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Building a playhouse
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10-05-2012 4:06am#1So for the last month or so, I've been building a playhouse for my almost 2 year old daughter and her 3 month old little brother. The reason I'm writing about it here is to get ideas to plan future expansions, help others build theirs, hear where I went wrong and so on.
Having very limited carpentry experience (junior cert woodwork and growing up as a carpenter's son!), I went into this project fairly blind. I didn't use any plans other than the rough plan I had in my head. For some reason I was confident.
I owned a drill, a chopsaw and a hand saw and I borrowed a skilsaw and a jigsaw from my neighbour. This was enough to do almost all of what I needed to do.
I calculated roughly what timber I would need and went down to my local hardware shop to see what I could get. What I got was 20 16ft lengths of 3x2, 8 sheets of 8x4ft 9mm plywood, 2 sheets of 8x4ft 12mm plywood and a few boxes of nails all of which cost 300 euro. It was delivered about an hour later.
Firstly I got a level surface to work on and used old tiles to create an even platform. On this I used 3x2 to make the base/floor joists. The floor plan measures 7ft by 7ft.
I then gave the base a coat of wood preservative as it would be closest to the ground. After that went in the first floor (12mm ply) and started the wall studs (3x2).
More wall studs...
Next the 2nd floor went in (12mm ply).
Then some walls went up (9mm ply).
The roof was a bit of a tricky job for one man so I drafted in a helping hand for a few hours. I made a template for the roof joists (3x2) and used 9mm ply for the roof.
Then the rest of the walls went up (9mm ply) and the roof got felted. It's fair to say I didn't enjoy the felting (it was raining every ten minutes, strong winds, felt cracks easily, adhesive is not very adhesive..) The felt and adhesive cost about 50 euro.
I used cladding on the external walls. I got a lend of a nail gun which made this job a lot quicker and easier. The cladding cost about 100 euro.
I then tidied up the roof felt and and put on some fascia boards. The fascia boards are skirting boards with the pattern cut out with a jigsaw. It was around this time that I started to wonder about the weight of this thing and the wisdom of building it in the middle of the garden knowing that I had to move it. Luckily I know six strapping young(ish) men.
So we just about managed to lift, slide and drag it into position. I had to knock down a tree and some bushes to make room. I gave it a first coat of paint (Cuprinol Garden Shades - Seagrass & Pale jasmine) and the first of the windows went in. My old man volunteered to make the windows and door. The paint cost about 50 euro.
More windows went in. I used polycarbonate for the window panes which cost me 30 euro.
When clearing the bushes in the back of the garden, I found some old decking wood in good condition left behind by previous owners of the house so it got put to good use.
So this is where I am now. On the inside the 2nd floor now overlaps half of the first floor and there is a step ladder to the 2nd floor. I was going to buy spindles for the rails outside but I was offered the use of a wood lathe so I gave it a go. I had never used one before but it turns out it's handy enough and I got them all to look (kind of) similar. Obviously I have a couple of things to finish off but it's nearly there. I calculate the cost at 530 euro + about 70 euro for miscellaneous bit and pieces so about 600 in total.
I hope they appreciate the work I put into it and look after me in my old age
EDIT: not by making me live in this thing in my old age. 15
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well done , this is fantastic. Hows the inside ? any chance of a few photos?
It's difficult to get inside images on my iphone. I think I'd need a wide angle lens.
Looking towards the dormer window.
From the dormer, towards the banisters.
Downstairs looking from the back of the stepladder towards the front door.
Just need to decorate now.0 -
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