One final touch in the treehouses was creating this log staircase. With the help of the Durham parks department, we located the perfect log standing dead in a city park. Post oak is known to be quite rot resistant and as its name implies, traditionally used for fence posts. A standing dead tree was really perfect because the wood was off the ground and dry, limiting decay. It had dried enough that checking and warping of the wood was limited after carving, and was ready to accept fungicide and finish.
The first step after the log was on site was to cut it to length, and peel the bark off. Then I power-washed to remove the fibrous inner bark. After drying, the log was treated with timbor fungicide to lengthen it's useful life outdoors. With a chainsaw, I cut out the notch where the log bears on the treehouse deck, and cut the bottom flat. We installed the log with a bobcat, and after cutting the steps, I poured a concrete footing underneath. Fun stuff!
