Pallet Wood Playhouse

Pallet Wood Playhouse

This project comes courtesy of my oldest son,  Keith, who built a playhouse  almost exclusively of pallet wood.

I talked about pallet wood last week claiming it as one of my favorite materials to work with. It’s free, it’s abundant and did I mention , it’s free !

Look for pallet wood next to dumpsters, on Facebook Marketplace and just discarded by the side of the road.  Some of the big box stores reuse their pallets so don’t shop there.  If there is a question whether a pallet is available, just ask.

This was my son’s backyard.  It’s long and narrow and was desperately in need of some landscaping.  This was taken when he and his family first moved in.  The previous owners had generously left a push lawnmower but it only operated by pulling it behind you instead of pushing it otherwise it would clog up and die…very weird.

I have posted previously on ideas of what you can do with a long narrow backyard  and this  playhouse was one of their first projects.  The kids do come  first.

The two little girls who I’ll be showing are my 2 granddaughters but I’m depicting them as princesses.  That is after all, who they really are.

I don’t have a full step by step DIY for this project as I only set eyes on this project when it was almost completed.  Those are the pictures when the princesses don’t appear so much.

I do have it on good authority that the girls did help design the playhouse with the use of magnetic blocks.  One block would equal one pallet.

As their playhouse was set on a hill, part of the hill was dug out to have 2 separate levels.  I see who did all the work. 😀

Each of the pallets was squared and leveled, as verified by Merida and Elsa.

The pallets were all attached to each other with 4 inch deck screws.

Start assembling your boxes.  You do not need to decide where windows and doors will go just yet.  Those can be cut out at a later time.

They obviously did’t need a completed playhouse to begin having fun.

Add a roof platform and cut out the doors and windows.  This is where pallets are extremely useful, they already have that center piece for support.

 

If there is a lot of space between the boards on your decking, you will have to fill those in with more pallet boards.

Now for my pictures.  I know it’s still a job in progress, but I wanted to show you as much as I could on how it was put together.

Overall, it took about 11 pallets and a few other supporting pieces.

The pallets themselves are used as ladders to get to the second level.

Little by little this long narrow back yard has been changing.  Other than the playhouse, a row of bushes has been planted along the right side  of the yard  and will eventually cover the chain link fence.  Two trees are now planted in front of the playhouse.  And not seen is a vegetable garden along the left side fence and a brick and stone patio nearer to the house.

When I asked my son for any pictures of the playhouse currently so I could do this post, he used that as an excuse to complete some of the finishing details such as the shingles on the roof.  These were cut from some old fencing left behind by the previous owners.  Each shingle is about 10″ long and attached with a nail gun.

Close up detail of the top level railing.  This too was made from leftover fencing.  Cut out the decorative detail with a jigsaw or scroll saw.

The railing is about 24″ in height and this side was left open for access to the pallet wood ladder.  You could also install a slide if you like.

Special thanks to Keith, Merida and Elsa for sharing their playhouse.  If you have any construction questions, feel free to ask and I’ll run them by the happy homeowner

Until next time, stay inspired.