... That's what the kids have been chanting all weekend.
My wifes been wanting to get a backyard swingset for the kids all summer, but with a small yard and tight budget its taken a while to find one that worked. Lots of folks around here get sets installed by outfits like Creative Playthings, but even there smaller sets are $$$. We thought about hte Craigslist used route, but most of the ones up for sale are either too big, too beat up, or get spoken for before we can figure out a way to transport it.
Then I was looking at build it yourself kits. A lot of the inexpensive ones at places like HD had very flimsy looking wood, or where all made in China... And the heavier duty sets had prices to rival the pro installed sets.
I also looked at the kits from Detailed Play systems which include only the hardware and plastic parts. But doing the math by the time I buy all the lumber the price was going to add up close to a pro set anyway.
After spending all summer leading lots of review we finally settled on a kit by Gorilla Playsets. Price wise they are about in the middle between the all-China made kits with flimsy mystery wood and the expensive US made pro-installed cedar sets. They claim to be US made of all Cedar... I'd say yes and no. The wood is stained and as best I can tell is cedar (certainly smells like it), the boxes are all labeled like it was boxed and shipped in the US, the hardware and plastic parts are obviously all sourced from China.
Quality wise I'd rate the kit very good. The wood was all decent quality, fairly straight, and of good size (4x4 uprights, 4x6 swing beam, 5/4 decking). The hardware was one area they cheaped out on a bit - it was only zinc coated, not real exterior duty - but it was all appropriately sized. They used 5/16 bolts and lag screws for the tower assembly and 3/8 carriage bolts and lag screws on the swing parts. The rest of the parts, roofing, decking etc was all put together with 2 and 3" wood screws.
I did have to do some adjusting to make the windows fit, as they measured the tolerances a bit too tight and a couple of miss drilled factory holes dint leave enough space for the plastic windows to fit. I also substituted the cheap zinc coated wood screws they supplied for real exterior grade screws on the roof and some other exposed and high stress areas like the ladder and deck bracing.
Time wise, they estimated 6-8 hours to build. Reviews mostly talk about it taking a couple days. I figure it took me , excluding breaks, about 9 hours over a day and a half. I was mostly working alone, but got some help from the Mrs to set and align the swing beam. Having the right tools, especially a good impact driver, really makes things go a lot faster - I can certainly see a typical homeowner with no power tools or carpentry experience taking 2-3 days.
Overall I really like it and if you are looking for a good swingset for your kids but dont want to shell out a few thousand on a professionally installed set I highly recommend checking out Gorilla.
My wifes been wanting to get a backyard swingset for the kids all summer, but with a small yard and tight budget its taken a while to find one that worked. Lots of folks around here get sets installed by outfits like Creative Playthings, but even there smaller sets are $$$. We thought about hte Craigslist used route, but most of the ones up for sale are either too big, too beat up, or get spoken for before we can figure out a way to transport it.
Then I was looking at build it yourself kits. A lot of the inexpensive ones at places like HD had very flimsy looking wood, or where all made in China... And the heavier duty sets had prices to rival the pro installed sets.
I also looked at the kits from Detailed Play systems which include only the hardware and plastic parts. But doing the math by the time I buy all the lumber the price was going to add up close to a pro set anyway.
After spending all summer leading lots of review we finally settled on a kit by Gorilla Playsets. Price wise they are about in the middle between the all-China made kits with flimsy mystery wood and the expensive US made pro-installed cedar sets. They claim to be US made of all Cedar... I'd say yes and no. The wood is stained and as best I can tell is cedar (certainly smells like it), the boxes are all labeled like it was boxed and shipped in the US, the hardware and plastic parts are obviously all sourced from China.
Quality wise I'd rate the kit very good. The wood was all decent quality, fairly straight, and of good size (4x4 uprights, 4x6 swing beam, 5/4 decking). The hardware was one area they cheaped out on a bit - it was only zinc coated, not real exterior duty - but it was all appropriately sized. They used 5/16 bolts and lag screws for the tower assembly and 3/8 carriage bolts and lag screws on the swing parts. The rest of the parts, roofing, decking etc was all put together with 2 and 3" wood screws.
I did have to do some adjusting to make the windows fit, as they measured the tolerances a bit too tight and a couple of miss drilled factory holes dint leave enough space for the plastic windows to fit. I also substituted the cheap zinc coated wood screws they supplied for real exterior grade screws on the roof and some other exposed and high stress areas like the ladder and deck bracing.
Time wise, they estimated 6-8 hours to build. Reviews mostly talk about it taking a couple days. I figure it took me , excluding breaks, about 9 hours over a day and a half. I was mostly working alone, but got some help from the Mrs to set and align the swing beam. Having the right tools, especially a good impact driver, really makes things go a lot faster - I can certainly see a typical homeowner with no power tools or carpentry experience taking 2-3 days.
Overall I really like it and if you are looking for a good swingset for your kids but dont want to shell out a few thousand on a professionally installed set I highly recommend checking out Gorilla.
