wooden playhouse/summerhouse

[isabelle45]

I was thinking of buying a playhouse/summerhouse for dd aged 2 and 7. However my DH thinks it will end up looking pretty horrible after 2-3 years ie they tend to look good in the beginning then quite tatty and worn out later on. Does anyone have any experience of wooden playhouse/summerhouse and whether the can be kept looking good?

thanks

I know someone with a wooden summerhouse - they've had it many years now and it still looks good, but they have re 'painted' it with wood stain once or twice. Latest was blue, which looks very nice.

If you look after it it will look fine.

You could always get a plastic shed....

Not cheap though.

We've had our wooden playhouse for 5 years, have paid very little attention to issues of maintenance, and it still looks lovely. We did buy pricey, Scandinavian boat paint for painting the outside but it's been worth every penny. Our garden is south-facing so the playhouse is subjected to a lot of direct sunlight (when it happens!) but it still looks good.

We bought a lovelly crooked house on line ladder up slide down for the grands kids who are now 5 and 6, 3 years ago, they dont blooming use it, am threatening to turn it into a chicken coup!

I think they are fine if you look after them. I would go for a proper adult sized summer house as this is more versatile should the children shun it!

My kids' playhouse is still looking good after 16 years! It gets treated every year with preservative

We inherited a chalet style one with the house, so must be 20 years old. It is now a bit rotten at the bottom as wasn't put on a concrete base but with paint every few years it still looks good.

We got a decent wooden one for around £550 12-13 yrs ago and sold it on eBay for £180 a couple of years ago. (The person came and dismantled it and took it away and they were really impressed with how decent it was.)

It was in great condition, on a concrete base but we rob ably only treated it once (it came pre-treated).

Definitely worth paying a bit extra in my opinion.

My DD has had one for 6 years this summer though she's really almost too big for it now. I reckon this will be the last year, though she'd like her own shed. 🙂

It has a felt roof and is still bone dry inside. It was pretreated wood and I painted it with Cuprinol Garden Shades. The inside is in really good condition. The outside could do with a rub down and a repaint but it's only obvious close up. It's not on a concrete base but on a pallet type base. It is in shady part of the garden which I think helps.

Once or twice a year we take everything out of it, hoover it and wipe down the inside walls, brush off debris and cobwebs from the outside.

thanks in the end got a step 2 welcome home playhouse plastic one off ebay- but quite large for a plastic one and tall so i can nearly stand up in it. Not as nice a a wooden one but easy to maintain and don't need to worry re 2 year old trapping fingers/getting splinters etc.

thanks for the advice though maybe in the future.

we visited my uncle this summer and he still has a playhouse in his garden despite do being 18 and 15. I must be about 15 years old and still looks good.