swingset

The Swing Set

220+ hours spent on it.

They'll probably play less than 220 hours in their whole life on it.

Was it worth it?  You betcha!

First pic is how the manufacturer thinks it should look.  Nice and big, with capacity for 9 or so.

That's not too bad.

But what if two neighbors gave you their old swing sets, and you decided to bolt them to the set you have, and then you got the crazy idea to go to Lowes, buy even more wood, and add a tower?

Let's see what that looks like

Swing Set 2.0 Stats:

7 ladders

2 slides

1 tunnel

3 monkey bars (the 3rd one is hidden under the green tunnel)

~150 sq ft of living space, most of it under a roof

5 swings (one is a double-seater "glider")

1 trapeze bar

Below, you can see it being built, and already crawling with kids (they're not all mine).

 Here's an angle shot, before I put the side roof on.

Rear-side shot.  Entry to the tower is best through the main entrance, to the left and behind the tower ladder in this view.

Below, it is 90% completed, including the colored plastic roof in the back, to the right of the tower.

All 2.5 swing sets are together.  And look at that nice grass!  Sprinkler was installed this year.

Tweaking it:  replaced the flag on top with an umbrella for some shade.

Also put some darker stain on it to protect the wood.  Should have done it last year, but oh well...

 And finally, here it is with the newly positioned flag and a 4'x8' sand box, and some little girl decorations.

Dec 2011 yielded another neighbor's swingset, and some, um, lofty modifications:

And with Xmas decorations:

And a comparison with the house.  It's 32 feet from base to flag tip, so it's just a bit on the high side, and only a foot or two shorter than the house.  From my second floor window, I have to look up to see the top flag blowing.  It's kind of cool, but the top will be coming down soon since not everyone appreciates a structure of this level of awesomeness.