Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 1 – Planning

Building our son a modern playhouse required planning and prep work. This post explains how I got started and includes the cut list I used for the deck and framing.

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When stay-at-home orders were put into place in our area, numerous travel and overall life plans were quickly crushed. Fortunately, as a toddler, E was oblivious to the changes. I, on the other hand, was feeling quite anxious and in need of control. My solution – build something!

In hopes of keeping E entertained at home, and out of trouble in the backyard, I poured my energy into finalizing some playhouse plans for him. I was always impressed by the AudoCad-like image used by Ana White and other DIY woodworkers. After a little bit of googling, and several YouTube tutorials – I finally figured out how to use the free version of SketchUp!

For someone like me, who likes to plan out every cut and joint of a project – SketchUp is perfect. It took a few hours over several days, but I created a scaled, digital model of the playhouse I planned to build. By planning the playhouse in SketchUp, I was able to avoid a lot of mistakes that otherwise wouldn’t have been realized until building (like accounting for the thickness of the siding).

DISCLAIMER: This post contains a description of our building process. I cannot make guarantees regarding the safety of this play structure. Before building, please consult with a professional regarding materials and weight limits.

Knowing what cuts would be needed, I spent a lunch break figuring out how to maximize common board lengths. After my shopping list was finalized, I called our local lumber supply and arranged for a delivery (which also included the needed lag bolts and construction screws).

It felt risky, but I opted to make all cuts before assembling the playhouse. I grouped the boards by size, measured, and marked where cuts needed to be made. To account for the kerf of the blade, I measured from the outsides inward whenever using a single board for multiple cuts (with an “X” indicating scrap pieces – which you can faintly see in the photo above).

After the cuts were made, we began building the deck and assembling the walls for our modern playhouse!

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Playhouse Made Modern – Deck & Framing

Equipment and lumber used to build the deck and framework of our DIY playhouse.

Equipment

• Miter saw
• Pencil
• Combo Square
• Tape measurer
• Impact Drill
• Drill
• Drill bit (for lag screw pilot holes)
• Kreg Jig
• Shovel
• Level

Materials

Deck

• 4 – 4×4 Pressure Treated 48"
• 18 – 2×6 @ 92 5/8" (stud length)
• 1 – 2×4 @ 92 5/8" (stud length)
• 5 – 2×6 @ 93"
• 8 – 2×4 @ 21" w/ 45° inward angles each end
• 3.5" Lag screws
• 2.5" Decking screws
• 2 – 50lb bag Concrete

Walls

• 13 – 2×4 @ 56"
• 4 – 2×4 @ 57"
• 4 – 2×4 @ 64"
• 3 – 2×4 @ 88.5"
• 2 – 2×4 @ 48"
• 1 – 2×4 @ 16"
• 1 – 2×4 @ 21"
• 2 – 2×4 @ 10"
• 2 – 2×4 @ 16"
• 1 – 2×4 @ 56.5"
• Approx. 200 – 2.5" Kreg Screws (Blue Kote)
• Approx. 30 – 2.5" Decking screws

Roof

• 4 – 2×4 @ 10'
• 8 – 2×2 @ 20"
• 4 – 2×2 @ 21"
• 24 – 2.5" Kreg Screws – Blue Kote
• Approx. 16 – 2.5" Decking screws

Notes

This list is only the materials used for the deck and framework. It does not include materials needed for siding, roofing, or the railing. 

This is my first time writing up a full materials and cut list. Please don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions or find an error with the materials list!