DIY experience who work on the treehouse 2–3 days a week with their family or a few friends.
Affordable treehouse for children (tree hut)
- 4 – 6 m²
- Very simple construction
- Single-shell, uninsulated walls
- Roof covering made of bitumen shingles or roofing felt
- Self-built plexiglass windows
- Mostly used materials
- Use in warm weather
Material costs: £800 – £2,000
DIY construction time: 1 – 2 months
Simple treehouse for playing
- 6 – 10 m² (107,6 ft²)
- uninsulated construction for summer
- simple windows and doors
- bitumen or corrugated iron roofing
- small terrace with railings
- play elements: slide, swing, climbing wall
- some used materials
Material costs: £1,600 – £3,600
DIY construction time: 2 – 3 months
Small treehouse for overnight stays in summer
- 10 – 15 m² (107.6 ft²)
- solid construction for spring to autumn
- for occasional overnight stays
- used windows and doors
- simple furnishings (bed, table, chair)
- possibly play elements (slide, swing, climbing frame)
- possibly for rental in summer (Air B'n'B)
Material costs: £3,500–£4,000
DIY construction time: 3–4 months
Buy Treehouse Hardware Kits here!
Insulated treehouse for winter living
- 10 – 15 m² (107,6 ft²)
- Fully insulated for cold seasons
- Used double-glazed windows and sealed doors
- New timber
- Electricity connections
- Solid furnishings: bed, table, chair, lamps, shelf
- Suitable for overnight stays of several days and for rental
Material costs: £5,000 – £10,000
DIY construction time: 3 – 5 months
Professional treehouse for adults
- 15 m² – 25 m² (161.5 ft²)
- Professional treehouse fastening
- Thick insulation and heatable for cold winter nights
- High-quality building materials
- Double-glazed windows / skylights
- Enough space for several adults
- Ideal for renting out or as additional living space for sleeping / working / relaxing
Material costs: £9,000 – £20,000
DIY construction time: 4 – 6 months
Large luxury treehouse for living
- 25 m² (269 ft²) – 40 m² (430 ft²)
- Permanent living and rental
- Thick wall construction, insulated, rear-ventilated
- Elaborate details (spiral staircase, suspension bridge, several platforms)
- Electrical, heating, plumbing connections
- Modern interior fittings (by carpenter/joiner)
- High-quality materials
- High-quality roofing (wooden shingle or sheet metal roof)
Material costs: €25,000 – €40,000
DIY construction time: 5 – 7 months
A habitable DIY treehouse made from a mix of new and used materials can quickly cost between €4,000 and €6,000.
2. Build it yourself or have it built by Treehouse-Pro?
How much does a treehouse built by a professional cost?
If you multiply the above material costs by about x3, you will get a realistic idea of the price of a professionally built treehouse by a reputable craftsman.
Of course, there is no upper limit: a luxury treehouse by renowned US professional Pete Nelson (‘Treehouse Masters’ – TV series on Animal Planet) costs $200,000 and more!
No wonder: treehouse building is booming – the waiting time for established treehouse builders is on average 4 to 6 months.
Advantages: Have your treehouse built by a professional
✔ Top quality with warranty claims
✔ High safety guaranteed
✔ Expertise in working with trees
✔ More extreme projects at greater heights possible – professional tree climbers
✔ Short construction time (assembly time on site only 1–3 weeks)
✔ Long service life > 20 years
✔ Professional fastening techniques
Feel free to request a quote from our treehouse carpentry company ‘baumbaron’.
Advantages: DIY – build your own treehouse
✔ Lower costs (about a third of the cost of hiring professionals)
✔ The priceless feeling of having built your own house – your children will be proud of you!
✔ Fun for the whole family – a real community project
✔ You will gain craftsmanship experience that will serve you well for the rest of your life
✔ A unique adventure in nature that you will never forget!
