DIY

DIY Guides

Swing sets and playsets are mostly used from kids. This should be telling you enough by itself: safety is extremely important. It’s a top priority even over features and price.

How to recognize the safe swing set at the store? How to keep your existing swing safe for longer time? How to build a safe swing set yourself? How to safely use it? To learn this and the other aspects of swing set safety keep reading the article.

Swing Set Safety Planning

The right approach to swing set safety is to carefully plan before you even buy the tool. When choosing the location, make sure it will be large enough, properly drained, flat and with appropriate shape.

There should be enough space around the swing set when your kids are using it. Of course you must have in mind what kind of swing or playset will they prefer – this depends on their interests and habits. A good idea is to surface the are area with gravel and/or sand which is deep enough. Good green grass is also an excellent choice but you will have to maintain it and keep it from prickly weeds. And think about what will happen in the sunny winter days when there is no grass. Sand is better choice. At any costs avoid installing the swing set on a concrete platform – falling on such isn’t nice at all.

It’s recommended that you buy equipment which meets the Home Playground Standard ASTM-1148.

Safety Considerations When Buying or Building A Swing Set

Once site planning is done, you may consider buying or building the swing set. There are several aspects of safety that you have to consider at this stage:

• Safe equipment. The equipment used in your playset should be suitable for their age. A lot of the accidents at the playground happen because young children use equipment which is intended for older kids. Economically it’s often a wise decision to buy the equipment for years ahead at once, but if you do that make sure to remove or hide those tools that are not suitable for your kids.
• Distances and number of tools. The more tools and features a swing set has and the closer they are placed to each other, the more riskier it becomes. Of course it’s nice to have a playset with many things and kids like that but it becomes easier to hit a hand or wedge up a finger in some of them. You should prefer cleaner and more elegant sets with enough distance between the swings. It’s recommended that this distance is at least 22 inches.
• Quality of materials and parts. Most parents are concerned if the playset is stable enough. But I have never seen one that falls apart and thus injured the kid. More often than that the swing set hard parts are not well protected and expose dangerous sharp points. So rather than getting obsessed by the weight sustainability pay more attention whether the parts ares mooth or properly covered.

The quality of the wood, metal or plastic used for the swing is also important.

Ongoing Safety Supervision

After you have chosen a proper location, prepared a smooth surface and bought/built a good safe swing set the swing set safety becomes a question of ongoing supervision and teaching the children to use the tool safely. If it is large and stable enough, use it together with them to show them how to swing without falling from the seat.

Depending on the kids age you may want to supervise them each time when they use the playset. This can be time consuming but it’s also a good way to have more fun with them and feel really safe.

You need to regularly check the chains, swings, sliders, nuts and bolts for deterioration, cracks and tightness. Tighten up the bolts when needed and replace equipment when it shows first symptoms of damage.

Refrain children from climbing on the swing set when wet, when the weather is inappropriate or when they are not dressed safely (any too loose dresses are potentially hazardous when using such kind of tools).

The key here is to find the balance between teaching the kids about safety risks and at the same time keeping most concerns away of them so they don’t get frightened but remain reasonable. Don’t forget outdoor swinging should be more about fun than about anything else!

Here’s today’s swing set – the photos are taken from the builder himself and show the process of building a simple but nice outdoor swing.

On the picture at right you’ll see the swing set frame and the planning stage. The smaller one below shows a better look at the swing set frame: Picture by santellij

Picture by santellij

Of course at this point it is missing something very important – the swings! On the last picture you can see the ready swing set:

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Picture by santellij

Do you want to see your swing set here? Let me know!

Here is what you need to do for your swing set depending on its type:

The Plastic Swing Set

Here are good news for plastic swing set owners: they don’t need to do much. The quality plastic should survive the low temperatures and snow without much trouble.

If you live in an area where the winter gets very cold the plastic may get broken however. In such case you’d better store the swing set indoor if that’s possible (with these swings usually doing this is not a big problem).

For sure you should not use the plastic swing when the temperature outside is under 32 F / 0 C. Not only that this is unpleasant, but the plastic loses its solidity which can cause the swing to give in.

If you have left the swing set outside for the winter you will need to clean it after it.

Read more about plastic swing sets.

Metal Swing Sets

The metal swing sets can sustain very low temperatures, rain and snow. The only major problem with them is rust – if the metal isn’t well treated or the treatment is wore on some places you risk the metal to rust. This will reduce the swing solidity. To avoid rust, paint and treat any suspicious places especially on the swing set frame.

Another thing to be careful about: it can be very dangerous if there are small holes which can let water leaks inside the frame. In the winter the water may freeze, increase its volume and just break apart even the steel.

