How I Build an A-Frame Playhouse
Introduction: How I Build an A-Frame Playhouse
For the last few years my kids have had a small playhouse to play in, it went from on the ground to on stilts to having a decking with a slide but it was getting old and it was time for an upgrade.
My wife gave me a crude pencil drawing and sent me A LOT of Instagram and Pinterest pictures. So i pulled what was feasible from them all and came up with a simple 2.4m x 2.4m platform with a simple A-Frame house design. No doors or windows, completely open but built so the kids can imagine it as anything wanted inside.
The whole design consisted of the following key points:
* 2.4m x 2.4m deck
* 2ft of the ground
* Steps to get up and down
* Ramp to go up and down
* Depth of 5ft for the house
* Wood shingles on the roof
* Boho style and feel to the project
With that in mind i created a parts list :
* 2.4m x 2.4m decking kit
* 10 2.4m 2x3 timber for the frame
* 5 2.4m 2x3 timber for the legs
* 2 packs of cedar roof shingles (5 SqrMtr)
* 5 bags of quickcrete
* 1 bulk bag of stone
* Waterproof membrane
* Hesian/cotton type material (I used a cotton dust sheet)
* Gravel Membrane
I was incredibly lucky to have gotten in touch with the team at eDecks.co.uk who loved the idea and design of the project and wanted to get involved. They supplied The decking kit as well as the shingles for the roof however upon searching throught the Massive amount of different materials and tools they have available you can get everything you need from for this particular project in one place as well as everything you need for any project. The best part is they also have options to purchase rejected items, for example decking boards with knots in or a few scuff marks here and there. The delivery was super quick and it was dropped off in the morning with everything i needed to get going with the project.
Thank you eDecks for your support!
Head to https://www.edecks.co.uk
Lets get building
Step 1: Clearing and Prepping the Area
First thing I did was cut down the 2x3 timber into 3ft length, glued and screwed them together to create 5 posts that were 3ft long and 3x4" in diameter. I used some black outdoor paint to treat them, and help them last as long as possible.
While they were drying I removed the old playhouse and salvaged as much usable timber as possible. I removed the only house, weeds, things my kids and lost in the wilderness underneath and moved the existing stones that were there already.
Once this was all gone, I went ahead and raked all the loose soil into a flat useable space. I then placed the first post in the back left corner of the area leaving around 150mm from the wall and the fence, marked the location and dug a 1ft x 1ft hole 1ft deep. 47
I braced the post and measured 2.4m in both directions and used a string line and stakes to mark out the next two posts. I followed the same process to get the location of the 4th post. It is important to measure from corner to corner in both directions to ensure you are square.
I then ran a string line from all four corners, crossing in the middle to find my final centre post location. One i had all the locations its time to dig. When installing fence posts the rule of thumb is to dig down a third of the total height sticking out of the ground, for example a 6ft fence post should go at least 2ft into the ground meaning the post will be 8ft in total length. As the posts were sticking out of the ground 2ft I dug down 1ft and made the holes 1ft wide to be on the safe side.
After the holes were dug I rolled out the gravel membrane and cut crosses where the posts were going.
Now were ready to get building
Step 2: Setting the Posts
Setting the posts in incredible important and a step you should take time doing. DO NOT RUSH THIS PART.
I was fortunate to have a brick wall at the back of the build so I utilised that to get the same height across all four posts as the ground is not even. I marked on the wall 2ft from the ground and started in the back left corner. I put a small later of stone at the bottom of the hole for the post to sit on, put the post in the hole and braced I using some offcuts. 220