Successful customer projects!TheTreehouse.Shop
Professional Treehouse Fastenings
✔ For maximum load capacity and safety
✔ Gentle on trees and proven in practice for over 30 years
✔ 100% made in Germany
3. Material prices – where can I save?
Prices for building materials
If you want to buy new building materials, there is, as always, no upper price limit. High quality is worth it if you want to build a low-maintenance treehouse for several generations, for rental or for year-round use.
However, a DIY adventure treehouse can also be very inexpensive. A treehouse in a wild tree gets its special charm from colourful, used materials:
Use second-hand materials and search through the basements and attics of friends and relatives. You can often find real bargains on platforms such as classified ads or at flea markets – especially windows and doors, which are being replaced en masse due to energy renovations.
Examples: Costs for new building materials
Here are some prices for quality goods:
- Small wooden window (double glazed by a carpenter/joiner): > £250
- Wooden door with high-quality hardware: > £350
- Roof window that opens: > £400
- Shingled roof, three layers, with battens, approx. 10 m² (107.6 ft²): > £900
- Spiral staircase, 180°: > £1,500
additional costs
On the construction site, there are not only costs for the timber and the tree fastening – the additional costs can quickly add up to more than £500:
+ Hidden costs: wood screws, foils, insulation, tape, interior fittings, slide, swing, climbing wall, ...
+ Small items: lamps, cables, sockets, fuse box, door fittings, seals, insect screens, etc.
+ Tools, wear and tear, offcuts: sandpaper, saw blades, bits, measuring devices, new machines, equipment maintenance, wood offcuts, etc.
5. How long does a treehouse last?
A treehouse is comparable to a mountain hut, a tiny house or a boathouse. When professionally assembled and under normal conditions, a treehouse will last at least 20 years! You can see this for yourself at Michael Garniers' “Out'n'about Treehouse Resort” in Oregon, USA – his first treehouses have been standing for over 25 years and are becoming more and more beautiful – see pictures :)
The following factors are crucial for a long service life:
- Secure & tree-friendly fastening
- Well thought-out design
- Well thought-out detailed planning
- Constructive wood protection
- Quality and workmanship of the materials
Tip for DIY builders:
Never underestimate how quickly a tree grows in width! If you don't want to have to make any repairs later on, keep components such as walls, roofs and gutters at least 30 cm (11.8 in) away from the tree and its branches. Build your support structure so that the tree can grow freely and is not constricted.
What if the tree dies?
Don't worry, the tree won't die from one year to the next. If the tree weakens for any reason, you can put the existing treehouse on stilts at any time – this way, the tree can grow old in peace and the house will stand for eternity.
6. My personal experience – building my own treehouse!
For me, building treehouses is the perfect mix of freedom, creativity and craftsmanship. Where else do you have the opportunity to create a small house – without strict regulations and entirely according to your own dreams?
Where did my love for treehouses come from?
"Before training as a carpenter, I built my first treehouse on stilts in 2015 (see pictures). I taught myself and worked out everything for this project: from planning to using the machines to the finest details, it was all new territory for me. My tools were a cordless drill, a hand-held circular saw, a router and a sander.
As I have always been an enthusiastic tinkerer, I threw myself into this tree house project. Family, friends and neighbours helped me with advice and practical support, and after about five months, the fully furnished house stood in the garden.
The summer I spent there is one of the best times I can remember. Now the treehouse is used by the whole family: Grandma and Grandpa like to read and relax in the shade of the deciduous tree, and for our children it is, of course, the ultimate adventure playground. For us, the cost and months of work were worth every penny!"
The path to becoming a Treehouse-Pro:
"The experience of having my own treehouse has stayed with me, and I have now been working for over 8 years as a trained treehouse builder at Baumbaron GmbH; we have every tool imaginable, precision machinery and a large stock of materials, we work with 3D plans and are a well-coordinated team of friends. As professional tree climbers, we can reach heights that are difficult to access without special tools. I love this job!"
More About UsBuilding your own treehouse is a unique experience – far away from everyday norms and completely free to follow your own wishes and ideas. The enthusiasm and amazement on the faces of family and friends are unparalleled. And even if it is a little crazy, it is definitely one of those adventures that will put a smile on your face for the rest of your life :)