Other than that your metal swing will be just fine in the winter. After the season end you’ll need to clean it and eventually grease the paps.

Read more about the metal outdoor swing sets.

The Wooden Swing Sets

They are great, but they are the ones that suffer most in the winter. An unprotected wooden swing set can totally lose shape during this season. The corrosion can dramatically worsen the wood quality and look. Besides treatment and painting, I highly recommend covering your wooden swing set with canvas or polythene. If that’s not possible, see if you can at least cover its top so no snow and water goes directly on it.

The wooden swing set should not be used when it’s covered by snow or ice – this can be very dangerous for obvious reasons. Kids often overlook such dangers so you must warn them.

At the end of the winter your wooden swing will need cleaning, careful checking and eventually painting.

Learn more about the wooden swing sets and about their safety.

The guide assumes that you are installing a standard “A-type” swing frame like the one described here. If your swing set uses a different frame, you may need to adjust the hole positions but everything else should be almost the same.

Let’s get the work done now.

Materials and tools you need

Preparing the foundation holes and anchoring a swing set doesn’t require much:

• A small spade. You will need to dig 4 holes about 16″ (40 cm) wide and deep. A small gardening spade should do the work unless the soil in your garden is too hard.
• A pail of concrete. You can prepare it yourself using cement, water and sand. If you need help, check here.
• Eight 10 or 12″ galvanized bolts or an anchor kit. (two for each leg) You will use these to attach the legs to the foundations.
• Nuts and washers to secure the bolts

A different way to handle the anchoring could be to install the swing before the concrete becomes solid, but using bolts is much better.

Let’s dig the holes!

Step 1: Mark the positions You should start working on the foundations only after you have built the swing set frame or at least know its exact size. Making a mistake with few inches on the long side is not fatal, but the short positions and keeping both “A” parts of the frame parallel is very important. Use the spade to mark the positions before you start digging.
Step 2: Dig the holes You need one foundation hole for each leg of the swing, so 4 holes. Dig them to about a cube with 16″ (40 cm) side. If you live in a place with cold season, you can dig a bit more. If the soil is too soft dig more or choose a better location for the swing set. Tamp the bottom and the side of each hole until they acquire enough stiffness.
Step 3: Pour concrete and anchor Now it’s the time to use the concrete. Pour it in each hole but don’t overfill. The top 1/4 should remain empty. You will put soil and grass in this space so with the time the swing set will look attached directly in the ground. After 24 hours use the bolts or the anchor kit to secure the legs of the swing set frame to the concrete. This operation may differ depending on the anchoring kits you have.

That’s all, your swing set is now secured. You may want to check out the other aspects of building swing sets.

There are three main ways to build it, so let’s look at the three of them:

Using Ready-to-assemble Kit

These kits don’t offer you much options for creativity but are easy to build . Such an “average” kit costs between $400 and $800 and takes about a day to be assembled. You can check the experience of this family with ready to assemble kits.

Using Build-it-yourself kit

DIY kits (called also “Ready to build”) can cost less – for example this Pioneer kit
is less than $100 at the moment. Don’t forget however that the accessories are not included. They can quickly add 2-3 times the price of the entire kit depending on what you want to have.
It can be still cheaper though – you can have a wooden swing set for $200 – $300, but prepare to spend several days building it.

Building Entirely From Scratch

I recommend this option only if you are real DIY fan, because it can take weeks. It depends on the complexity of the swing set, the tools you have on hand and your skills. A set of swing set plans can be found for $10-$15 or even for free, but the prices of the materials can vary hugely.

I’ve heard it’s possible to spend only $100 and build a decent wooden swing set, but I have no personal experience to share.

First prepare the vertical joists that will stay on top. It must be long enough to handle the entire swing set(s).

Then you need two triangle frames that will be put on each side of the joist. For each of them you need a pair of beams that will be connected on angle of about 30 degrees. Here the metal plates come in place – use them to support the connection with nails or screws.

The two planks must be cut diagonally and attached to the beams to form something like the letter A. This will add more stability to the construction.

Finally, attach the top joist to the triangle frames, placing it over them and using more screws. The joist can protrude a little bit on both sides.

This is just a quick answer to reader’s question. I will come with an illustrated and more detailed guide soon.

Provided that you have all the materials on hand, you should be able to build this tree swing for a couple of hours. Don’t rush it however as the solidity of the construction of every swing is very important.

Let’s get to action.

