We are interested in buying a swing set. But, it seems that so many of them out there aren't very durable. We have some wild and rough kiddos and need something strong. We would love some recommendations. We are on a budget, as well.
Rainbow playsets are great, but can be pricey. I bought a playset from sams a couple of years ago and it was money worth spent. They only thing I have had to do is re-stain the wood. Normal wear with the sun. The canopy is plastic now so it doesn't need replacing. It was less then $1500 and has had all the neighborhood kids on it.
You can find some really great used ones on craigslist.org
Join freecycle.org for your community before you go out and buy a swingset. Someone might be giving away one for free that you can snatch! We had a metal one for our kids - I cannot remember the brand name. It held up very well. Metal ones need to be secured to the ground so that they do not pump and fall over as the kids swing high. Our kids loved it. It had 2 swings, a winging teeter totter, a swinging ladder, and a fort with a slide. We gave it away for free a few years ago when our daughter was 9 or 10.
i found the wooden ones to be so expensive - in the $1000 and up range, we could not afford that - but we do have lots of trees lol, so we bought just the swing seat and rope from home depot, and put them in our trees, we have one baby swing, one adult swing and one tire swing., cost about $70 for everything.
i would love one of those rainbow swing sets one day though with the climbing wall and slide etc
We purchased a wooden swingset from Sam's Club about 6 years ago. It was a great investment and when we looked around at that time, Sam's had the best price (I don't recall exactly what we paid, but I think it was under $500). Yes, wooden sets are a lot of work to put together, and they do require some maintainence (we've re-stained ours a couple times, we replaced the canvas canopy, and my husband just did some reinforcing, as the screws get loose with all the movement), but they are certainly worth it. We considered getting rid of ours recently, but both of my kids still play on it pretty regularly, even at 8 and 11 years old!
Build one. Home Depot sells all components separately (swing seat, rope, etc.) All you need is a tape measure, lag bolts, drill, circular saw, a level, concrete, and 4x4's (walmanized or treated.) You can get the plans for it online (google it.) You really don't need elaborate if this is your first building project. You can add on as the family grows.
The wooden swing sets are great. We purchased one from Home Depot for around 600.00 But as mentioned check craigslist, good idea. The are great and to have a tree swing to.
The most sturdy swing sets are the wooden sets.
I checked on the Austin Craigslist, there were a few listed under "household items".. You could also check under "general"...Make them a deal, especially if they have been listed for a while. Maybe you could get some relatives, friends or neighbors to help you guys take down and then move a swing set and then rebuild it.. Host a huge cook out as a thank you.
To make money for special items, we have always done garage sales.. We get rid on everything that we have not used in over a year.Furniture, rugs, clothing, toys, whatever..... It cleans out the house and gives us cash for the special items we normally could not afford.
Rainbow is the best swingset on the market. I recommend you buy a used one on Craigslist. We bought a used one for x-mas this year and it looks brand new. All you need is a fresh coat of finish and a new tarp and flags.
We've had our Rainbow Playscape for 10 years. The kids out grew it before it gave up. The structure still has good life - just need to replace the swings and it could use some new stain.
Check it out at: http://www.rainbowplay.com/
GOOD LUCK!
I bought a wooden playset from Sam's when my son turned a year old. He just turned 5 and it still looks like new. He has grown with the set and continues to everyday. It was about $1000 but well worth the money. I know he will play on it for years to come. You can get a lot less expensive playsets but they will not last or be as durable and safe. I highly recommend it.
K.
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K. Kennedy
Helping Others Work from Home!
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You have to look beyond Sears and Toys-R-Us. Go to the yellow pages and look under childrens' playground equpment. There are several companies listed. There's one (can't remember the name of it) located on Beltwey 8 just north of I-10.
We had the Rainbow Playset that we purchased when my oldest was 1----He is now 19. It is still in great shape! Every year we would tighten screws and I have restained it at one point. We just gave it to a neighbor because the youngest is 11--She never played on it anymore.
We purchased one on craigslist and got what we paid for, not much. It was cheap and flimsy. Much like the ones from sams used to be. The ones from sams are much better now, but still somewhat flimsy for older children and rough boys like we have. Rainbow are the best, but very pricey. We went with a gorilla playset after ours was destroyed by hurricane Ike. It is completely made of wood that is coated in plastic so it doesn't need to be treated every year. It is sturdy enough that my husband and I can both get up into the top at the same time, and we are not exactly skinny people. We did a lot of research before we purchased the second set for our kids. The only downfall to the gorilla is that you have to put it together - which is why the price is so much less than the rainbow. However, the directions were easy to follow and only took two people to put together.
