Building your own playset/jumgle gym...ready to assemble, kit or from scratch?

[Sue G in PA]

We are looking to buy a jungle gym/swingset/climbing tower, etc. for our 6 dc. I wanted to know the cheapest way to go about this. I could 1. Buy a ready-to-assemble kit from Toys R Us or another company, 2. Buy a plan from Home Depot/Lowe's or another hardware store, purchase the wood, accesories, etc. separately and have dh put it together (we might have it by 2010 if I go this route :)). Any experience with this? Is it worth it to just buy a plan and build it yourself or should I just go with the prepackaged, ready-to-assemble kits from Toys R Us, etc.? Thanks for your suggestions!

[chiguirre]

I guess the cheapest route is the one that actually gets done. You'll feel really :mad: if you spend a bunch of money on a pile of lumber.

 

We went the "have someone else put it together" route and even though it was expensive, it's been used almost everyday at our house. The kids live outside when the weather is nice and play on it all the time.

[GreenKitty]

We designed and built our own. :)

 

Though if you aren't into doing things like that then just buy a kit.

[Melissa B]

We bought one from Costco (Sam's Club would be similar.) It was cheaper than at places like Toys R Us. It still took about 8 hours to put together with three people. But, the directions were easy to follow, all of the pieces were there and of good quality and it has withstood four very active children without any damage!

[Jodi-FL]

the kits sold at places at Toys R Us do not stand up to as much wear and tear as the ones you build yourself (or hire someone else to do it) from a kit. I think the wood even looks sturdier.

 

FWIW, my dh (who is an accountant, and has the soft hands to prove it) made friends with a Lowe's worker when he built ours, and he told us the cheapest way to go about it, and answered any questions dh had through the building of it (it took him 2 weekends, but he did it, better than anyone else (I believe, because of his attention to detail) and was so proud of himself.)

 

too bad we moved. we miss that swingset. we have 7 kids too, so it took a lot of wear!

 

good luck!

Jodi

[G5052]

We bought it when we first moved into our house, and frankly it was falling apart after two years. We kept it together another 1 1/2 years with more lumber and various accomodations, but when we refinanced the house and had a month with no house payment, we bought an Amish-made one from a local lot that sells sheds, furniture, and swingsets. It's still going strong five years later.

[Tess in the Burbs]

first time he helped someone with 'plans' from home depot. they cut every piece of wood and assembled it. took weeks to do in their spare time.

 

second time my dad bought a kit from Sam's Club. wood is precut with all hardware and instructions included. it took 21 hours spread out over 8 days. My dad's friend hired people to put together the same set for his family and the 'pro' group took 21 hours in 5 days.

 

either way was hard work and often frustrating. My dad's neighbors did it the first way and they actually spent more money than a full kit in the end.

 

so not sure there is a best way. but I would think having the wood precut would be less time consuming. Although it took me days to sort the precut wood in our kit since have the label's had fallen off :eek: