As a kid, I always wanted to have a wooden tree house. I had the perfect tree in my sights, a big Scots pine with thick, broad branches. The tree house would stretch around the trunk, supported by its great arms on four sides. In my mind’s eye I could see it clearly: a trap door in the timber floor with a rope ladder dangling down to the needle covered ground; a wooden wall all around, over which I could keep a sharp eye out for advancing enemies, and a small, roofed hut where I could sit and eat my sandwiches.
Tree houses, I thought back then, were easy to build, just some old planks and a few nails. I couldn’t understand why my dad found the prospect of building one rather daunting. I do now, of course. Tree houses need to be solidly built, the initial parts assembled whilst standing on a ladder; dad wasn’t keen on ladders at the best of times. If he had followed my limited advice on structural engineering and conquered his fear of ladders, I would have had a very unsafe tree house, which a strong wind would most likely have brought crashing down. So it’s probably for the best that I never got my tree house, alas.
But if my dad had been a professional carpenter, things would have been different, even if there wasn’t a tree to build a tree house in. How’s that? He would have simply made a tree, or to be more precise, used thick, round, treated tree-sized poles to build the tree house on.
Here on the Costa Blanca, sturdy broadleaf trees are in short supply; therefore, the latter option will most likely be the best – unless you’re blessed with a big tree.
Based inland on the Costa Blanca, near Pinoso and Abanilla, professional carpenters Woodworks Direct can build you a solid, long-lasting tree house. Using only best quality timber treated against pests and the elements, they will construct the tree house to your own design, or offer sound advice on what would best suit your requirements.
Kids love little hide-a-ways to meet with their buddies, so don’t hold off the decision and get a tree house built before they grow up. Eventually they will become kids again, like me, and maybe you? Then they can climb into the old lofty perch with their own children and relive wonderful memories over a tin of Coke and a packet of crisps – and you can always invite me to join you. Please?
