Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Kids Wooden Swing Set Part 1

About 5 years ago Santa Claus brought the kids an amazing present.  It was something that we thought would grow with the kids and they would have pretty much forever.  We were wrong.
Santa bought a wooden swing set from Walmart.  It was expensive {about $500} and it didn’t last two years before it started having problems.  The plastic coated wood started rotting.  The company did stand behind their warranty and sent us new wood.  But 3 years later we are looking at a swing set that I don’t feel safe with both of my kids swinging at the same time.  This is a problem.
We searched all over the internet for wooden swing set plans but they were all so expensive.  But after what seemed like searching forever, we ran across these plans.  It was exactly what we were looking for.
We tore down our old shed and leveled out the ground.  We ordered the wood from a local company {Mid South Lumber} because Lowe’s was very overpriced. We even had it delivered for only $35!  The bolts and hardware that we needed, we originally purchased from Lowe’s, however Zack heard about a nut and bolt place in town and he bought them from there and returned the ones from Lowe’s.  Just to give you an idea on our savings…Lowe’s had a 400% mark up!!!  Lesson learned always check locally before going to the big stores.
We started working on the swing set this past weekend and hopefully it will be completed soon!  We are only modifying the plans a little.  Instead of a sand box on the bottom, we are doing a deck.  The kids have a really nice sand box already and we think a small deck would be nice.
So here is all the wood that we needed for the project.
april 2011 001
This was after everything was all cut up.  This is what Zack spent his Saturday doing.  He didn’t realize how much he was going to have to cut until he started.
Then on Sunday, I leveled out the ground for the concrete pavers {we didn’t want to wood to sit on the ground} and he built the frame for the fort.
april 2011 004
This is just part one.  I will post as we go along.  We are hoping to have the decking and sides on by the weekend so that we can get the beam up for the swings!
Then we have much more work to be done.  We are going to be landscaping it all with landscape timbers and rubber mulch.  Not to mention a new fence along the back and solar lights.  This all will take time.  Right now the swing set is our number one priority. :-)

3 comments:

Kelli W said...

How exciting! I bet it is going to awesome!

The Starr Family said...

Have fun with that! Step Two childrens products are actually made locally here (in Ohio) and we purchased one of their swingsets... our kids never tire of it!

Miller Racing Family said...

What a project. I am with you , I can't belive how pricey the swing sets are.
By the way Trey saw this photo and he was impressed. So we will have to check back on your progress.