Looking into buying an outdoor playset for my kid. The big kind with the swings and slides and whatnot. Any other parents here have experience with them? Any brand recommendations or general tips? I'm shopping big box stores, Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, etc, as well as a local vendor for Rainbow Play Systems. Right now I'm torn on wood vs. metal. The general consensus seems to be that metal lasts longer and requires less maintenance, but wood is basically a lot more user friendly and the design possibilities are funner. I'm leaning toward a Rainbow system mostly just because they offer one-stop shopping. The plot of land I want to put it on needs to have some trees removed and stumps grinded, and then the land needs to be leveled, set assembled, etc, and they will do it all for me so I don't have to go wrangling 10 different vendors. edit: a late contender has just appeared: https://amishdirectplaysets.com
What's your budget? I bought this one a couple years ago (for half the price). No issues with it aging at all. The only gripe I have is the 'ladder' is curved and we had to help our 2yo (at the time) climb up. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifetime-Adventure-Tower-Deluxe-Swing-Set-with-Monkey-Bars/338614252
I'd like to stay under 10K but given we need to remove some trees and stumps and crap I'm guessing we're going to end up somewhat north of that.
Updated my first post with what I ended up getting. $10k is still a lot for a playset IMO. Rainbows are both overpriced and quality. A friend of mine bought one used, his kid played on it for 10 years, then he sold it again. He had to go and take it apart and assemble it himself.
Funny, that picture you posted is on my list of "maybes". I live in a place where wood goes through all 4 seasons. The set itself would not be getting a ton of sunlight, and so wood rot is a real concern. I'm worried the Rainbow set would crap out if I didn't babysit it every year for the next decade plus. However, the vinyl sets from Amish look badass and apparently last forever. I'm OK dropping 10K on something that is quality.
The set I got is high quality, maybe half a notch below public playground quality. Stainless or galvanized bolts, everything powder coated. Plastics are very high quality and I can swing on it no problem at 220lbs. I would definitely buy that manufacturer again, but If I had a 10k budget I would buy bigger with tunnels and other fun **** to do. Oh, assembly was a legit two day process. I am an extremely handy DIY person who has muscle to lift **** up and I still needed my wife's help.
We purchased a Rainbow system in the Houston-area. Worked out pretty well. I would suggest sealing it as soon as you get it. We kept in Clear Lake for a few years and then moved it to Vegas. Sat in Vegas a few years and we put it together ourselves. Sitting in Vegas for a while completely dried out the wood. It still held up really well. Some sort of bee found a way to burrow into the wood and nest...so I'd keep an eye open for insect nesting areas (on any playset you get). Was it worth the money. Probably so. It held up really well considering the two different environments it was in. Was relatively sturdy...but splinter potential was always there. A big downside was all of the little accessories you could add after-purchase were all extremely expensive.
https://www.bestproducts.com/parenting/kids/g2940/wooden-swing-sets/ One thing we were wondering about was, depending on how high the playset is, our kids could actually look over the hedge into the neighbor's property, and they really might not like that (we haven't even introduced ourselves yet). So maybe we would want to pick something that isn't that high.
Lifetime is definitely on my radar. This one looks clutch. Like I said, I don't mind dropping 10k on it. It's going to be a big part of my kids childhood and will be used for 10+ years. It's worth it IMO. I particularly like the idea of a private space that isn't exposed to the elements like this:
Y'all are better parents than me. We got an old Play Skool thing from our neighbors (who purchased one of those big wooden sets). The one they gave us has two swings, a ladder, slide, and a little "house" under the ladder/slide area. My 7 year old still plays out there (he loves to swing). It is setup close to our tree, so he climbs from that to the tree. Now the tree is his play area. We also have one of those "spider swing" things that hang from a tree branch. On the "enclosed" house sort of thing...just make sure to always check for bugs and spiders and such.
Kudos to you guys for treating your kids. My kid gets playground time every day at daycare, and will have recess at school. I'll take her to the neighborhood and city parks on weekends when we have time. A playscape would be a nice luxury to have, but I don't think we'd get enough use out of it and my backyard barely has enough space. Now I'd entertain building a treehouse in the large oak tree I have, but I gotta convince the HOA first.
We got ours through treefrogs. Paid $2000 with installation in 2014. Lasted for about 7 years. We repainted it once after about 4 years. By the end my kids had grown out of it, it was a hassle to get the weeds from under the “fort” and there was usually a wasp nest somewhere on the play set. It was worth it though. It always gave my kids something to do and it was usually the central feature for their birthday parties. https://treefrogsshowrooms.com/product-category/swing-sets/
Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I am not a diyer. I want someone who can helicopter that sucker in, level the land, and set it up.
The Cedarworks ones look nice...and go up to like 67k lol. https://www.cedarworks.com/product/outdoor/swing-sets/architectural
This is probably getting lost in translation because there's two factors that skew things. 1) cost of living (texas vs where I am) 2) associated expenses I've set aside 10K for the project in total, but there's more to this than just buying the set. I've got to deal with removing trees/stumps, grading the land, creating a container space, and then delivery & assembly. I wouldn't be shocked if that, all in, runs me well over 10K, but I won't be dropping 10K purely on the playset unless I basically have no other options due to space/size concerns (which legitimately could happen as it looks like I only have about a space 20'x35' to deal with and that's kinda wonky). Right now I'm almost certain the winner will be the Amish made vinyl sets. Those are very expensive, but look amazing and last forever. The one I'm keen on is about 6K.
Now I'm beginning to debate the merits/drawbacks of having an enclosed "clubhouse" vs one that just has partially enclosed decks. I think having a private space away from the elements would be pretty cool for a kid, but like, I'm imagining what happens when family of raccoons move in or something, lol.
