Backyard play set help

[teacherlisa1978]

When we moved into our house in December we promised our son a backyard play set since we had no usable backyard at our old house. This was a deal-breaker on the house. It had to have a yard suitable for s play structure.

Turns out my yard isn't as big as I thought! I had picked out a Gorilla set from Costco online that comes with reasonable installation. We measured and holy cow, with the required safety zone it takes up over half my yard!

I am having trouble finding something 16x20 or less with the safety buffer, that I can pay to have installed. The google searching is leading in circles. I'd like to be at $1500 all in with installation but could go up to $2000 if it's inclusive.

A few details: my son just turned 6, is an only child, but we will have about 6 kids total using it together once a month, most his age a couple younger. I'll have the space leveled and wood chips put down so the smaller space is appreciated.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[NHdisneylover]

That 16 foot dimension is going to make it almost impossible. That is very narrow for having any playset at all with a fall zone.
About as narrow as I can fin requires 20 feet for the smaller dimension:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Swing-N-Slide-Playsets-Hideaway-Clubhouse-Playset-PB-8129/204779963

If you are not willing/able to give up more yard space--the only other thing I can think to suggest is perhaps not buying a set, but instead having a small climbing wall piece mounted against the house on one side (still leaving a fall zone, but that would only be back from the wall and not need in front) and more ground level play things like a single story playhouse or fort or teepees on the other.

 

[mjkacmom]

We don't have a big yard, but had a Rainbow play set up for 12 years. It took up close to half the yard, well worth it (5 kids).

How about something like these?
http://www.rainbowplay.com/view-swing-sets/clubhouse/carnival-clubhouses/package2/

 

[PollyannaMom]

Eh, put it in anyway - less lawn to mow!

 

[sam_gordon]

The safety barrier is 3' in each direction, right? So you're looking at a playset that's 10' x 14'? Yea, not very big. Although, looking at Lowe's site at some playsets, it looks like they're advocating 6' in each direction. If that's the case, you're looking at 4' x 8'. That would be impossible IMO. How much safety barrier are you trying to use?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Just about every recommendation is for 6 feet (or possibly more in front and behind swings--I have seen 12 feet or twice the distance from the bar to the ground).

I could imagine using less anyway---but OP wants the structure installed and my guess would be that most places would refuse to install without proper fall space for liability reasons.

OP may also want to check the details of her home owner's insurance before risking a smaller fall zone. I have seen policies refuse to cover people if they did not have the recommended 6 feet and a child is hurt.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

the smallest I can think of is the simple 2-A frame swing set with a slide on the end, you could make it with only 2 swings and it shouldn't be large.

This is a kit, you buy the lumber seperate.
Before you buy slides new check out craigslist

 

[The Mystery Machine]

When we moved into our house in December we promised our son a backyard play set since we had no usable backyard at our old house. This was a deal-breaker on the house. It had to have a yard suitable for s play structure.

Turns out my yard isn't as big as I thought! I had picked out a Gorilla set from Costco online that comes with reasonable installation. We measured and holy cow, with the required safety zone it takes up over half my yard!

I am having trouble finding something 16x20 or less with the safety buffer, that I can pay to have installed. The google searching is leading in circles. I'd like to be at $1500 all in with installation but could go up to $2000 if it's inclusive.

A few details: my son just turned 6, is an only child, but we will have about 6 kids total using it together once a month, most his age a couple younger. I'll have the space leveled and wood chips put down so the smaller space is appreciated.

Anyone have any ideas?

Put the playset in and take up the yard. If your son is 6 then you really do not have much time before he is done playing with it.

 

[Hikergirl]

I must be a terrible parent, we never paid attention to the safety buffer. We picked a spot in the yard and put up the playset. I'm happy to report that between my 3 kids and their friends there were never any injuries.

 

[Tinkermommy]

We bought our playset from a custom builder. They do industrial playgrounds, apartment home playgrounds things like that. They installed it and never mentioned the buffer.

In fact the slide ends up about 4 feet from a tree. We've had it eight years and never had an injury and we have neighbor kids on it all the time.

We rarely use it now so thinking about taking it down. Makes me a little sad as the kids had so many good times on it.

With a custom built one might you should be able to plan it with only the things you think your son will like this maximizing space.


Ours had a tire swing and that was the kid's favorite thing.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

Thanks all. Yes the 16 dimension makes it tough. I could go up to 20 and probably will end up doing so. All the safety ratings do say 6 feet "buffer" on each side.

