Start with how to build a treehouse on its own posts, then price it and check the height and the guard. Every count and size comes from the treehouse designer for a real raised playhouse, so the guides and your plan always agree.
Start here · 12 min read
The order a freestanding tree fort goes up in, the numbers each step needs and what to check before the next one, using our 8x8 open tree fort as the worked example.
Read the guideFor the raised playhouse, with the deck 6 ft up, as the designer draws it. Our default: the number the treehouse designer draws. Guide rule: from the CPSC playground guides or the residential code. Depends: your jurisdiction, your site or your store change it. Your building department decides what applies where you live.
After the build guide, price it and check the height, the guard and the gaps. Every drawing comes from the free plans, as the designer draws it.
Step 1
Every free design priced line by line, the safety surfacing under it included.
Treehouse Cost: What a DIY Tree Fort RunsTreehouse cost for a freestanding DIY fort, from $2,423 for a low deck to $6,104 for a 10x12: lumber, hardware, safety surfacing, your time.7 min
Playhouse Cost: What a Raised Playhouse TakesPlayhouse cost for a raised 8x10 on posts: $5,832 in materials with the safety surfacing under it, and what makes it cost more than a fort.6 min
Treehouse Kit vs Plans: What Each Gets YouTreehouse kit or plans? What each includes, what to ask a kit seller, and a priced list to check any kit against: $4,450 for our 8x8 fort with a roof.6 min
Step 2
How high the deck can go, the guard height and the gaps that are never allowed.
How High Should a Treehouse Be? Deck Height GuideHow high a treehouse deck should be for kids: our 4 to 6 ft pick, what changes at 30 and 48 in, the ground under it, bracing, and the height of each of our plans.6 min
Treehouse Railing Height: 38 In, and the GapsHow high a treehouse or tree fort railing should be, and why the gaps matter more: our 38 in guard, the 3 in gap baluster spacing, and what each rulebook says.5 min
Step 3
Which questions to put to your building department before you set a post.
Step 4
The steps from the footings to the deck, with no tree to hold it up.
Each links straight to its answer, with the sources beside it.
The CPSC playground guides and the residential code come first. Retail price pages are marked as secondary and used only for prices.
Post counts, heights, guards and prices come from the designer's plan for a real design, the same engine that draws the free plans.
Every price names its store and the day we read it. The safety surfacing is a required line, in the total. How the checks work
Design it, then build it
Draw your treehouse in 3D for your frost line and snow. The posts, the guard, the way up and the priced materials list follow every change. Free, no account.
Design my treehouse, free
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