Thursday, June 30, 2011

Kids Playhouse Plans – Double Fun With A Two Story


playhouse plans What do you do when your children insist on having a playhouse and not just any playhouse, a two story playhouse? Well build it for them of course after you have tried every which way possible to dissuade them from the idea! This article focuses on some interesting facts about kids’ playhouse plans for a two story playhouse. Once you get used to the idea, you will become quite excited about the project because a two story playhouse plans is not to be found very often.

Playhouse Plans

To begin with building a two story playhouse is not at all a difficult task. What you will need to do is first go online and look at designs and kids’ playhouse plans to see which one fits the bill for your requirements. Once you have the plans, if it is a free site you can download them to your computer and print them off. Some sites charge for the playhouse plans but it is still worth it as they are far less expensive than getting a professional to draw them for you. An added benefit in buying them online is that they come complete with instructions, materials to be used and the tools you will need. You can also get tips and safety instructions included in the pack.

Finalized the Playhouse Plans

Once the playhouse plans is finalized and don’t forget the important part, involving your kids in the selection, it is after all their playhouse, get on to your zoning office and find out if you need permission or a license to carry out the construction. You may need to contact the municipality for the license so ensure all the formalities are completed before you hammer the first nail.
Now pick a spot in the garden, make sure you find as level a place as possible for the playhouse with good soil drainage and the least amount of plants and greenery. Clear the area and rake it over good to level it even further.
Measure off the boundary line and drive in your stakes to mark the perimeter and tie thick string or twine between them. Then make the frame and nail it together. Treat the wood a sealant and waterproof it. Put a plastic or polythene sheet on the ground and put the frame on top of it. Once this is done you can move on to nailing in place the corner posts then the inside posts. The walls are best made out of full sheet plywood that is cut to size and nailed firmly in place. It is best to waterproof all the wood to be on the safe side. You can nail strips of wood between the joists for additional support.
Make sure that all windows, the more the merrier, are marked and cut out of the walls before they go up and similarly for the front wall the doorway has to be cut out. Use two by four pieces of wood to fashion the door frame and the window frames. Make a header and bottom ridge for the doorway.
Then move on to painting and decorating the play house and here your children will be only too glad to get stuck in so give them free reign.

Kids Outdoor Playhouse Plans


kids outdoor playhouse Are you feeling frustrated because you can’t tear your children away from the television? Do you want them to play outdoors and get some fresh air? Children today seem quite content to spend their time in front of the television when they have nothing exciting to do. This article will outline for you a fantastic idea on how to get your children outdoors. Build them an kids outdoor playhouse that they can have hours of fun with.

Kids Outdoor Playhouse is what they want!

Children are by nature fun loving and hyper active, to say nothing of being adventurous and great actors. If you get yourself a set of kids outdoor playhouse plans and build them a kids outdoor playhouse, they will be absolutely thrilled with the idea. No more make believe with cardboard boxes and playing under the living room table.
You can get the children involved in the project and stimulate their learning and creativity. When they are outdoors they remain active and healthy, something they are not going to be if they are seated in front of a television or computer all the time. So go online and find a set of kids’ outdoor playhouse plans and get started on building them a kids outdoor playhouse.
You can find an interesting array of kids outdoor playhouse plans that include all the instructions for building the playhouse, the tools you will need and the materials you will use. Take a walk around your garden and find a good sheltered spot, preferably at the bottom of the garden, so that they feel a sense of freedom and at the same time you get to keep an eye on them unobtrusively. Another consideration when choosing the ideal spot is to make sure it gets plenty of natural light, otherwise you may have the added chore of putting in electricity.