It's complicated because my husband and I just separated. He said he will pay for the landscaping but wants to keep this as small as possible. I'm trying to honor that and still find something that can be installed, which means a bigger set. I don't mind giving up the yard space and definitely want to follow the space requirements as the last thing I need is a problem with my insurance or having to take it down!

I really appreciate you all taking the time to talk me through this! I've been overwhelmed!

 

[Patch'sD]

Avoid the lawsuit, plant grass.

 

[BrianL]

I must be a terrible parent, we never paid attention to the safety buffer. We picked a spot in the yard and put up the playset. I'm happy to report that between my 3 kids and their friends there were never any injuries.

Yeah, what's a safety buffer? We had a swingset and grass/dirt. We did some stupid stuff too...but, you know, we were kids. We all made it through.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Yeah, what's a safety buffer? We had a swingset and grass/dirt. We did some stupid stuff too...but, you know, we were kids. We all made it through.

Right as long as you are sliding into and playing on grass I really do not see the need for a safety buffer.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It would help to see a picture of your yard to visualize it, but I agree with put it up and don't worry about the yard space too much, it will likely get a lot of use.

General advise, buy the best one you can afford. The one we bought was very well made, but we bought it in the fall so saved quite a bit, and DH and his father installed it. DH even added a section on it that he built himself. We never had anyone hurt on it, and we had it up from the time our kids were 3 until about 14-15 or so. We gave it to our neighbors a few years ago - he showed up with a bunch of guys and off they went with it, I can still see it from my house and it still gets a lot of use to this day! (Which made me happy when I was sad to see it go.) Even as teens, my kids would have their friends over to the pool and bonfire and many of them would still wind up on the swings or climbing up on the climbing structure - even at that later age they get nostalgic and love to do some of the things they did as little kids, IME, so all the more reason to get one that's sturdy.

 

[mjkacmom]

It would help to see a picture of your yard to visualize it, but I agree with put it up and don't worry about the yard space too much, it will likely get a lot of use.

General advise, buy the best one you can afford. The one we bought was very well made, but we bought it in the fall so saved quite a bit, and DH and his father installed it. DH even added a section on it that he built himself. We never had anyone hurt on it, and we had it up from the time our kids were 3 until about 14-15 or so. We gave it to our neighbors a few years ago - he showed up with a bunch of guys and off they went with it, I can still see it from my house and it still gets a lot of use to this day! (Which made me happy when I was sad to see it go.) Even as teens, my kids would have their friends over to the pool and bonfire and many of them would still wind up on the swings or climbing up on the climbing structure - even at that later age they get nostalgic and love to do some of the things they did as little kids, IME, so all the more reason to get one that's sturdy.

I agree - our first swing set cost about $600 from Toys R Us. It worked for a few years, but then it wasn't strong enough. We spent $3000+ on the next, and it was the best money we've ever spent on the kids.

 

[MagicaDeSpell]

We're in the same boat, moving and buying a play set. The best we could come up with is doing it piecemeal with the primary colored Lifetime dome climber (also from Costco, for the record), a tire swing since there's no other swing option will fit, and either a small playhouse/fort (ie my future potting shed) from a local craftsman or a sandbox. Good luck, I'll be watching this thread for ideas!

 

[brooke789]

We just bought a play set this winter. After picking out a few sets we liked we marked out in the yard where they would go and found also that our yard wasn't so big! We discovered that we needed a set that was more of a rectangle than a square and that helped us pick what we purchased.

We bought from: http://usa-play.com/residential-playsets/ This particular company has a place local to us where you can check out all of the sets (they actually sell admission b/c it is an indoor playground). They came onto our property and built it for us. We also have a pretty steep incline so we felt like we needed the professional install to make sure it was done right! On their site you can look at the simple picture of the layout of each set and that allowed us to get more play set to fit our yard.

The HD and Costco sets didn't have as many options for us.

This is the exact set we bought. http://usa-play.com/product/latitude-swing-set/

 

[brooke789]

If we could have DIYd it I love this play set! http://www.samsclub.com/sams/tower-playset-earthtone/prod13470037.ip

 

[lborne]

Aluminum ladder leaned against the house and the slide from the roof down should save some space. Seriously, I think you need to find a handyman/engineer to have a custom built set. Not as expensive as you might think. They can build as much as possible within your area. I built my own playground set to fit a small footprint. If you can use a tree or a wall of the house as part of it, that could help. I like the PP idea of a climbing wall against the house. Without seeing your yard, it would be hard to give suggestions, but one thing you might consider is a swing that is not an A-frame, but instead uses cemented posts in the ground that are vertical. So rather than forming a A, the legs are just an I, if that makes sense. Good luck.