I completed the swing set for the girls but never got around to posting about it. Let me start at the beginning…

When we moved here and realized we had our own whopping half-acre spread (tongue-in-cheek), the girls immediately asked for a swing-set. We ended up waiting … one summer came and went, then another and then we decided we should do it before the girls started high school.

We looked at the fancy swing-set designs costing $2K or more and, frankly, I wasn’t impressed with the construction. Yeh, it’s a lot less work to purchase something from a store or catalog and have it installed but I wanted the challenge of building this myself and being able to tailor it to fit our yard. Having a job that allows me to work out of the house also meant I could tackle the project during the week so it shouldn’t take too long, right? Well, I started in late June and didn’t finish until late August. Two things slowed me down (ok, three if you count a few rainy days):

1. I needed some additional tools
2. The wood prep took much longer than I anticipated

I ended up buying a great Porter-Cable mitre saw and assorted hand tools which helped a lot but the sanding and staining of all the pressure treated lumber added weeks to the process. And, yes, I used a mask when I was sanding all that chemical filled lumber.

I also decided to change the plans a bit and use a composite material for the decking above the slide. Composite decking is a mix of wood and plastic that is extruded by a machine. The local home center had it in 12′ lengths and I fastened it using stainless steel screws. It needs no staining, will not splinter or decay and should handle the pounding it will get from the kids.

Next summer, I’m adding monkey bars to the back of the swing-set leading up to the slide deck. I just ran out of time to complete it before moving on to other projects that needed to get done before winter. It was a great project, one that I recommend if you have the time and the tools. Take a look…