Playset

[dabrewinguy]

I mentioned the playset I built last year in another thread, and thought as long as I was on a roll with the pictures, I'd post this one too. I did manage to scale this pic down to a less obnoxious size 8)

This is the view looking out my back window. The house in the back is owned by a grumpy old lady who refuses to talk to anyone, so I put the playset as far back as I could :twisted:

http://www.geocities.com/dabrewinguy/playset.jpg

[Don-Dad]

That a nice and very large playset.

[SideShowCecil]

Mean people suck,

How about re-angling the slide so you bounce off the tramp into the pool. :lol:

[dabrewinguy]

the insurance company is already frowning on the fact that I have the trampoline AND the pool...without a fence around my yard. I could just see their reaction if someone got hurt...you were doing WHAT?!!!! And the kicker would be that I would probably be the one that gets injured trying it out LOL.

Thanks Don, it's the biggest one I could find for the $$$

[Weston]

Nice! Did you build it from scratch.. or get a kit? Just wondering 'cause this is probably on the to-do list after the sandbox... :lol:

[Indy]

Kids these days have way cooler playsets than we did as kids.

[Weston]

LOL... but a lot of truth to that. :(

I remember taking day long hikes down the local creek fishing at the age of 8. I think if we let our kids do that now we would be labeled "unfit" parents.

[Don-Dad]

A neighbor of mine just put up a playground from BJ's (like Sam's club) It's nice. Sam's has one that I think is less than $1000 and looks really nice.

[dabrewinguy]

J, the kit was basically an assembly manual, they picked all the lumber and delivered it. ("they" being home depot) None of it was precut, so it was pretty much a from scratch project. If you decide to build one, here's what I learned from building mine:

-get a good power mitre saw and a NEW blade
-get a really good rafter square
-stain or waterproof all the pieces before assembly.
-and don't let them talk you out of getting a solid 4x6 main beam.

With the main beam on mine, they talked me into laminating 2- 16ft 2x6's together instead of getting the solid 4x6. They claimed it was just as strong and cost way less. The cost WAS way less but as far as strength goes, I won't swing on it for fear of breaking the beam.

[Weston]

Interesting... thanks

[Jackson's Dad]

I used to spend all of my days in the summer wandering around the fields and wood behind our house, building forts and eating wild strawberries and grapes. Now, even if you just walk to the edge of our backyard, you usually come back with ticks, and the threat of Lyme disease. ARGH.

Then again, growing up we didn't have many wild animals around. Just yesterday, a red fox swooped through our yard. Too cool.

[GoatBeard]

I think all of the skunks are in Alabama. Well, minus 5 (so far). :D


As far as play thingies, I got lucky (though the youngin' isn't old enough for it, yet). My neighbor had one and wanted it gone. I told him I'd take care of it. I moved it to my back yard and he INSISTED on paying me. I I ended up with a nice "fort" and an extra $150. Heh.

[Colesbigdaddy]

My neighbor gave us his play set that his kids out grown. So I dug about 6" down put down some of the black fabrick and put plastic borders around it and filled it with 10 yards of pea gravel. Turned out great and my son loves it.

[sao95]

I built one this past summer, and I from looking around I found that the "kits" really get you on some things. For instance the swing brackets, 20 bucks for a set! I got galvanized eye bolts and put them through the beam, double bolted, and a quick link from the chain to the eye bolt for ease of getting them off and on. I also used two 2X6's lagged together for the main beam, it gives a little but it's perfectly safe, and the span is 16 feet, if you were really that worried you could throw an extra bracing in. If you really think about it 2X6's are used on your roof, even in places that get alot of snow. All your doing is swinging on them :wink: also bought all pretreated so no need to waterproof or stain, although jilly and I did use kid paints all over it, gets a little more painted each time :D I think total we have maybe 300 bucks in it, the only thing we haven't got is the sand yet :roll: oops I'llpost the painted version when the camera battery charges :wink:

right click on the icon and view image, can't get it to show otherwise :(

[jungle jim]

I think building a playset is a Dads rite of passage. I did one last summer. I got the kit from COSCO. 500 pounds of lumber, 10,000 nuts and bolts - did all myself. It was fun to build and she uses it all the time. My hats off to you all who got the plans and cut the wood, I'd still be working on it.

[Don-Dad]

Taking on that project scares me :lol:

[Jackson's Dad]

We are thinking about getting one. Don't know where we'd put it yet -- the yard needs lots of work (grading and seeding), so we don't want to put it somewhere that would interfere with that. We'll see.

How much are those kits, anyway?

[Weston]

I priced one at Lowe's not too long ago. Seems to me that with the lumber needed to build it it was around $1200 for a decent sized one.

Ehh... cheaper to take him to the local playground.

[Indy]

I got lucky. My cousin's daughter outgrew theirs and I was called upon to remove it from their yard when they moved. The deal was if I took it down, I could keep it. All it cost me was the rental of a flatbed trailer and some beer for the guys who helped me move it.

[sao95]

Why do you guys need the kit? Most kits I've seen don't come pre-cut, and I know you have a nice Ryobi table saw JD :wink: . You can buy all the hardware and swings seperate, and lumber, and save a ton of money. Are the plans what you need and that's why you go the kit route? :???:

[jungle jim]

I got the kit from COSTCO, brand is a Rainbow. It was around $1200 if I remember correctly. It was predrilled, precut and prestained. The wood was a combo of redwood and cedar. It wasnt "hard" it was just tedious. If you were motivated you and a buddy could do it in a day, it took me 3-4 days by myself.
My neighbor got the plans and "did it himself". 200 trips the Home Depot and 3 months later he had himself a swingset.

[sao95]

I didn't have plans, nothing pre-cut or drilled, 2 trips to Lowes, and it was done in a day :wink:

[Don-Dad]

I didn't have plans, nothing pre-cut or drilled, 2 trips to Lowes, and it was done in a day :wink:

Ladi F'ing da for you :P

Sam's has a decent kit for $999 (last years price) Comes with lumber, predrilled holes, etc... I'd tackle that one if I tried!

[jungle jim]

I didn't have plans, nothing pre-cut or drilled, 2 trips to Lowes, and it was done in a day :wink:

you the man, if I tried that I'd still be out there 9 months later :)

[sao95]

yeah well given the way you custom build doors (and modify Geotrax trains) I'd bet you put together Epcott Center using a paperclip and a Leatherman.

and gorilla glue :wink:

Ladi F'ing da for you Razz

I don't even know Ladi or Da, so why would he f*ck her for me, or she f*ck him, wait which one is which, the names aren't very gender specific, unless Ladi is like Laddi, which is what the genie called Aladdin, or, hey, maybe it's a l-esbian with a strap on :-k wait, what were we talking about again :???:

you the man

finally someone realizes it :lol: