Swing set advice

[twinboysmom]

Hi all! My boys are almost 2 and DH and I have decided to get a big boy swing set. They love to play outdoors on their little tykes toys and it's time to move up. I had no idea how many choices are out there! Our yard is large so we have no size constraints. I am just unsure of what set to get them. We are only considering the wooden type play sets. Do we get a basic set or do we spend more money and get a set with all the gizmos? We are considering a custom made set versus buying one and putting it together ourselves. I am a little worried about the quality of the sets say from toys r us or equivalent. The boards look thin and I am worried about how long they will hold up with our Mississippi weather (heat, rain, and hurricanes). Any advice is welcome particularly about brands, how easy they went together, and how much your children used them.

 

[anniemae]

When we were looking, we almost bought one at Walmart, but the reviews on it said it was really difficult to put together.

We ultimately went with Creative Playthings and couldn't be happier. The sets are wooden and really strong and safe. they have very basic sets and super-mac daddy sets! I like it because as they grow, you can buy different types of swings and switch them out. We don't need the bucket swing anymore, so we are going to buy the tire swing soon.

Not sure if they are in your area or not, but it's worth checking out. I think the website is creativeplaythings.com.

Also, they do all the delivery and set-up!

 

[poohfriend77]

We have had a Cedarworks set for 6 years, and it still looks great! My girls (6 and 8 now) still use it quite a bit. The set is sturdy enough that a couple adults can swing on it without the set moving or lifting up on one side.

Be prepared for sticker shock but it's worth considering if you want something to grow with your kids. You could even buy a smallish set now, and add on to it with "big kid" features in a couple years.

All the pieces were delivered to us, and we (OK... DH and a neighbor ) put it together in a weekend.

 

[kirstenb1]

We bought one from Sam's Club for $1100 several years ago. The boards are thinner, and dh reinforced all of it with extra lumber.

Several of our friends have the $5000 and up Rainbow systems. They're definitely much better quality.

I do stain ours every 2 yrs to try to help preserve it a little better.

Your children are really young. They'll get a lot of years out of whatever you buy. If you have the $$, go for the more expensive system. Another consideration would be I've seen people selling their older Rainbow systems on Craigslist. Usually you have to disassemble them at their house, then reassemble at your home, but it's a lot cheaper than a new system.

 

[sam_gordon]

Your local Lowe's/Home Depot should have what you need also. We got ours from Lowe's. We picked out a plan we liked and Lowe's delivered all the lumber. I built it myself (with a little help from DW).

Make sure you get pressure treated lumber. If you do it yourself, make sure you have a powerful drill (I suggest a corded over a cordless).

 

[lovesmurfs]

We bought a Rainbow play set when DD was 2 -- we kept it until about a year ago when we gave it to our neighbor across the street -- it held up incredibly well and is still going strong.

 

[HM]

Our kids never had a set. The neighbors next door put a set in a couple years ago for around $1000. They got it from Sams Club or Costco and put it together themselves. It took more than a full day to complete it. It's a very nice set with lots of options on it and it still looks really good from our house. The sad thing is, I can practically count on both hands the number of times I've seen the kids actually use it.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our kids never had a set. The neighbors next door put a set in a couple years ago for around $1000. They got it from Sams Club or Costco and put it together themselves. It took more than a full day to complete it. It's a very nice set with lots of options on it and it still looks really good from our house. The sad thing is, I can practically count on both hands the number of times I've seen the kids actually use it.

Really? Ours is probably the most played with "toy" we've ever had. We got a Rainbow 8 years ago, and it's still going strong. Heck, ds13 and his friends still use it!

 

[Mom2aJessieGirl]

We have had a Cedarworks set for 6 years, and it still looks great! My girls (6 and 8 now) still use it quite a bit. The set is sturdy enough that a couple adults can swing on it without the set moving or lifting up on one side.

Be prepared for sticker shock but it's worth considering if you want something to grow with your kids. You could even buy a smallish set now, and add on to it with "big kid" features in a couple years.

