Build your own playhouse easily

Make your children and yourself happy. Build your own playhouse – the children have their own kingdom and you can relax on the terrace.

What you need:

Wooden beam 8 x 8 cm
wood stain
screws
metal bracket
hinges
dowel
tongue and groove boards
bitumen shingles

Plans and materials for a playhouse

First, decide how big you want the playhouse to be. Here you include the size and number of children who want to play in the house at the same time. Your place in the garden is another criterion that is decisive for the size.

If the playhouse is to be outdoors, use weather-resistant wood such as Douglas fir, at least for the floor and roof. You then erect the floor slab on so-called point foundations . In this way you ensure a high durability of the playhouse. The basic structure of the house consists of wooden beams. So you build all the corners, the roof frame, door and window frames and floor supports yourself from beams. To connect, use long screws and metal brackets..

You can then cover this scaffolding with boards. So that the house doesn’t look like a boring garden shed , the children can now help themselves. Maybe you don’t want all the side walls to be accurate and straight, or the windows have an unusual shape. The roof can be an accessible balcony with a railing made of round rods. Just go with the imagination of the children and realize all realizable wishes.

The same applies to the colors. Leave the coloring to your children. However, make sure that you only use paints and glazes that are free of chemicals. In specialist shops you can get products that are specially approved for children’s toys or playgrounds.

Rubber mats are a good choice for flooring in the house and on the roof. These are non-slip and soft. But you can also choose another hard-wearing, soft covering.

Building a house on stilts yourself is not that difficult. So that you know how it works…

Build the base yourself

In these building instructions, you will learn how to build a stable framework for the children’s playhouse yourself. This framework is stable enough in terms of statics. The fairing and trimmings can then be freely attached to it.

Mark out the terrain. Use a plumb line to mark out the footprint of the playhouse in the garden.
Make point foundations. You need a foundation at the corners and every 60 centimeters. In the middle of the floor area, the distance between the foundations should not be more than 80 centimeters. Not all foundations have to be concreted. Washed concrete slabs are perfectly adequate as a support surface for smaller buildings.
Align bars. Now place beams on the foundations at a distance of 60 centimeters and align them with the spirit level. Fix the two outer beams to the foundations with dowels.
Set the corner beams. At each of the corners screw a bar vertically with metal brackets and long screws. Then mount the roof beams all around on these two beams. You then have a rectangle of bars.
Insert intermediate beam. At a distance of about 50 centimeters, you now use more vertical beams as supports. Also screw these to the frame with brackets and long screws.
Set window and door frames. At the points where the door and/or the window should be, the distance can also be larger or smaller. Screw the top and bottom beams of the window and door horizontally between the support beams.
Install roof beams. Saw the roof beams about 60 centimeters longer than the width of the house. How to get a canopy. If you want to build a larger porch, you will need additional support for the overhanging roof beams. The distance between the bars is about 50 centimeters. Screw all wood with angles.
improve stability. The basic framework is now complete. If the basic structure is not yet completely stable, additional sloping struts can be attached in the corners.
Dress up the house . Now screw the boards to the scaffolding. Tongue and groove boards are best for nice smooth walls. If the house is going to be a pirate castle, then natural, rough-sawn wood is better. You only make no compromises when it comes to the floor and the roof. It is best to use decking boards for this.
Seal the roof. To prevent water from penetrating through the roof, stick bitumen sheeting or another waterproof foil to the boards.
Install doors and windows. Doors and windows can be made of different materials. Plexiglas, wood or metal are common materials. But maybe the kids just want curtains or shutters.
Paint the wood. Finally, paint the wood with suitable glazes and paints.