Swing set

[Benton]

(06-27-2018, 01:12 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: Have any of you master builders built your own swing set for the progeny before? I’m thinking about taking on this project and was wondering if anyone had any tips or lessons they learned the hard way.  Any and all stories are welcome.

(06-28-2018, 07:43 PM)fredtoast Wrote: They come it kits that are not that hard to put together.

But unless you have a lot of kids you need to know that they outgrow swing sets pretty quickly.  So no need to go overboard for something that will not be used after just a few years.  They can take up a lot of space in the yard.

I built one several years ago out of some leftover cedar 1x4s and treated 4x4 posts. I used wood bolts for the posts and screws for the boards. The design was a playhouse area in the center with swings off each side, some monkey bars and a slide.

Unfortunately, I didn't get around to sealing the cedar before the rainy season and the deck of the playhouse warped pretty bad. I ended up replacing it, which knocked out most of the savings on the project.

Other than that, it was sturdy thanks to the 4x4s. But, I would recommend going Fred's route. I saved maybe 15-20% over buying a kit (less, once I had to buy boards and replace the deck) , but it took about 2 hours each night for a week, plus an entire weekend. I've helped with a couple kits and one or two people can usually knock them out in a few hours. Unless you're very experienced in carpentry, there's always a few little things that come up unexpectedly. The kits, largely, have those bugs worked out.