All the pieces were delivered to us, and we (OK... DH and a neighbor ) put it together in a weekend.

We love our Cedarworks set. THe best thing about it? No need to stain it!

And yes, I've been known to swing a bit on the cedar swing!

 

[Tinkermommy]

We bought at custom swingset from a local company that does commercial grade playgrounds. We picked out the features we wanted and they came out and installed it. We paid about $2000 for it 4 years ago. We have sealed it twice and it looks great.

The kids love it. And I don't mean just mine but also lots of neighborhood kids too. We will sometimes have 8 kids playing on it at a time. Since it is commercial grade my husband and I can both swing on it as well.

Features I would recommend.
- Tire swing. It's mounted in the "middle" of the bar area. This is the most used feature of the swing set.
- Club house
- Fireman's pole (my son started to slide down this before he turned two!)
- Slide

 

[jel0511]

We just tore down our Rainbow set. We bought it 11 years ago and it stayed pretty nice for about 8 of those years. We did maintain it and restain in every couple of years and it eventually became infested with carpenter bees. The first year, I paid the exterminator to get rid of the bees, it was guaranteed for the rest of the year, so of course they were back after that! I refused to pay again, as my kids hardly used it anymore. When the kids were little they did use the set a lot and they are built VERY well. The only issue with wood sets is that if you live in an area with carpenter bees, eventually regardless of how well you maintain it it will get infested. That eventually compromises the stability of the set as they eat the inside of the wood to make their nests, our set was practically hollow in parts after it was torn down and cut into small enough pieces to be hauled away.

 

[SaraJayne]

We have a Rainbow that is well-loved. I'd definitely recommend a Rainbow, especially since your kids are so young.

 

[twinboysmom]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Those of you who mentioned sticker shock were not lying. I requested some quotes of various sets and the only company who has gotten back to me was cedar works. Their quote for a set was $8,000 This is for a set similar to the one I am looking at having custom built for less than 3k. We honestly cannot afford to spend 8k on a swing set so I believe we will probably get the custom built set. We are really happy with the materials used and workmanship and it comes with a fantastic warranty and of course, never hurts to buy local. Thank you again everyone.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

It's actually a good time of year to be shopping for swing sets...I know the company we bought from Eastern Jungle Gym has an annual demo sale and you can get a really good deal - all warranties/setup included.

But yes the sticker shock thing is really eye-opening. The one other thing I would recommend doing when you finally get it - invest in some Trex or other composite fascia board item (I used TimberTech) and "protect" the lower leg areas of the swing set - my landscapers were (and sometimes even with the protection) destroying the lower legs with the weed whacker - the fascia board is thin 1/4" maybe and it totally protects the soft cedar from damage.

 

[Kellydelly]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Those of you who mentioned sticker shock were not lying. I requested some quotes of various sets and the only company who has gotten back to me was cedar works. Their quote for a set was $8,000 This is for a set similar to the one I am looking at having custom built for less than 3k. We honestly cannot afford to spend 8k on a swing set so I believe we will probably get the custom built set. We are really happy with the materials used and workmanship and it comes with a fantastic warranty and of course, never hurts to buy local. Thank you again everyone.

My husband bought a plan/kit from Home Depot 9 yrs ago and built our playstructure himself. It took him two weekends to complete it. It cost us about $650 total at that time. I had a 2 yr old and a 4 month old then. I have to say that ALL my kids still play on the playstructure almost daily (11, 9, 7, 7). My husband modified the upper deck to make it twice as wide so there is plenty of space to play "house" or whatever and an adult can comfortably stand up there too . I do recommend staining it every couple of years to keep the wood in good shape.

 

[r3ngels]

We have a swing and slide... bought the kit and then the lumber. We added to it every couple of years. Different swings, toys etc...

It has been used for 14 years and they play on it all the time... Well not my oldest that we bought it for but the little ones do.