Safety tips help with treehouse design

Warmer weather turns our attention to the great outdoors or, for the children, the great backyard. And sooner or later, they may request a little something extra: a treehouse.

Treehouses and other play structures are a joy for children — a place to explore, to imagine, to keep younger brothers and sisters out. Unfortunately, they can also be a source of anxiety for parents.

But with the right kind of planning and construction, play structures can prove beneficial to adults as well. According to the National Association of Realtors, outdoor spaces have become a bigger part of the “curb appeal” that attracts buyers and can even increase a home’s selling price.

We asked San Francisco artist and play structure expert Barbara Butler for her top 10 DIY safety tips on building a backyard play space for children. Whether you’re planning to build a minimansion for your mini-me, or a simpler structure that houses imagination more than amenities, it’s important to keep safety in mind.

UConsult your local building codes and file necessary building permits before starting your project. Nothing is more frustrating for you or devastating for your child than finding you have to tear down the structure when it doesn’t pass local standards. If there are no specific codes for treehouses or play structures, use building codes for backyard decks as a guide. In earthquake or hurricane areas, you may need to add tie-down hardware. Keep deck heights at a maximum of 7’ off the ground and install 3’ high railing.

UPlan your space before you build and watch out for overexposure to the sun. Try to place your structure in a shady spot.

URound all of the edges on the structure to avoid sharp corners, and sand or grind wood surfaces down to reduce the possibilities of splinters.

UAnticipate a child’s natural tendency to explore. Avoid creating any entrapments in the railing for a child’s head or torso. Avoid any gaps in railings larger than 3-1‚Ñ2” x 5-1‚Ñ2”.

UWatch nearby greenery. Keep rose bushes and other thorny, spiky plants away from the structures and, especially, keep your eyes on trees.

UMake sure overhead branches of trees are trimmed regularly, so that nothing will fall on the kids during play and keep tree branches out of reach of young arms. Nothing is more enticing to a child than the realization that if they stand on the roof or railing of a play structure, and stretch just a little, they can reach a previously unreachable upper branch. Make sure no electrical wires are within reach of the structure. Once kids get playing, they don’t stop to think whether an overhead wire is part of the play structure or not.

UUse only nontoxic materials on your structure. Use lead-free paints or stain the wood instead. Barbara suggests staining over painting, as stains are easier to maintain; paint tends to chip & peel, while stains simply fade with time.

URemove any loose additions that kids may have attached to the structure. Talk to your kids and their friends about making “additions” to the play structure and set ground rules early that adding ropes, stairs and towers won’t be tolerated.

UDesign easy ways up and down for smaller kids, as well as challenging ways for older kids.

UInspect your play structure frequently, before the spring and summer when kids start to play outside. Tighten bolts, check for damage, clean off debris and spider webs, inspect for splinters and peeling paint and check the swing hardware.

A well-built, well-maintained treehouse will amuse your children today and enchant your grandchildren in the next generation.

XFor more information, visit www.onthehouse.com.