Pick the best Kids outdoor Playhouse plans

When deciding on the type of kids’ outdoor playhouse plans you want to use, consider what sort of house you want to build, something out in the open or a sort of hideaway playhouse to add to the spirit of adventure. Make sure that your design does not conflict with your existing structures. When you select the site think about the seasonal changes and weather conditions and what effect if any they will have on the playhouse. Call your local zoning office and check on whether you will require municipal permission to put up the structure.
There are a large number of designs and playhouse styles available on the internet so take the time to browse and research thoroughly to pick the best one that satisfies all the criteria detailed above. The kids’ outdoor playhouse plans that you choose should blend in with your existing structure and also be something your children are going to enjoy. The playhouse may not quite match your house but that’s alright, some contrast will make it more interesting. Get your children to vote on the final decision of which design to go with. Think about the inside and the type of furniture you will need to buy; maybe you can put in drop down seating or get a kid’s table and chairs; beanbags for seating is another option you can consider.
Whatever you choose let it reflect your children’s taste and imagination!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Free Plans For Outside Playhouse – Making A Fort


outside playhouse The kids are restless and watching too much TV or else they are glued to the computer or the video games. You want them outside enjoying the fresh air and getting some exercise. In your day kids played outdoors and were rarely stuck indoors! You are looking at all that garden space and suddenly it hits you – why don’t you build them a outside playhouse, something of their own where they can play and have friends over. If you build it outdoors at the end of the garden they could very well start world war III and it won’t disturb your peace and quiet.
When you have an all boy’s contingent or even girls who want to be boys, their ideas about what they want for a playhouse seldom conform to yours. Ask them because it is going to be their play space. If your kids want a fort, you can easily get a set of free plans for outside playhouse from the internet. Don’t rush it, take the time to find a really good site that provides you with instructions that you can easily follow and lots of other tips and advice. Make sure that the materials list is included.

Pick a spot for you Outside Playhouse

Pick a spot in your garden, level the ground, lay out your materials and tools and get started. Building a fort for your kids is not a very time consuming or expensive affair and you will earn the undying gratitude of the children. Keep it simple, you can always decorate once the basic structure is in place.

Prepare all the things needed in building Outside Playhouse

Follow the instructions given with your plans for the outside playhouse and use plywood to construct the fort playhouse. Make sure your measurements are accurate and that the fort is wide enough for your children and their friends to play in it. You will need to buy sandpaper, brown paint, waterproof paint, hinges with screws and some heavy rocks or concrete blocks, all available at your local hardware store.
Prepare your materials and tools and it is advisable to factor in a floor for the fort playhouse, otherwise your kids will be tracking sand into the house every time they play in their fort and it will be worse when it rains because then you will have a house full of mud.
Your first job will be to sand down the wood to remove the splinters, and then line up the walls and mark them off at equidistant points. Screw in your metal hinges and then stand up the walls. Now move on to the base; with the outsides standing upright put the plywood in the center of the walls and make sure that the entire structure is level. Now fix the metal brackets to the floor first at four points and then to the walls.
You could always make a more permanent structure by digging holes and inserting posts, then pouring concrete over it and leaving it to set. Then the fort structure is constructed inside the joists and firmly nailed in place. This will give the structure more permanence. When all of this is completed you can start painting the fort and I’m sure you will have many willing hands to help you when you begin and liberally paint spattered children when you end!

Playhouse Building Plans – Easy Solutions

playhouse building plans Your children are at an age where they need a place to play on their own; you are tired of finding them under the table or inside a cardboard carton or you just want them outdoors while you have a quiet read. Whatever the reason and there are plenty for sure, building a playhouse for them will make everybody happy. 

Online Playhouse Building Plans

There are plenty of online sites that provide free playhouse building plans and there a several sites that charge very nominal amounts for a set of playhouse building plans that comes complete with plans, materials list, instructions and pictures, safe working practices and tips, all for as little as $5. You need to spend some time browsing the internet to find the best option for your children.
If you plan to bring in the professionals then you can choose an elaborate design and go for broke; however, if you are planning to build the playhouse yourself it is advisable to choose something less flamboyant, a design that is easy to follow and simple to build. You can always add embellishments to make it look grand once the basic structure is completed.

