Treehouse Playhouse Plans: Kids Playhouse on Posts, 4x4 on a 30 in Deck and 6x6 on a 5 ft Deck

Plans for a freestanding kids treehouse playhouse that needs no tree: a 4 x 4 ft house on a 30 in deck (about ages 3 to 8) and a 6 x 6 ft house on a 5 ft deck (about ages 5 to 12). Easy to follow and thorough, with lettered parts, numbered steps with one drawing each, cut and shopping lists, a kids safety sheet, surfacing quantities, a permit drawing set and CAD files.

Easy to follow, nothing left out

Every cut has a letter (A, B, C), and every step shows which lettered parts and which screws go together, so you build it like flat-pack furniture, one step at a time.

You also get dimensioned drawings, a materials and shopping list, a cost spreadsheet and CAD files, so the plans answer the questions that come up while you build.

Permit drawing set included

A permit drawing set is included, ready to adapt for your permit application; some building departments require stamped drawings. It has a site plan template, post plan, framing plan, elevations, section, details, a code reference table and a load and span basis for both builds. These are general DIY drawings with no engineer's or architect's stamp.

CAD files included

A SketchUp-ready 3D model (.dae, every board a named part) plus DXF drawings for AutoCAD, LibreCAD or FreeCAD, so you can change a size, add your yard or hand the drawings to a drafter.

What you build

Plans for a freestanding 4 x 4 ft treehouse playhouse on a 30 in deck and a 6 x 6 ft one on a 5 ft deck.

6x6 pressure-treated posts set in concrete, doubled 2x8 beams, 2x6 joists and decking, a 38 in cedar guard with 2x2 balusters, a 2x4 ladder, a 2x4-framed house clad in T1-11 siding with three-bar window guards, and a gable roof of 2x4 rafters and plywood. It does not attach to a tree.

• A kids safety sheet first: deck height capped at 30 in and 5 ft, guard 38 in, every gap under 3-1/2 in
• Guard posts bolted four times each, joist hangers at every joist end
• Ladder rungs never more than 12 in apart, with the first rung measured from the surfacing
• 9 in of safety surfacing, 6 ft past the deck, with the cubic yards on the shopping list
• A site sheet with frost depth, wind, snow and soil notes
• About 26 hours for the 4 x 4 and 40 hours for the 6 x 6, plus concrete curing

Not certified to a playground standard

These plans build in the guard, gap, ladder and surfacing numbers, but they are not tested or certified to ASTM F1148 or the CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook, and a homemade play structure is not a tested product. If you are not confident building something children will climb, buy a certified play set. Always supervise children.

What you get

• The plan PDF: kids safety sheet, dimensioned drawings, lettered parts and numbered steps with one drawing each, cut and shopping lists for both builds
• A permit drawing set for both builds
• CAD files: SketchUp-ready 3D model (.dae) and DXF drawings
• An editable materials cost spreadsheet (.xlsx) that works in Excel, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers, with a step-by-step guide to opening it in Google Sheets
• The worksheets again as printable web pages (ZIP), so you can reprint single pages any time

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