Wooden Playsets/Swingset: Any Good or Bad Experiences You Can Share?

[tiggger1]

can anyone recommend a kit? My hubby wants to build one for our daughter but refuses to spend the $1500 on it. I am looking for the plans and the hardware and we will by the wood locally. I would like one with a fort and at least 3 swings, a climbing wall, sandbox underneath and a slide... any help would be appreciated.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I agree with the other posters about the playset you can get at Sams. We aren't members though, and didn't want to join to get the swingset. We happened to find the exact one on Ebay---and it included free shipping!
We're very happy with the quality, the slide is very steep though!!

 

[hlbtimes2]

We have this one http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4645446 We've had it for 6 years. It even survived a move from our old house. Its in great shape. We have painted/ stained it once since buying it.

 

[budbeerlady]

We did the Menards kit thing also. It was around $450 -500 when we were said and done. Dd loved it. She has a rock climbing with rope that leads to Monkey bar type handles to cross. Then it has a tower with the slide off the one side, steering wheel, telescope, sandbox underneath. Then other extension side has two swings and some rings. I like the fact that the tower roof is wood and not canvas. I wish we had built it for her sooner but we did it for her 5th birthday. She is on it every night after school.

I bought the kit in late august, they were starting to clearance them out. I think I saved $40 that way, so we bought the box and then the lumber it tells you it needs to complete the set.

It was from Playstar. here is the link: http://www.playstarinc.com/ps/champion-gfv.asp

 

[corie161]

We bought our kit at Menards also about 6 years ago and it's still holding strong. If I remember correctly they had different prices depending on the type of wood you choose to use. I could be wrong.

We bought the initial set with the tower, 2 swings, slide and glider. We have since put on an addition of monkey bars and a trapeze bar.

 

[720L]

We've got one from Costco, it's not the Sunray but similar. It's about 3 yrs old and has been moved twice. (when moving it, my dh just dragged it with a tractor-didn't disassemble all of it!) It's held up well so far.

 

[Aneille]

We have a Creative Playthings set. My SIL has one as well.

I think they are both about 3 seasons old.


My kids don't use it that much, but so far its held up well. It was this set or a Rainbow set for us. The set is sturdy.

I can't compare to the Costco set since I have never seen one. But the set does appear sturdier than the ones I see at BJ's.

I like the styling of the Rainbow system a bit better, but in the end there really wasn't that much difference I didn't think. We can't fit a huge set with all the cool things I liked anyway, nevermind afford them!

But we are very happy with the Creative Playthings. We got the basic 4 swing spot with wooden canopy and slide.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

No, we haven't looked at Creative Playthings. I just looked them up on the Internet, and there's a store about an hour away. Do you know anyone that has one? Where did you hear about them being sturdier than the Costco set?

I could tell by looking at it that it's sturdier than the Costco set. We're happy enough with our Costco set, but it also doesn't get tons of use like it would have when my older kids were young.

I haven't seen the Sam's sets or at least haven't paid attention since we aren't in the market. I'll pay attention when I go there in a day or two.

The sets are a pain to put together and if I were you I'd consider having a pro do it unless you like doing that sort of thing (my DH doesn't exactly enjoy it and it took awhile).

 

[juligrl]

Both Home Depot and Lowes have wooden swingsets that includes everything but the wood (which you buy separate). That is an option we're considering (though the "estimated 5-6 hours to assemble" might take five to six days for me). It seems as though the thickness of the wood, the kind of wood, and how well it's treated (to protect from the weather) are essential aspects of a good set.

This is what we have from Home Depot. DH and DFIL built it at the beginning of last summer. In reality it took probably about 8-10 hours over two days to build, but it is a nice set. The wood is treated and my DD still comes in with red stains on her clothes from playing on it (kids and clothes are all washable ).
We did have a slight mishap with ours on a very windy night this winter. Let's just say the swingset that would take 6 men and a horse to move was no match against the wind and ended up toppled over in our backyard one morning. Two pieces of the railing surrounding the tower area broke, but getting replacements for them was cheap and easy. The wood is actually a little more weathered than we thought it would be for only being a year old, but overall it's a great swingset.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We had a Toys R Us swing set for about 5 years. it looked like crap when we got rid of it. The wood bowed too. I would never recommend one.

