Replies

1. 
   Luka | Apr 12, 2002 05:56am | #1

   What kind of leak is it ?

   eg, is there water trickling down the branch, or does the water drip from the roof around the branch ?

   Tech service
   Write your question on the back of a 20 dollar bill and send it to me.

2. 
   RonRosa | Apr 12, 2002 05:59am | #2

   "And I thought I had heard it all." My guess is this branch angles toward the roof there by draining toward the roof. Your leak could be getting in one of a few ways.

   1. The bark is porous thus water travels under the bark and under all your efforts.

    2. Your inner tube or bark is not bonding with the tar , causing voids and channels where water can make its way through.

   3. Her x-boyfriend is unhappy about your marriage and has sabotaged your love hut.

   Best solution would be to remove branches just below roof line and omit the problem.Somehow I don't think that's what you want to hear.

   So ,scratch the inner tube and try a piece of epdm rubber roofing, long enough , maybe 8 ', clean all points to be bonded. use proper technics in application. No need to glue to tree but glue to tree house .

    Wrap epdm around branch and flare it on to roof . leave seam in epdm on bottom side. Use epdm tape on seams and caulk with proper sealant. Allow enough room for growth of tree when wrapping . Loose on bottom at tree house and tighter at top. Use a piece of epdm strip tied around the top to hold it in place instead of the clamp , this will allow the tree to grow and the epdm will grow with it.  

3. 
   RonRosa | Apr 12, 2002 06:03am | #3

   You could try diverting the flow of water from the areas where the branches go through.

1. 
   junkhound | Apr 12, 2002 07:16am | #4

   More tar always eventually works for me. Would hate to try to seal a shagbark hickory branch though.

4. 
   KwanChoi | Apr 12, 2002 08:55am | #5

   Would expanding spray foam insulation conform better to the tree and fill the nooks and crannies?  If it works, you can even shape it to suit.  But I don't know how long it will stand to weather nor how it will stand to the tree movements.  I thought a loose flashing around the branch, covering the roof and use the foam to fill the gap between the flashing and the branch.

5. 
   BossHog | Apr 12, 2002 02:48pm | #6

   My first thought after reading your post was to suggest building a real house. Your new Wife will never be happy living in a treehouse........(-:

   Truss Designer Extraordinaire

6. 
   jjwalters | Apr 12, 2002 02:59pm | #7

   If it were me instead of trying to flash an oak tree (without eventually killing it) I'd leave a nice escape hatch for the water to run down the tree in a natural way and just keep on going through the floor............expect a little water once in a while and keep the new leather lazyboy in the real house..........makes sense to me.

   There are fast carpenters who care..... there are slow carpenters who care more.....there are half fast carpenters who could care less......
1. 
   ScottMatson | Apr 12, 2002 04:01pm | #8

   This is why I haven't seen a tree option on a roofer's spec sheet for years...

7. 
   4Lorn1 | Apr 13, 2002 02:52am | #9

   Round here most trees going through roofs are semi-random, improvisational, aftermarket, additions that are installed with extremely little engineering support primarily during summer storms or other wind events. Seldom is any effort made to flash around these additions as they a generally removed as soon at possible. :)

   I saw pictures of a similar installation as yours. The guy made a ~3' diam. hole in the roof and made the floor area open to soil. He had a loose band of strap, looked like black nylon, around the trunk and screen or mosquito netting filling the space between the trunk and the roof. There was commentary that he only tried to stop the insects not the rain and that he had extra slack in the band to allow the tree to grow. It looked like he had a 6' diam area open to soil and a further 3' or so tiled so the rain wouldn't hurt anything. This was a normal single story house built on the ground so it might not be applicable. I remember the article because it looked so nice.

8. 
   Sawdaddy | Apr 14, 2002 11:37pm | #10

   Eli,

   Try visiting this website:

   http://www.treehouseworkshop.com

   There are some pretty fancy treehouses showcased there. The kind that you don't mind putting expensive furniture in.

   I'm sure they must have a good technique for the flashing that you're talking about.

   Good luck.

   -Sawdaddy

9. 
   o2briefly | Apr 20, 2021 09:17am | #11

   Used plastic strip curtain material, nailed to the tree and overlapped on the roof but not attached and allowed to move. So far, working great!!!

10. 
    chrisjacksonbest | Apr 22, 2021 09:05am | #12

    You'll need to drill two holes, including a recessed hole for the TAB's boss.