Choose a durable Playhouse Building Plans

Choose a playhouse building plans that is sturdy and durable, your aim when building should be for it to last a good few years and provide much pleasure for your children. Always make sure that the playhouse is big enough to house a group of children comfortably because your children will have friends over to play. At the same time the playhouse should not be so big that it conflicts with the main house or spoils the look of your garden.
When building the playhouse you will need to make provision for storage space so that your kids can store that books and games in the playhouse. The room should be wide enough to take a table for the children to use for their activities and chairs or beanbags for seating. If the space is not too large, you could always make provision for seating by fixing drop down seats affixed to the walls.
When buying the lumber, buy good quality wood and if need be you can give them the measurements and they are sure to oblige you by cutting it for you. For the exterior walls and roof a less expensive and more durable alternative is cement fiberboard. It makes it less complicated if you use the same material for both. In its favor cement fiberboard siding is easily available and growing rapidly in popularity. A user friendly, strong product that is fire, insect and rot resistant and the best thing about it is that it looks good. As cement fiberboard can pose a health risk it is best to get all possible information about it before you buy it.
Some safe working practices you can apply to your building project:
• Always make sure you have ample ventilation when working outdoors
• Before using your circular saw make that the dust bag is attached to it.
• Wear a dust mask
• Check the material safety sheet provided by the manufacturer before using it.
Take every precaution when following the playhouse plans and happy building!

Playhouse Plans – Building Right

playhouse plans Your kids are demanding a playhouse, ‘because every one has one daddy’, so what do you do? Wondering where to start and how to please all the kids? Tough one all right! Use the tips in this article to put up a playhouse your children will love and become a hero in their eyes while you are at it.

Online Playhouse plans

You can find lots of sites online that offer playhouse plans, some for free and some for a price. If you don’t find what you are looking for, there’s always the option of building a playhouse with a plan that comes right out of your head, if you are good at carpentry that is.
Before you start building it is recommended that you consult your kids to find out what their ideas are regarding the playhouse. Sure pandemonium will reign but you can get them organized and let them tell you what they want. This really should be the basis of your construction because at the end of the day the play house if for them. Moreover their involvement will make them feel important.

Here are some guidelines to consider when making your playhouse plans.

• The most important aspect of the playhouse is safety. Your children who no doubt are extremely precious to you will be playing inside a great deal of the time and you don’t want their safety compromised in any way. If you choose solid materials to build the playhouse the weight alone will hold it down steady. Of course you can always give it additional support should you so desire.
• Always choose a spot in the garden that is far away from the house for starters because of the noise levels that are sure to emanate from inside. Also make sure that when you construct the playhouse it is turned away from the direction of the wind.
• Level the spot you have chosen by raking it over and clearing away all the debris and small stones; it is advisable to choose the most level spot you can find to start off with. You don’t want to end up with a lopsided playhouse now do you? Once this is done, you can start on your playhouse plans. Most plans recommend 2×6 joists made of treated lumber, you will have to take careful measurements and lay them out correctly before nailing them together. You could put plywood sheeting over the joists to give the kids a smooth surface to walk on.
• The next step in the playhouse plans will be the walls, which you will need to build similar to the walls of any house. It is best to create them as individual walls and then put them up by nailing them in place. Once the walls are up move on to the roof, most playhouse plans suggest a gabbled roof, make sure you take into consideration the climatic conditions of the place where you live and the fact that your kids will be climbing onto the roof at some point. Then move on to decking or adding plywood panels to the roof and sheathing adding plywood panels to the walls. A tin roof, vinyl roof, roof felt and asphalt are the options for completing the roof.
Now that the playhouse has been successfully completed, move on to painting and there’s no limit really to what you can do in terms of finishing touches.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Free Backyard Playhouse Plans

