DIY Modern Clubhouse
After spending a year researching how to build a DIY clubhouse/playhouse, we did it!
I knew we wanted something for the kids to play on in the backyard and a DIY clubhouse fit the bill perfectly. Read on to see how we did it!
I spent a ton of time researching prefabricated playhouses and play sets first and I was really taken aback by cost compared to what you get. Not to mention monkey bars and swings may sooner be outgrown than a cool spacious hang out!
Finding something with a touch of Mid Century Modern flair was not in the cards with the pre-fab route either.
We looked into having someone build a custom clubhouse for us. And we had fair prices quoted to us. But being frugal by nature I couldn’t imagine spending all that extra on labor when I knew we (like how I keep saying we?) could probably build it ourselves.
Once the DIY option was settled on I scoured the internet for some examples of how to build this thing. There really weren’t a ton of thorough breakdowns. I had in my mind that when this project was over, I would provide that thorough breakdown on my own blog.
But I’m afraid over 6 months later and with all the little tweaks to the plan here and there…I am not going to be your source for the most complete directions.
If you are looking for a very in-depth tutorial, I truly can’t recommend The Handmade Home enough. The basis of our project came from their lovely “handmade hideaway” (mostly the orignal but I also stalked the amaaaazing 2.0). I spent hours on their blog going over steps and options and we just tweaked as we went to suit our needs and taste.
I did keep all of our receipts so at the end of this post I’ll give a cost breakdown so you know the ballpark!
That was a huge question mark for me when researching and I didn’t feel like many bloggers explained what they spent. For the record I am really happy with how on-budget this project turned out!
Check out my amateur and completely not to scale drawing of a general concept for the clubhouse. Amazingly my husband took this (and the handmade hideaway steps) and made it happen!
Despite the notes on my drawing, our base or “floor” is 8×10 total and built with 2×8’s. Building the base was the very first step, even before setting the 4×4 posts in concrete.
As you can see above, the base acted as a sort of guide for the posts. By keeping it at ground level and screwing it (temporarily) to the posts, they were held sturdy as the concrete set.
You don’t have to use concrete though–I found tons of tutorials with playhouses simply set on top of pavers. We just did it for a little extra stability.
Winter wasn’t the best time to take on this project but it was a Christmas gift and we were lucky with quite a few mild Nov/Dec weekends. There was lots of watching out the window while daddy and nice helpers worked!
After the posts were set, the base area was moved up and lag bots used to secure. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and don’t pick a deck height at random if you plan on having a slide.
Slides come designed for only a FEW ideal heights, and we learned this the hard way trying to find a slide after the entire playhouse was built.
The floor was laid with deck boards and the wall frames are 2×4’s.
I could not wrap my head around framing out windows. I was trying to keep a running “cut list” but when we got to this part I was out. I’m the person that has to say things like “measure twice cut once” out loud repeatedly during projects like this.
Thankfully my husband blew through putting up the walls with two perfect little windows on each short side.
The walls are just plywood. We considered fence boards but the sheets were so affordable and quick and added a little of the modern look we wanted. The plywood does need to be screwed down anywhere you get a chance and primed, painted, and poly coated to prevent warping.
We have some slight bowing thanks to winter weather hitting us before we had a chance to do all of the above but nothing too bad.
Next up was a cross between a staircase and a ladder (using mostly scraps) and the railing.
The roof proved to be the most challenging part of the clubhouse. Attaching scraps of the 4×4 posts at the inside of each of the corners of the clubhouse added height and the Mid Century slant we wanted.
Handy hubby figured out how to build it and then we looked at options for actual roofing material before landing on one of my favorite features–the see through polycarbonate panels! They are barely tinted grey.
We were lucky to have paint on hand in the exact color scheme of our house since we had just had it painted that fall. I got busy getting paint on before serious winter set in and Travis added the slide and safety handles.
The slide is ultimately just a fast slide. If we had known to build the deck 6 inches lower, we would have, but what can you do? We struggled to find a slide meant for this height other than a few that got into several hundreds of dollars and would have actually been too slow.
We opted for a steeper affordable slide over an overprices slide with hardly any incline. This can of course be avoided by buying a slide first and building to the recommended height 🙂
Our kids have taken right to it but if a new friend comes over they get a little surprise the first time down! Wooooo!
This DIY modern clubhouse has brightened up our backyard so much. Next week I’ll be posting a tour of all the inside details and some sprucing up for summer.
Cost Breakdown
Lumber total = $465.80
Hardware total = $92.65
Slide = $68.88
Safety handles = $19.98
Suntuf solar grey panels = $89.91
Concrete mix = $20.94
Drill bits = $15.26
Steering wheel = $10.06
Battery string lights = $14.99
Rope = $11.95
Cleat (to tie off pulley rope) = $5 estimated, lost receipt
Pulley = $9.37
Bucket = $12 estimated, lost receipt
Telescope = $14.95
$851.74
Plus tax would be around $920
I had hoped we’d keep it under $1000 but wasn’t sure if that was possible! Paint would have put us over the limit but we also spent on telescope, lights, bucket pulley and steering wheel which weren’t must-haves.
We had a picnic dinner just tonight out in the clubhouse and I am looking forward to many years of memories. If you have been considering a DIY clubhouse for your own backyard I hope this inspires you to go for it!
