Children's swing sets

[Cup of Joe]

I have a 2 year old and my wife is bugging me about a swing set for her. Since she will likely be our only child she is already a bit spoiled. She already has a step 2 slide play thingy, but of course could careless most of the time. A couple times down the slide and she's off picking flowers or digging in her sand box. I am trying to balance the cost and size with the fact that she is becoming rather spoiled.

I think this one maybe over the top but basicly has everything the mini-boss would like. It would cut down on my lawn care area.

Costs a pretty penny but they come out and install it. I have a couple acres so room is not an issue. I was going to build her a new sand box from 9x9.

http://www.statelinebuilders.com/childrens-play-sets/playsets-order/model-2100_2100

What have you done for swing/playsets?

 

[ryansride2017]

I have 3 kids and their swingset is about a third of what you are proposing. Unless you are planning on having the neighborhood kids over frequently (and perhaps pay for admission) I think you could scale it down a bit. By the way, we purchased instructions for our playset at Home Depot and built it ourselves. It kept costs WAY down.

 

[Cup of Joe]

My wife has been drooling over the Big Sky II since last year. I'd have to put it together and its dang near just as big and pricy.

http://www.buyswingsets.com/shop/pc/Big-Sky-II-by-Gorilla-Playsets-3p205.htm

I think we do need to scale it back. I need suggestions to help shift the wife from her "Big Sky" fasination.

 

[IndyIan]

Yikes! Our kid is going to have a swing off a tree branch... And only allowed to use it after he's done the chores and split a face cord of wood.

A big sandbox with a few yards of sand is a good idea though, I liked my sandbox alot as a kid.

 

[TallPaul]

Nice yard. Cut down on the lawn care, but adds a lot of fenagaling with the weed whip around the base of that structure. Should put it on a concrete pad--(duh right, safety over lawn maintence). But really they are putting these stuctures on fairly deep wood chip or spongy materials so when kids fall they hopefully don't get seriously injured.

 

[labman]

Sheeesch! When we moved here in 1977, the people across the street offer us the swing set their kids had outgrown. I added a small slide and later built a see saw. The neighbors also gave us the sand out of what was left of their sand box. I build a sand box that outlived my kids' use of it.

Now our daughter's neighbors are offering them an old swing set.

 

[ahoier]

I don't know about reducing your lawn mowing. If anything it might make it harder, cause you'll have weeds and little "stragglers" growing up around the beams and support posts of the set.

Is a set really necessary? I know it's your only child, but I know my mother made that mistake with her first child; got a nice big backyard play gym thing, and as you kind of mentioned, a couple times down the slide, and my brother was done with it, and back playing in the sand-box with his tonka trucks

Now, I could understand it, if you don't have a city/county park nearby within walking or reasonable driving distance.....I like the idea of the public park, especially for an only child, cause it'll give her more interaction with other kids and a way to get out of the house, per se

But from my own childhood experience, I generally grww tired/bored of the swing sets my parents got (one was a hand me down....you guessed it, from a neighbor, lol; the other was a $25 set from a garage sale); obviously they weren't as extravagant as those sets above....mainly just a straight slide, 2 swings, a bench swing, and a 2-seater see-saw thing. But being the only child, a large swing set may seem like a little too much; unless of course you intend on having lots of guests over, maybe running a daycare center out of your house, etc.

 

[The_Jeff]

Got this critter at home depot for under $1k. The slide IIRC was an extra option, $90 for a chunk of plastic! The lawyers seem to get a large cut...

It is not built exactly to the diagrams, left the 1x6 "walls" open on the platform so I can see my kid up there from every angle. Do have the railings set up. He's 3 this july and loves the slide and swings. I got it set up just before his 2nd birthday. The blue "rock wall" is still a challenge and the cargo net isn't in service yet. The one-rope swing also is not liked. Just took down one of the regular swings for a bouncy seat for my 7 mo old.

