Wooden Swing Sets!

[Pembo]

*****

 

[sha_lyn]

we've been pricing them for a while and I've found the best deals at BJ's or Costco. From what I have heard, you should use cedar and not pressure treated lumber because of the chemicals that the lumber is treated with.

 

[Lorix2]

We have one. My husband built it (with his hand in a cast too, he just had to do it for our DD when she was 2). He copied the design from one at a hardware store. My kids 12 and 6 don't use it much.

The youngest will climb up to the "treehouse" they call it and sit up there pretending things with his friend for awhile, but not much.

But this one has lasted 10 years, won't rust or bend. Definitely hard to move too.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You'd be better off to schedule play time at local parks or schools that have swings and spend the money you saved on a trip to Disney!!!

 

[believe]

My Dad, brother and Uncle built our DDs' set. It is basic, but is made with much thicker wood than the pre-designed sets. It will easily hold and adult and isn't going anywhere. I went basic since the girls already had a little tykes log cabin to play in and a sand box. Also, I want to be able to convert it to an adult swing or hammock frame when they are older

 

[KristiKelly]

We bought our kit @ Lowe's, DH and my Dad built it in about 2 days. We've had it for almost 4 years, DD4 & DS6 use it almost everyday. Anytime kids are over, that's the first thing they go to. DS & DD like to have picnics in the tree house part. In our case, it was money well spent!!!

 

[peg2001]

Originally posted by believe
Also, I want to be able to convert it to an adult swing or hammock frame when they are older

Now that's about the smartest idea I've heard related to swingsets!

I can't help much with a wooden swingset since we went with the much less expensive aluminum set. It doesn't last as long, true, but kids seem to only use the sets for a few short years anyway.

Peggy

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

We bought ours from Creative Playthings. I think if was like $600
We purchased it from the local CP store and assembled it ourselves, they do have set-up though.(www.creativeplaythings.com) We have the Fairfax model. Was it worth $700? I wish I had bought the $1200 set! The kids 4 &5 use it constantly!

Our set has 3 swings, we have 1 swing, 1 trapeze and 1 double swing instead of just 3 reg. swings. It also has a slide, a rope ladder, a covered fort, monkey bars and a sand box under the fort. Which ever one you choose, I am sure the kids will love it!

Wishing everyone a "magical" day!

 

[Desnik]

I don't have one for my kids, we've moved around alot. We will look to buying one in the future and have researched a bit. My sister bought hers at http://www.rainbowdirect.com/
It is such a nice set. Really unbelievable but, really expensive. I think it was a couple thousand. Maybe around $3000. She had the company come and set it up, her DH isn't handy like that. That did cost extra but, it was worth it. I will probably buy the same one once we are sure we are staying in this house!
The set is built really well, has a warranty and she has had it for 3 years and it still looks brand new!

 

[JESW]

Not to discourage you, but if you drove just through our neighborhood you would find MANY families (ours included) who would galdly sell you theirs. Yes, we all bought them thinking the kids would play on them - ours just don't. DD, who is now 5, loved it when she was younger and in the baby swing. Now they may go on it a few times a year.

The kids love it much better when we take them to the playground.

But if you do decide to go with one - hope your kids have fun!

Jill

 

[Pembo]

Thanks everyone. As for the going to the park idea....I HATE going to the park! Besides with one who still naps, I need something for them to do outside while the baby naps.

They really, really want one, with a treehouse. Since we have no trees, we have to build.

Keep your comments coming.........

 

[Tinks]

We bought a Rainbow Play System set and the kids like it. They aren't on it constantly, but they play on it quite a bit. It still looks brand new after 2 - 3 years and is very sturdy...I can swing with the kids! Yes, expensive, but worth it for us.

 

[MerryPoppins]

We bought a book of plans and built ours ourselves. It wasn't that hard and I was pregnant at the time. My kids loved it. Unfortunately, when DS was in second grade and DD was about 4 we moved and had to leave it behind. Our newer house has swings, but they never liked it as much as the old one.

By the way, if you get one with a sandbox be sure that it has a cover. Neighborhood kitties love to borrow sandboxes. Yuck!

 

[jel0511]

We also have a Rainbow Swingset and I'll also attest to it's stability and it's VERY well constructed. We've had ours for 4 years now, and it still looks like new. It is VERY sturdy, I've had probably 20 kids on it at once and it didn't even flinch. They are very expensive, but are worth it. They are made of untreated redwood, so they are naturally bug resistant.

 

[Rajah]

Well, I have no kids, but I can share my experiences *as* a kid with one. My parents built a full "treehouse" (clubhouse with a ladder and rope swing and stuff) and my friends and I played in it all the time until we moved. I still miss that old clubhouse.

At the second house, we just had a metal set that had the bars and a couple of swings, a slide, the rings, and one of those bar-swing thingies you could do flips over. And we played on that all the time, too.

 

[robsmom]

I found that the ones at Toys-R-Us were much much cheaper than the other companies. It is not as big or heavy duty but has a Platform with pitched canvas covered roof, sliding board and 3 slots for swing items. we have a duo glider, swing and baby swing (to be replaced this spring because DS is 5.).

they installed for a reasonable price.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

Like others have mentioned, our kids prefer playing at the big local parks, but our swingset still gets a lot of use. Mom and Dad are not always available to transport them to the park!

 

[CindyKansas]

We bought our kit at the lumber store 10 years ago and DH and I built it. We did the fort, with a wave slide, 2 swings, a trapeze and a rope to climb on. We had the entire thing until we got hit by a tornado 2 years ago this coming June. Now we just have the swing set. DD still likes to go out and swing once in awhile with her CD player.

 

[HLFDZN]

Back in 1995, when we built our wooden swingset, we had already been through 2 metal ones and when my 7 yr old would swing on the metal one, the pole would flex. It also would pop up out of the ground when they went too high, even with anchors.

When we picked out the set we have, we asked the kids if they prefered the tree house or the monkey bars, and being climbers, mine wanted monkey bars. We built a 2 part set, one has 3 places for rings, swings or a glider and the other has the monkey bars, and a slide and rope, and rope ladder, and a pole. They spent many many hours playing on that set.

It was nice when the baby napped I could let the kids play in the yard and actually get something done. We also had a huge sandbox. The mess was worth every minute of occupied time they had. I wish we had gone with wood in the first place. We got ours at Menards home store and bought it as a kit. Hubby and friend built it over the 4th of July that year. It has been up for almost 9 yrs and they still play tag and skateboard down the slide !!! It is a good investment if you kids are outside active kids.
Melissa

 

[wdwnutze]

We bought ours at BJ's a couple of years ago. My kids spent all there time on it at first but it doesn't get as much use now. The 11yo has pretty much outgrown it but the 5yo still uses it. OUr has the clubhouse and the spiral slide. It seems to get the most use when other kids come over. My kids wold still prefer a day at the park.