When we moved last fall , my mom bought the kids a Rainbow. It is awesome. My 9 yo DS who weighs over 90 pounds, couldn't use his old one, but now can play on this one, since there is no weight limit. My DH and I even swing on it.

We got it at the end of season sale. Its a castle, with the tire swing and all. Delivery and installation, $3000.00. I know its not cheap, but if your kids use it like mine do, its worth it.

 

[debbi801]

My wife and I are looking at buying a wooden playset/swingset for the kids. The problem is finding reviews. We've looked at places like Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Walmart (Sam's Club) and Rainbow (which ARE great swingsets, just a bit more than we want to spend).

Does anyone have any good, or bad, experiences with a wooden playset/swingset brand that they can share before we purchase?

We got ours from Sam's Club or BJ's (I cannot remember which one) in 2001. It has held up very well, although DH goes out yearly to check all the bolts, wood, etc. to make sure it is still in good shape.

 

[MareQ]

Just so you all know - this is an almost 2 year old thread bumped by a newbie.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

bumped by a newbie selling swingsets.

I'm thinking that if the OP hasn't bought one in the two years since posting this, then they've probably decided against buying one altogether.

 

[JR6ooo4]

we had a metal triangle shaped jungle gym. Ladders at the three corners. I tried jumping from one of the ladders to the middle overhead ladder. Barely grabbed on, my leggs swung up and I lost my grip and fell on a bat breaking my arm. I remember up to the jumping part and the next thing i remembered was the elevator door opening at the bone doctors office. We were "regulars" there...

But we had great fun on it! Heheheheee

Mikeeee

 

[puffkin]

We bought one of those Home Depot kits where you just add the wood.....I think the model is Brookfield or something like that. This year they are rebranded as Disney, which I thought was funny, but are exactly the same. It cost us about $500 and took my husband about 2 full days to build basically by himself.

It is nice for our needs, but not spectacular. We wanted something smaller and basic since we have a lot of nice playgrounds in our area and couldn't justify dropping $1500 on a swingset. Only real problem is the tarp roof, we already had to take that down because it shredded to pieces, but our yard is a wind tunnel so that wasn't surprising. This spring we are ordering the wood roof accessory to replace the tarp.

 

[LakeAriel]

I haven't read through here but my DD spent a lot of money on one of these not to mention how long it took to put together but the kids never ever use it..

 

[Shelby_911]

DO NOT BUY A RAINBOW PLAY SET!! We bought the biggest one they had. My kids loved it the first year we had it. They wont even go out in the back yard at all now. The set has become a mega home for carpenter bees. We kill at least a hundred bees every year and the wood is so damaged, I'm afraid someone will get hurt. We called Rainbow and they want us to do extra treatments on it and they said they will replace the damaged wood but we would have to pay for the labor. The whole set needs to be gone and it cost us about $7000. 00. Get a simple medal swing set and replace it every few years. Some of the post here said the kids don't play on the wood sets. I'm sure it's due to the bees. Good luck!

 

[Shelby_911]

We got ours from Sam's Club or BJ's (I cannot remember which one) in 2001. It has held up very well, although DH goes out yearly to check all the bolts, wood, etc. to make sure it is still in good shape.

Do you have problems with bees in that one?

 

[amzeedyk]

We currently own a Rainbow Sunshine Castle II, it is approximately 3 yrs old and is in excellent shape. The price was pretty high when we purchased it (we paid $4200) however the solid construction and lifetime guarentee sold us. We are currently trying to sell it because our children have out-grown it (we have one that is about to be a teenager), I actually wish I would have purchased it when they were a little younger, none-the-less, they have really enjoyed it!! Each winter we remove all of the accessories and store them in the basement so they stay nice and vibrant (colors), we have also stained it. We are currently trying to sell it for around $2000, and people knowing the quality of a Rainbow have been calling, however we do not have a truck to deliver it. It has been a GREAT playsystem for us!!!

 

[Anne34]

Do you have problems with bees in that one?

We had a bee problem in ours every summer. (It was a kit we made from Menards). We just go out with the bee spray and it took a few days to a week and then they were gone. My kids loved ours for 11 years and we finally took it down this past August. I was sad to see it go.