Treehouses will always sway a little, that’s just the way it is in the tree, especially in the wind. But it can also happen that the construction starts to sway without the tree moving in the wind.
What’s stupid about that?
- It can feel uncomfortable / unsafe.
- The individual fasteners (tree screws, wooden joints, …) are permanently stressed by this. (Alternating load, bending, shearing, tension, pressure).
Find out the cause – why is it tilting / swaying?
Lateral tilting:
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- Wide cantilevered platform or parts of the platform.
- Wooden beams too small in size – beams spring and bend.
Rotation / swaying:
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- Triangular construction rotates around axis of tree trunk
- Rotation when people walk and brake
- Use of suspension bridge, swing or similar.
Measures:
Once you have observed and understood where the tipping / swaying is coming from, there are simple methods to counteract it – make sure you use compression and tension elements correctly:
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- Attach struts from below (predominantly pressure, little tension)
- Attach rope suspension from above (only tension!)
- Insert additional short wooden struts / brackets.
- Set the ladder element / stair firmly in concrete
- Set additional support in concrete
- Reinforce the wooden beams
The basic rule for stiffening is important in all of this:
Square passes – Triangle persists
