Red delicious treehouse: build a sandbox-playhouse disguised as an apple tree - Home

Sunset, April, 2003 by Peter O. Whiteley

We built this playhouse at our San Jose remodel last year and watched as touring kids oohed and aahed. The whimsical apple-tree facade masks a childsize, not-too-high-off-the-ground playhouse that shelters a bottom-level sandbox. The footprint is 5 feet square--appropriate for the backyard.

The project should take two weekends for an experienced woodworker to complete. Because of the size and weight of the components, erecting it will require the assistance of a couple of strong friends.

We used redwood for all of the wood components (other options are cedar or arsenic-free treated lumber) and a splinter-free composite-wood decking called ChoiceDek (from Weyerhaeuser; 877/235-6873) for the playhouse floor. The tree facade is oriented strand board (OSB), and the sides of our house are rough-sawn cedar plywood. A sheet of red outdoor fabric serves as the roof. Order the fabric from a local awning shop.

MATERIALS

* 5 ten-foot 4-by-4 fence posts

* 1 six-foot 4-by-4

* 9 ten-foot 2-by-6s

* 2 ten-foot 2-by-4s

* 1 ten-foot 1 -by-6

* 3 eight-foot 2-by-4s

* 2 sheets 5/8-inch OSB (oriented strand board)

* 1/4 sheet 3/4-inch particleboard

* 3 sheets 1/2-inch exterior plywood

* 5 eight-foot lengths of 1 1/2-inch wood

corner guard

* 12 ten-foot lengths of 2-by-6 composite decking

* 8 7-inch 3/4-inch carriage bolts

* 8 5 1/2-inch 3/4-inch carriage bolts

* 200 3 1/2-inch deck screws

* 100 1 1/4-inch deck screws

* 1/2 pound 1-inch exterior finish nails

* Wood glue

* 1 quart green semitransparent exterior stain

* 1 quart brown exterior paint

* 1 pint red semigloss exterior paint

* 1 quart yellow semitransparent exterior stain

* 1 gallon deck sealer

* 57- by 116-inch panel of acrylic fabric (such as Sunbrella) with grommets spread 12 inches apart along edges

* 12 cubic feet of sand

* Washers for grommets (they must be wider than the grommets)

* 2 sacks of fence-post cement (optional)

TOOLS: circular saw, table saw (optional), saber saw, electric drill, 3/8- and 1-inch paddle-blade drill bits, electric sander, carpenter's square, framing square, rasp, hammer, posthole digger, shovel, level, stepladder

COST: About $500

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut 9-foot lengths from four of the 10-foot 4-by-4 fence posts; these will be used as posts. Cut a 56-inch piece from the 6-foot 4-by-4 to serve as the ridge beam. Cut the remaining 10-foot 4-by-4 into four 30-inch pieces, then make opposing 450 miter cuts at each end; these will be used as diagonal braces.

2. Cut seven of the 2-by-6s in half to make 14 60-inch lengths; these will be used for frame crosspieces and floor joists. Rip one 60-inch piece lengthwise into three 1 1/2-inch-square backer boards for the apple-tree facade.

3. Cut the remaining two 2-by-6s into four 55-inch lengths, then make parallel 450 miter cuts at their ends; these will serve as gable rafters.

4. To join the posts at the top, cut two 57-inch and two 60-inch mitered lengths from the 10-foot 2-by-4s.

5. Assemble the rectangular, 60-inch-wide front and rear frames. Begin by using 31/2-inch deck screws to attach 60-inch mitered 2-by-4s flat to the tops of each of two pairs of posts. Attach the bottom 60-inch 2-by-6 crosspieces 12 inches from the bottoms of the posts with countersunk 5 1/2-inch carriage bolts, and use 7-inch carriage bolts to hold a pair of 2-by-6 crosspieoes at midlevel (42 1/2 inches above the bottom crosspieces), sandwiching the posts. Use 3 1/2-inch screws to attach both pairs of 30-inch 4-by-4 diagonal braces to the posts and between the midlevel crosspieces.

6. Make two gables from pairs of the 55-inch mitered 2-by-S rafters, To hold the top ends together, make two L-shaped 1/2-inch plywood brackets with 9-inch arms. Glue and screw (with 1 1/4-inch deck screws) one bracket to the inside face of each pair.

7. Center and overlay each gable on outside face of posts so gable ends project equally from both sides. Attach gables to frames with 3 1/2-inch screws.

8. To make flush surfaces to mount the facade, measure and trim 1 1/2-inch-thick backer boards as shown, and attach them with 3 1/2-inch screws to the posts of the front frame between the middle 2-by-6 crosspieces and rafters and also to the front of the top 2-by-4 crosspiece.

9. A ladderlike framework of joists will support the floorboards. Make it from four 60-inch 2-by-6s: space each of two boards about 21 1/4 inches from the ends of the two others (the joists should be about 14 1/2 inches apart); center, butt, and screw them into place using 3'/2-inch screws. This framework will secure to the front and rear posts.

10. Using saber saw, freehand cut the curvilinear tree shape from two pieces of OSB butted together on the center line of the front frame. Also cut a free-form window at the center.

11. Sand the cut edges of the "tree" halves and stain the facade green. Paint the frame brown.

12. Draw and, using saber saw, cut out twelve to fifteen 5-inch apples from the quarter sheet of p particleboard. Round apple with rasp and paint red.