Swing sets

I love the wooden ones but I've seen mixed reviews on any under $600 - being cheap wood, etc. I like the wood but hate to spend a ton of money. Any recommendations?

 

Thank you for posting this I'm in the market for one and I've heard a ton of mixed reviews as well.

 

I've heard wonderful things about the Rainbow swing sets but they don't even post the prices on the website so I can only imagine what they cost.
We actually bought this one on the spur of the moment when I was at Toys R Us: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3175987 When I got home and read the reviews it didn't look so good so I want to take it back.

 

I dont know anything about any others, but I know that when we get a yard, I want one of the big Costco ones. They have so much to do on them. Not just a swingset anymore my friends

 

We got a Rainbow Recreation playstructure last year and absolutely love it, but I don't think there are any under $600. My Mom purchased it for us. we never would have been able to afford one, especially the one she got us, but she wanted to give the kids a gift from my Dad that passed away the summer previous. It truly is awesome. I know when we were getting rid of our old wooden one that was a slide with 3 swings and a very small "house" at the slide area, we listed it on craigslist. You could check there. I know a lot of times handymen will build them for you as well. I think the important thing is to make sure you dig them into the ground a bit so they won't tip (some people even use some cement at the bases) as well as putting water sealer/stain on them to head off any kind of rotting.

 

Good post! I'm interested in the responses as well. My parents have decided they're going to get the girls one from Walmart for their birthday this summer. I'm curious how it will hold up.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Adventure-Play-Sets-Meridian-Wooden-Swing-Set/13321212

 

We just have the girls a metal swing set that they play on. I have pondered over getting them one of the wooden ones and think we will go with a playhouse instead. GL!! I agree with pp, you might want to check craigslist.

 

We had bought a cheaper one (about $399) one at TRU back in 2004 for my oldest DD. Well that lasted 4 years and broke last summer. We were mad then we did not spend a little more to get a better swingset. Last summer Walmart had a Rainbow set for $799. I had never seen Rainbow under $1000 so we jumped on it and bought it. They were sold out here in a week. It is so solid and I can definitely tell a difference between that one and the one we got at TRU all those years ago. Bottom line, I would spend a little extra money for a nicer set if you want it to last. The Rainbow systems are expensive, but they are solid and last a long long time.

 

Yeah, I was wondering if this was going to be a you get what you pay for kind of thing. I don't want to have to buy another one in a couple of years. I'd like it to last a long time.

I was just looking up the locations in my area for the Rainbow swing set and I saw that you can see each location's specials. At a location I was looking at it looks like you can save up to 40% thru this Sunday. http://www.rainbowplay.com/index.php/showrooms/locator/IL/

 

Yep, this is exactly why I wish we would have spend a little more the first time around. Oh, well live and learn.

I will tell you my 9 year old and her friends still play on our swingset too, so it's something your kids will use for a long time.

 

We went to Home Depot and bought one of their kits. It was like $150 for the kit (the slide, swings, all hardware, etc.) then the wood was probably another $250. So Total we spent roughly $400-500 (I can't remember exactly but we added some stuff on like baby swings, tire swing, clubhouse, etc)

I liked going that route instead of buying from TRU/WalMart, becuase then we KNEW the quality of wood we were getting, and nothing was pre-drilled (perfect for us, so we could play with the extra wood and make extra things) and it was in line with the prices from TRU/Walmart too.


Instead of setting the posts with cement, my husband drove rebar (sp?) posts through the wood and into the ground. It is solid and not moving anywhere! Which is unfortunate, because after we put it up, we realized it wasn't at the right angle with the rest of the yard, but that's an entirely different post and has no bearing on it's stability/usability!

 

The Rainbow play systems here in MN start at 17,000 dollars and go to 30,000 dollars.. NO WAY we could afford that. They are nice tho, but HOLY expensive NEW CAR I see when I look at them. i think we'll just do like the old days and walk to the park

I envy anyone who can afford them they are gorgeous and none of the others are made as nicely, the only downfall I can see really is that you do have to pressure wash and stain them yearly, just like a deck and I do NOT like that idea one bit.

Luckily, we have 10,000,000 parks surrounding us so we should be okay.

 

Wow, that is super expensive. It must vary in different regions and maybe it's all determined by individual store owners. We're in MI and we go ours for $6800. It was on sale, but it wasn't more than $10,000 original price. It is the 2nd biggest one they have plus we paid extra for extra height. Now, as I mentioned in my earlier post there is no way that "I" could have afforded that at all, but my after my Dad passed away, she wanted to take some of the $ and get the kids something like this to use for years to come.

I also really loved how they had a deal for $99 tha they would deliver and set it up for us. There is no way we would have gotten that thing put together. It took 4 guys that do it on a daily basis about 4 hours to get it up. They recommended to us to powerwash every 2 years along with stain. They do sell the stain there if you want to use that or get your own. They also have a service that will come do the powerwash and stain for you. Also, if we move we can call them up and they will tear the set down and move it (within a certain range) and set it back up for like $400. I think that's worth it for something like this if you're spending this amount of money on it.

 

We did this too - my husband bought a kit at Home Depot that included all of the plastic pieces (swings, slide, rock wall, glider swing, handles, and tarp roof) as well as all of the bolts and hardware, plus plans. Then he bought the wood he wanted and cut it to size and put the playset up. I loved that he built it himself because he was able to change things to match our landscape more and he added a few extras (like extra height on the clubhouse). If you or your H are at all handy, this is the way to go!