Building a playhouse - tips

Building a playhouse is a project that's on many to-do lists. It might be a dream for children more than for their parents, but there are advantages for the whole family - the children can have their own space at a reasonable distance from their parents, but are close enough for the parents to be able to keep an eye on them. 

Building a playhouse is a reasonable project for most people. Both the cost and effort are manageable. Why not get your children involved? For example, they could help cast the concrete supports or paint the playhouse. That's if you don't want to make the playhouse a nice surprise, and reveal it to your children when it's ready.

Building a playhouse by yourself

Building a playhouse from scratch all by yourself means that you can do whatever you like. You can simply do what suits you and your needs best. However, this requires that you know what you're doing and aren’t a beginner. Another advantage of building the house yourself is that buying all the components yourself helps keep the final cost down. Buying a finished playhouse is, however, much easier and faster, but usually a bit more expensive than building one yourself or buying a ready-to-assemble kit.

Building a playhouse from a construction kit

Buying a playhouse in a kit gives you the best of both worlds. It's easier to predict the cost and to get a good result. Polhus construction kits are designed to make it easy even if you've never done any building before. If you do happen to get stuck, Polhus' construction experts are always happy to help and are only a phone call away during the entire construction process.

With turnkey kits from Polhus, you can always trust that you’ll receive:

• Clear manuals and drawings to help you get started easily
• 3D videos where we go over how to build the playhouse step by step
• Customers' frequently asked questions and reviews, displayed on the product page
• Customer service support from experienced experts via chat, email, digital meetings and over the phone
• A playhouse that follows current planning regulations (in Sweden)

Over the years, hundreds of customers have used our ready made kits. 90% of our customers think that the quality of the kit was good or very good and 79% thought that the delivery went well or very well .

Do I need a building permit to build a playhouse?

A building permit isn’t normally required to build a playhouse (in Sweden). However, it might be good to be aware of a few rules before you start your project. To be classified as a garden room  your playhouse should meet the following conditions (in Sweden):

• The playhouse may not exceed 15 square metres in size
• The ceiling height must not be higher than three metres (ground level to the highest point of the playhouse)
• There must be a main building on the plot of land
• You can build several different playhouses as long as their total area doesn’t exceed 15 square metres
• The playhouse must be independent
• If the playhouse is placed at least 4.5 metres from the plot boundary, your neighbours' approval isn’t required. If you have to place the playhouse within 4.5 metres of the plot boundary, approval from the neighbours is required, preferably in writing. If you can't agree, you can always apply for a building permit from your council's planning department

Even if your playhouse meets the above criteria, it must still meet the requirements of the Planning and Building Act. The playhouse may not be built-in to other buildings. It may also need a special exemption if it's built on a protected area of natural beauty or if you’re building it near a lake, sea or body of water (all applies to Sweden).

If you’re unsure of any regulations, you can always contact your council's planning department for clarity.

A playhouse for children, or perhaps something more?

Just because it's a playhouse for children doesn't mean that you'll accept a lower standard or an ugly building on your land, and a well-built playhouse may last well past childhood. If you're building something anyway, why not choose a model that's large enough to hold some garden tools, outdoor furniture or bicycles? Large playhouses can easily be used as garden sheds in winter, or when the children are tired of playing in the playhouse.

Related to Building a Playhouse

All Polhus playhouses

Regulations for garden rooms