a wooden swingset

[fishsmith]

In an effort to complete the 'honey do list' I agreed to building a wooden swingset. To simplify this I bought a kit that is basically the image below (or something very close to it.)
The kit is 190 and the wood is 340 so after taxes this bad boy is around $560. So much for all the dough I though I was saving.

[niko]

i built one for a customer a few years. it was the mother of all swingsets. it had a treehouse, swings,junglegym,and a drawbridge w/ moat. pretty cool - i'll have to find the pix and post them.

[HighTide]

I put together one of those Creative Playthings swingsets a few years ago. Took me a whole 30 pack.

[Mr. Sandman]

I had one of those mother-of-all-swing sets in my back yard...I think it set me back $3600 several years ago. It was really nice, all redwood, has a big house with a deck and windows, had a little picnic table under the house...it was kewl man. Took me a week to set it up. I could not believe I was spending that much on it but the kids had a ball on it. I dug out an area and filled it with about 8" of wood chips. (You will REALLY need to do this, kids are going to fall and you don't want to get sued when they fall...and they will fall) (I tried pea stone but that tracks everywhere, the hardwood chips are pretty spongy and soften the impact.) I felt I got my moneys worth out of the thing. Back in RI sometimes I would look out into the back yard and see the other kids from the neighborhood on it with the stay at home moms serving lunch...and my kids were someplace else! It is a kid magnet.

I even moved the friggin thing to MV and eventually it went unused for a year and I gave it to a deserving family with a bunch of lil kids who would never be able to afford such an elaborate play item. I turned the mulched area into a garden now. The deal was...You can have it for free but you have to take apart, move and re-assemble it... I did it once and that was enough for me. Their kids love that thing.

You should be able to get a few generations out of it.

[gf2020]

I put up this for my kids about 7 years ago at my old house:



As I recall, the kit from Creative Playthings was about $500 and included everything.

And I'm pretty sure my father-in-law and I went through at least a 30-pack that weekend!

[Uncle Matt]

GF we have the same one but it also has a small rock wall type thingy on one side.

[Joe]

My father-in-law and I put one up probably 4 years ago....It needed to cemented in to be safe - it did not call for it in the directions but it was not safe the way it was...
Check all the bolts every spring - especially around the swing.

[HighTide]

Originally Posted by gf2020

I put up this for my kids about 7 years ago at my old house:



As I recall, the kit from Creative Playthings was about $500 and included everything.

And I'm pretty sure my father-in-law and I went through at least a 30-pack that weekend!

That's the one!!

[MAC]

Originally Posted by Uncle Matt

GF we have the same one but it also has a small rock wall type thingy on one side.

I can picture it now.........Uncle Matt pushing Bob T. down the slide.

[TheSpecialist]

I wish that one was 500 , it goes for 3700, and is on sale for 1900 till the end of today. My wife and I have been debating one for awhile now. My daughter is 2 next month and she loves slides, and swings.


http://www.creativeplaythings.com/store-coupons

[Joe]

I would not do it again - see if you can get just a regular old swing set - those things are biotch to put up

[Mr. Sandman]

I would do it. They are a PIA to put up by yourself but the kids love it. One of mine just about moved into that little house (ours had doors and a little covered deck area)...he asked if he could put a TV and bring electric power to it .... (I said no). He had little tables and chairs and stuff, walkie-talkies.. hours and hours of fun. If we wanted him to come in we had to hail him on the radio! BTW, you can sell it for a grand easy if you when the kids outgrow them if you wanted to. When you see the showroom of these you get sticker shock. We gave ours away and the folks that took it were very grateful.
There is a place on the RI/MA border near Alperts off 195 that sells a load of these things all sizes and shapes. I can't recall the name of the place but that is where we got our contraption. You can customize it the way you want. I think they will even assemble it for you to. They have some serious sets there, if you take your kid they will pick out a 10K contraption...my advice, go alone!

[fishsmith]

This project defines the 'mythical man month' expecially when two saw horses and a skill saw are my tools.

plus being a moron and having to make an extra trip to home depot didn't help.

I've only got the cuts done, so Saturday morning will be build day.

To top it off, I was talking about this project on wednesday at work and they guy who sits a few cubes over says " I wish I knew you were doing this, you could of taken mine apart"

Oh well, my respect for carpenters has again been renewed.

[fishsmith]

20 hours later (3 days) mission accomplished.

[Bob Thomas]

Originally Posted by MAC

I can picture it now.........Uncle Matt pushing Bob T. down the slide.

[MAC]

Originally Posted by fishsmith

20 hours later (3 days) mission accomplished.

Looks good, hope the kids get years of enjoyment out of it.

Originally Posted by Bob Thomas

Sorry Bob, I couldn't resist

[gf2020]

I wish that one was 500 , it goes for 3700, and is on sale for 1900 till the end of today.

That price must be for a bigger, top-of-the-line redwood and cedar model; the "Basic Pine" models are definitely under $1000.

The price you linked to is for the "Lexington", ours was the "Hampton".

http://www.creativeplaythings.com/wooden-swing-sets

[Squid kids Dad]

fishsmith...good job..The kids will have many years of enjoyment..

[labrax]

Took me and my Dad 2.5 weekends, 3 family disagreements and my Wife and Mom to be used as moderators for us to put one up. My Dad and Mom bought it used out of the local paper or WantAd - they surprised us with it. They had the same deal - they had to take it down. Unfortunately, they did not think to take any digital photos, sketch what it looked like assembled, or marked any of the wood. Literally half the time was spent trying to figure out where the pre-drilled wood went.

We laugh about it now, and my Daughter still loves to play on it. You did a good job with the one you made - looks like the kids are having a blast already.

Did you make it out of pressure treated, or is that just the stain?

[fishsmith]

Thanks guys, I used pt wood and I'm aware of the chemicals, but if my kids start eating the swingset, I think I have more to worry about than what is used to pressure treat the wood.