This is what our swing set looked like before we got started on construction. The plans we used had us make all of the cuts ourselves.
Noah had his first encounter with detailed construction plans. He had a lot of fun reading the next steps to us!
Lots and lots of MATH! Noah's favorite subject:)
Noah gives his two younger siblings a lesson in construction
The framework for the tower. This was the most time consuming aspect of the project.
Wade puts on the deck boards
Judah (slathered in Burt's Bees Sunscreen) lamenting the fact that it is time to add sand to the sandbox
I didn't like the benches in the plans, so I designed my own! This way, there are four separate seats, and they are all far removed from each other....
It is finished!! The tower has two separate ladder entrances (one for toddlers, one for larger kids... another of our personal customizations), a 5'x5' sandbox underneath, and a 6' slide. The deck height is 48" inches, and the canopy peak is 6' above the deck height. Our entire family can comfortably and securely sit up in the deck area with its 25 sq. feet of play space.
The best part of this swing set? It was compact enough to fit in our very small urban back yard, but included FOUR swing stations!
Overall, we are very pleased with the project. We didn't go over our $700 budget, even though we used treated lumber, and sprung for a $130 glider (the red horse looking contraption). This play set is sturdy enough for Wade and I to join the kids up in their tower, and I think I could join them on the swings without a problem... but I'll wait until I'm no longer pregnant to test out that theory;)
Construction took us two weekends. I think the intense heat affected the length of construction (we were working with heat indexes approaching the triple digits). The plans we used (from hot4cad.com) were flawed in quite a few areas... I wouldn't recommend using them unless you have a decent amount of construction and/or DIY experience.