Free Backyard Playhouse Plans

Children of today are quite savvy in terms of knowing what they want. As they grow they need their own space and the age at which they need a place to call their own seems be getting younger with each passing year. As a parent, giving your child a playhouse that is their very own is one of the best things you could do for the child. Building the playhouse project is a huge learning experience for the child and its involvement in selecting the design, color scheme and interior decoration is actually a form of learning made fun.
Observe children when they play, they are always wanting to play inside cardboard cartons, under tables, making tents out of the bedclothes and constructing their own makeshift structures in the garden. This comes from an innate sense of wanting a space to call their own and to play in, and the perfect solution is a playhouse.
You don’t have to set aside a huge budget; the project can be completed quite economically in fact. Go online and find a simple free playhouse plans that you can download and print out. The sites give full information on how to go about building the playhouse as well as covering the tools and materials you will need.
The important thing is to choose the right location taking into consideration the climatic changes over the seasons, wind chill factor, aesthetics and levelness of the ground. The design you choose should be simple because that will make it easy to build and also it should not clash too badly with the house or any other structures you may have in your garden. That is why the backyard is the best place to put the playhouse, not too close to the main house so the child has his or her privacy and is at the same time close enough to the house to call out if help is needed.
When you opt for free playhouse plans taken off the internet you save on the cost of having them drawn up by a professional. Moreover, since the site provides you with a materials list and instructions on how to build, you don’t need to pay for outside labor. It can be a do it yourself project that you can involve the whole family in.
Keep in mind that you need to make the structure as secure as possible because children are not the gentlest of creatures at times. Get all your tools and materials together, stake out the perimeter of the site to set up the boundary line and build your frame. Put a sheet of polythene on the ground before you lay the frame down, to prevent plants from growing up under the playhouse. Follow the instructions you have downloaded together with your free playhouse plans and start construction. Keep a sturdy tarp handy to cover your work when the day is done, this will guard against any sudden squalls of rain you may have.
Using good quality wood and waterproofing after painting is highly recommended. Good luck with your free playhouse plans.

Castle Playhouse Plans – Grand Ideas

Castle Playhouse Plans – Grand Ideas

When your children decide that no ordinary playhouse will do for them, only a castle playhouse, you are stumped! Oh boy, what do you do in this case? Buying the plans and paying for labor and materials is going to cost a packet that you simply cannot afford. There’s an easy solution, this article details tips on how you can build a castle playhouse and you can always get free castle playhouse plans off the internet.
Log on to your internet browser and get started. You will find plenty of pictures and even plans that detail the step-by-step process of building the playhouse. Don’t forget to make it big enough to hold half the neighborhood children, because it’s going to be a huge crowd puller.
Stock up on building supplies and tools and get going. Plywood is ideal for building the playhouse and you can add turrets and whatnots to make it look good. Find yourself a good helper, preferably someone who knows their way around carpentry tools and building materials. You can plan the measurements in advance and ask the store to cut the sheets for you to the required lengths. Don’t forget to buy some extra plywood for the crenellated top of the castle.
When building the castle playhouse use wooden stakes nailed or screwed to the insides of the frame and sunk deep into the ground, this will provide additional support and strength to the structure. All through the building keep in mind the fact that a horde of kids are going to be swarming all over the castle playhouse, so use reinforcements for additional support wherever possible.
Moving on to the construction, you will need to paint the plywood sheets gray (castle color). Paint over a second time and each time you paint let it dry well. Once completely dry after the second coat, you should pencil in the blocks and use a darker shade of gray to paint over the markings to give it the stone blocks effect. You should end with a coat of waterproof sealant and leave to dry.
Then build the frame and waterproof it. After it is dry you can start nailing the walls to the frame, needless to say the walls too should be painted and waterproofed before you put them up. You can make the front of the castle as decorative and attractive as you choose but follow your castle playhouse plans carefully because you definitely do not want a funny looking entrance to the castle.
You could paint the roof and drawbridge of the castle the same color and then waterproof them and let it dry. Make sure when fixing the ropes for the drawbridge that they are at the right height for a child to pull on to raise and lower the drawbridge. Don’t forget to add colorful pennants to the castle walls. You can use felt or vinyl of bright colors for the pennants; staple them to wooden dowels, drill holes in the frame and glue them into the holes.
Well now, your castle playhouse is ready, so lower the drawbridge, throw open wide the castle doors and bring on the kids!