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

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. 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

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. Making sure the top of the post was level with the mark on the wall, i made sure the post was square and plumb.

Postcrete works by first filling the hole around 1/3rd of the way up and then adding the postcrete in while ensuring it mixes well. Once the mix is in check the square and plumb again and move on. Postcrete sets in about 20mins so is perfect for this type of application. Using a long spirit level i moved the mark on the wall 2.4m from the outside of the first post to the back right corner. I placed the stone and the post on the hole, measured 150mm from the wall and repeated the process ensuring the post was level with the mark, square and plumb.

Using string lines, a stringline level and a tape measure you can locate the locations of the other two corners. I recommend putting both the two front posts on before adding postcrete to either, that was if either one out of square, you can move it before adding the postcrete. Remember to measure from corner to corner. On a 2.4m x 2.4m square you corner to corner measurement should 339.4cm, 3.394m or 11.136ft.

Once I had all four corners in and concreted in I decided to leave the last (centre) post until the decking base was on, this was you can brace it to the decking rather than measuring and potentially having it land in an awkward position under the deck. Seemed logical to me anyway.

The decking kit from eDecks.co.uk comes with the decking board, the joists and frame pieces and the fixing kit which is all the screws needed for putting it together. The link below will take you directly to it.

https://www.edecks.co.uk/products/15557/363/1434/0/Standard-120mm-Redwood-Decking-Kit-2-4m-x-2-4m-(No-Handrails)

The frame was super easy to install and super quick at the same time. You can see from the time-lapse video below that eDecks has put together just how simple it is.

Once the deck frame was together I moved it over to the posts laid it down and squared it up the corners of each post. I used metal brackets to connect it securely before adding in the final centre post which was braced between two of the joists and secured in the ground using the same method as in the previous step.

Once it was all square and level I then added the decking boards running in the opposite direction that the joists were running with around a 5mm gap between each board. This is important to note if you have a preferred direction that you want the boards to run. I recommend pre drilling the holes in the boards before adding two screws to each end of each board.

With the kit I also received 8 fascia boards which i mitred the front corner for a cleaner look but ran to the edges of the other two corners. The other 6 boards were then used for the ramp and for the stairs but will get to that in future steps.

Once the deck was in, which took around an hour, it was time to start the frame of the house.

The A-Frame house consists of 6 pieces of 2x3 timber to create 3 A-shaped pieces. The two sides are 2.3m and the bottom goes from edge to edge therefore sits at 2.4m wide. The depth of the house is 1.5m making a large space for the kids to play with a centre height of 2m.

The 3 frames are secured to the deck edges with the screws going through the frame, deck board, and into the deck frame its self. There are bracing pieces between each frame at the top and two in each section going down. Doing it this way has created a very solid structure.

I used glue and screws on all joints to give it as much strength as possible.

Once the main frame was built I then added smaller battens every 1ft down both sides of the frames to give me something to secure the shingles to.

Adding the shingles to the roof was super simple. The shingles are 16" long, have one edge super thin and the other around 10mm thick, they are supplied in bundles of random sizes and are treated so will last a long time. I used a nail gun with thin pins to secure them to the battens I added every 1ft starting from the bottom meaning there is a 4" overlap on each.

For the top, I cut small 6" long pieces from the thick end of the shingle and butt them up against each other to create the top layer.

For the front, I found as many 4" wide pieces as I could and followed the same nailing pattern cutting a mitre at the top so it looks neat. I did have to trim a few pieces but was very easy with a stanley knife.

For the material, I used a large painter's cotton dust sheet to cover a plastic sheet that is stapled to the frame underneath. This makes the house waterproof and gives a nice boho-style theme to the house.

Due to the positioning of the house, I only needed to use two of the fascia boards meaning I was able to use the remaining to create the ramp on the left-hand side and the stairs at the front.

For the ramp, I used four boards and created supports underneath using leftover treated timber from the previous playhouse.

For the stairs, I decided on the angle and the number of stairs I wanted. I cut the stringers to the right length and then marked out three equal spaces and screwed the two stair treads in from the outside adding glue to the joint. The fidley part was measuring, cutting and adding the two floating pieces in the center. I wanted them to sit back slightly to provide support but also not cut the stairs in half.

After this, the stones were added to finish the project.

Now that the outdoor rug and small bench have been added the project is done and the kids love it.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.

Thanks for following the build.