Fun Fortress Castle Playset Plan

I purchased these plans as a base to create what ended up being countless hours of fun and great memories for my kids. I amended the plans slightly to make the sides out of 2x6's. All in all the plans were easy to follow and came out the way I wanted. The material list was very helpful but being in CA the types of wood are not available here but Paul was very helpful when I emailed him questions. The castle is very sturdy and will last for years to come. I recommend Paul's Playhouses to everyone who asks where I got the playhouse.

I’ll first say that if you’re reading the reviews on this design, all the issues that Jeremy mentioned in 2019 have been corrected. It’s great to see that Paul’s is making adjustments based upon customer feedback.

The plans are very well illustrated and contain significant detail on measurements and materials needed to complete the build. I was never confused by the plans themselves and this was the first large playhouse I’ve built. However, lacking from the plan is an explanation of how to attach the completed walls and joists together to assemble the structure. A bit more detail in that area would help a novice DIY builder, but it doesn’t break the design.

Total build time for me was about 45 hours total, 2-3 each day over a period of 4 weeks. I did make some modifications that added to my design/build time though. To make it look more like a castle tower, I made the lower section 6’x6’ and the top 8’x8’ as in the plans. This required a cantilever joist design that was not included, of my choosing of course. I also increased the blocks on the battlements from 3 to 4 on each side, angled the ladder for added safety, reduced the width of the climbing wall, as well as the width of the gap openings on the second level. A bit safer that way for younger adventures.

The materials list was close to on point. I ended up needing 20lbs. of 2.5” screws instead of the listed 15lbs. My build cost was $982.92 using pressure treated wood and a recycled slide from a former play set.

The playhouse is fantastic in concept, but there were some small and large issues with details in plans.
-Lumber list was significantly wrong
-During at least one step if I followed how it said to cut the pieces from the raw lumber I would come up short. I was able to change the combination of pieces cut from the lumber to make it work with the same amount.
-If the top decking is installed as shown in plans it would break. The deck boards are running parallel with ceiling joists. A 1" thick deck board cannot span 8' with no support.

I also, HIGHLY recommend building a wall around the opening for the ladder only allowing entry from back corner or a trap door so that kids do no not accidentally step through the hole if not paying attention.

To be clear, my review is for the plans themselves not the playhouse. The overall design is fantastic and I am sure my kids will play in it for many years, but I bought plans so that I could easily build the playhouse without having to make sure everything I did would work. If the plans did not need to be fixed and adjusted mid construction it would have been a 5 star review.

Great very detailed and clear step by step instructions

Overall the plans were complete. Having built a few homes before, I modify some of the details on the fort. I made the ladder to have a slight angle, I put walls around the ladder opening to block the hole more, instead of 5/4" deck boards for siding, I used 6" x 8' privacy fence which worked out great. It cut the price, and weight, AND still look

s pretty nice. I used spiral shank nails to attach the siding up. Also instead of a little box in between the climber wall and the slide, I made a half wall so kids have to sit so there's less chance of falling off.. It was a fun build. I was able to do the whole thing by myself with basic tools. overall took about 30hrs over the course of two weeks after work to build.