IIRC it's disney branded somehow which adds to the price. Couldn't find anything cheaper with half the cool stuff though. Oh, the swings are limited to 120 lbs but I put my 200 lb on there and just don't go that high or it starts lifting legs.

 

[labman]

At one time the church I was attending had a more elaborate version of that. I took my hand plane and rounded off the corners of the timbers. I also trimmed off some exposed bolts and installed Tee nuts on others.

 

[IndyIan]

That one looks good and solid, and good for two kids to crash around on.
I'm not a big fan of pressure treated wood for contact with kids, its probably not a big deal but its not a big deal not to use it either.
White Cedar would last a couple decades in that configuration, and I go to White Oak for stuff that has to be stronger and still have rot resistance. Feeders for my goats for example.
A local saw mill guy could probably beat the prices for pressure treated wood by quite a bit these days too.

 

[kkreit01]

Rainbow from Costco. We bought ours last year, and love it. Whatever you do, don't go cheap. We bought our first one from __R'US for $350 (on sale). It did last ~6 years, but not w/o bandaid fixes every year. It was getting to the point of being unsafe, so I demolished it last year, and bought the Rainbow set at Costco. I see this year they went back to the Sunray brand -- which is cheaper, but still made by Rainbow. They aren't too fun to put up, but simple DIY with power tools. You'll need wifey for a few steps along the way.

 

[The_Jeff]

Oh, BTW, My FIL got some trex decking to replace what came with it. I was on my own to buy 4x4s and cut them to length. They suggested PT but one could upgrade to cedar I suppose. Lowes had nice PT with rounded corners.

 

[Scienceman]

Scale it down a bit.

 

[Smokescreen]

Go for the sandbox. Allows imagination to grow, and easy to maintain and much much cheaper. Plus you can get down and play with them, spend some time talking, interacting, build sandcastles fun stuff.

Kids get bored of stuff way too quick. They never like stuff as much as you think they will either. Get them a big expensive toy for Christmas, what do they do? They play with it for a couple of minutes and then go play in the empty box. They will be happy with whatever they get and even more happy if they get to play with you in the process.

 

[Cup of Joe]

The sand box is a done deal I just don't care for her current box, its store bought junk as small as a plastic pool. The lot next to me is a lay down yard for a house moving business. They have 9x9 lumbar that is 12ft in length my best guess with out measuring. I am going to see about getting 4 pieces for the box and I will order another truck load of sand to fill it. I should have plenty of leftover for culvert topping etc.

Originally Posted By: eljefino

Got this critter at home depot for under $1k. The slide IIRC was an extra option, $90 for a chunk of plastic! The lawyers seem to get a large cut...

It is not built exactly to the diagrams, left the 1x6 "walls" open on the platform so I can see my kid up there from every angle. Do have the railings set up. He's 3 this july and loves the slide and swings. I got it set up just before his 2nd birthday. The blue "rock wall" is still a challenge and the cargo net isn't in service yet. The one-rope swing also is not liked. Just took down one of the regular swings for a bouncy seat for my 7 mo old.

IIRC it's disney branded somehow which adds to the price. Couldn't find anything cheaper with half the cool stuff though. Oh, the swings are limited to 120 lbs but I put my 200 lb on there and just don't go that high or it starts lifting legs.


I like your set. I would use some vertical rails just for added safety. I had the wife take a look and just as expected " not big enough".

She now wants to go to Stateline Builders and see what they can build. Perhaps I will get lucky and it won't cost me both of my legs.

I am considering getting additional 9x9's for the perimeter and then either sand or wood chips for the interior so less yard. I already mow around the house with a Z445 and the rest is done by tractor and bush hog once a month.

 

[NJC]

I built an A frame free-standing design using a 12' or 14' 4" x 6" as top beam. Eventually added Phase II which included a reused a fort - that was bolted onto the 4" x 4" of the A frame and gave the whole unit a bit more lateral stability. I'll post pics if find one.