While my dad didn’t use pallets, he could have if so inclined.  In fact, the playhouse above is made mostly from pallet wood.

This tutorial steps you through in detail so you can learn how to build a playhouse with pallets.  You can read about finding and choosing pallets here as well as how to break down pallets here.

Pallet Playhouse Tutorial

1.  Start with Building the Windows

Necessary tools: circular saw, hammer, crowbar or catspaw, and heavy cutting pliers. A handsaw will be useful as well. A sturdy ladder is a must. Your most useful tool may be a table saw. It’s unnecessary for the house itself, but without it you won’t be able to craft the siding. It may also help on the windows and as an all-around tool.

However, you can complete this project with the circular saw, miter box, and a handsaw. This isn’t the only way, so try out your own methods, play jazz.

The first step for the windows (two for the “ice cream window” and one for the porthole) is to build the basic frame. Our idea was to take old storm windows from a house and frame them in 1×4 pallet wood. You could use plexi-glass or old glass from sashes, or even simple screening material.

We started with a long rabbet on the side of a 1×4. It took two cuts on the table saw: one for depth, the rest for horizontal area. Note: if you have a dado or a router, you can dig the rabbet out with that.

2. Window frames

After the sides of each were rabbeted, cut 45 degree angles on each side, exactly like you would when building a picture frame. We made this miter sled years ago, which makes the job easier, but you can use your circular saw, a miter box, or even the handsaw.

And now you have the basic building block for the windows. You won’t want the rabbeted-out groove to be too tight– I get a feeling that the wood expanding and contracting would crack the pane pretty easily.

3. Building the double “ice cream” window

We built a frame for the whole thing out of some donated 2×6 lumber. The joints are butted and screwed together with 2″ deck screws. The “hinges” are pieces of an old dowel.

Later, we built a rough opening for the whole piece, slid it in, and fastened with long screws into the playhouse itself. Measuring ahead, the overall depth of the window matched combined width of the framing, siding, and interior paneling. Simply attach moldings to the exterior and interior when it is time for the finishing work.

We also added two handles, wood strips to make it weather-tight, and a simple hook and eye lock to keep it shut when not in use. You may notice wooden X’s in each pane on the finished project. These were glued directly to the glass.

4. Diamond-shaped porthole

The diamond window is an easy step. Craft the frame the same way, then cut a diamond shape and screw it to the top. You may glaze it later with some old window putty to make it water tight.

5. Let’s start on the playhouse floor/deck itself

We gathered a bunch of old 4×4’s  and set them on some bricks and cinder blocks. We then built an 8×10 square from reclaimed pressure-treated 2×4’s and leveled the whole thing by adding and removing bricks. You’ll want to do this under your 4×4’s. When it was close, we laid across the pallet 2×4’s using the center 4×4 as a stringer. This works well, as you do not need to cut any of the 2×4’s; simply lay them side to side.

Take note of the odd pallet 2×4’s in the image – there are small, half-oval sections missing. This is where the pallet jack would be slid in.

6. Framing

This is where the frame goes up.After running out of 4-foot pallet 2×4’s we purchased approximately 20 bargain 2×4’s for one dollar each. Notice the 2×6 and 2×8 headers. There are 2 doors: one in front, and one in back. In the photo, you can see the opening for the diamond-shaped window and the front door. The 2×4 at the bottom of the doorway was cut out later. The 2×4’s, spliced together and ugly, are 15″ inches apart. This is because the siding will be 30″ pieces of 1×4, with a staggered vertical seam.