Materials and tools you need

This is a simple outdoor swing so there isn’t much required:

• A tree. Don’t worry, you are not going to cut it down. You’ll just attach the swing to it.
• A thick board. Usually it will be wooden, but a thick and robust plastic board can also do the work. It should be about 20″ (50cm) wide and 35″ (90cm) long. Could be slightly smaller if only kids will use the swing.
• Two robust ropes. I can’t tell you how long, because this depends on how high branch on the tree you are going to use. In any case each of them should be minimum 4 feet / 120 cm because you swing will have height equal to about its half. You’ll see in the guide below why.
• Eventually a couple of rings You can make your swing without this, but if it will be used too often the ropes can fray from the friction into the wood or the branch can get wound. A couple of metal or plastic rings will significantly reduce the friction.
• Brace or drill. You will need to make a few holes in the board.

If you decide to add the rings, you should somehow put them onto the branch. Eventually this can happen easier by using half rings instead of full ones.

Let’s build it!

Step 1: Choose a Tree You need a good tree, old and strong enough. Avoid using fruit trees like apple or pear, they aren’t strong enough. If you have a walnut-tree, mulberry, oak or beech, it will do the best work. Pick a branch that is 2-3m (10 ft) from the ground so the outdoor swing isn’t neither too high nor too low. The branch should be strong and relatively horizontal.
Step 2: Prepare the Board The board must be thick and robust. If you are building a swing for adults, it should be wider than if the swing will be used from kids only. Use the drill to make four holes into the board. They should be wide enough for a good strong rope to run through it. Make the holes at least 2 inches (5 cm) away from the ends of the board, so the connection between the board and the rope is stable enough. Don’t make them too much inside however as there should be enough space for the person who will swing there.
Attach the Board To the Branch With Ropes Here is how you can calculate the length of each rope. It equals A + B + C + about 30% of thus formed length for the knots. If you are using rings, attach them on the branch at the positions where you plan to make the knots. The board should be exactly horizontal, otherwise good swinging will be impossible. So it’s quite likely that your ropes will have different length. For maximum comfort you can attach handles on each rope.

That’s it! This outdoor swing is really simple. We’ll have guides on building more complex outdoor swing sets, so keep visiting us.

If you have already done it, you know it’s time to look for swing set plans. You can of course design your own, but if you have no experience, it’s better to download or buy plans designed by someone else.

I have collected the best links I could found and I am giving them to you here with some comments.

Here are some plans

Detailed Play Plans offers several detailed plans for complex play sets. You can download a prospect of the plans for free in PDF format.

Some very good wooden swing plans are available at all4thekids.com at low prices – most are less than $20 per plan. Their plans include a bill of materials as well.

FREE! This link goes directly a free PDF swing set plan. It’s only one, but asks no money.

Photo by Chickenboots at Flickr

If all you need is to build a simple swing set these plans are exactly what you need and cost only $12 each.

Extraordinary and probably not what you are looking for, but anyway I’d like to share it – this is sold for $9. Honestly I would prefer to swing myself instead of the plans, but everyone is different.

Some cheap plans (most under $10) for canopy and adult swing sets can be found at Woodcraft, and again there. They also have a funny plan for toddler swing.

FREE! Very simple, but free plan that can be printed can be seen here.

If the free plans listed here don’t suit you, better spend few bucks and buy some plans – less than $20 is a good price. Some sell plans for $50+ which in my opinion is a bit too much. But spending hours searching for free swing set plans is not a very good idea – believe me, I have spent enough hours already to find free plans for you.

You can keep an eye to this site and subscribe by RSS because I plan to publish some free plans and more guides on building swing sets here pretty soon.

The Purpose Of Swing Set Accessories

Most accessories are made for wooden or plastic swings, there is less to add on a metal swing which is another reason to ask yourself twice whether you want to buy such. There are accessories which are especially for kid swing sets (most of them actually) and others who are appropriate only for adult and canopy swings (like pillows for example).

Fun Accessory Ideas

Enough talk, let me give you few examples about fun or useful swing set accessories that you can buy. You can click on the pictures to see them large along with more details about the accessories.

	We spoke about pillows few paragraphs above, so let’s see these pillows for example. The pillows are most appropriate for a hammock swing. They make it not only more comfortable but also a lot more stable and increase the sitting area. With such pillows a large enough hammock can let two adults swinging together at the same time.
	If you have a canopy swing you definitely need a cover. It will protect you and the canopy fabric from sunlight and will let you swing outside even when it’s slowly raining. Most canopy swings come assembled with a cover from the beginning, but it needs to be changed about once per year. The canopy swing covers usually cost between $50 and $150 depending on the quality of the fabric and the guarantee you are getting.
	What if your swing set is primary for kids? No problem, there are some very cool, simple and cheap toys you can add to offer them even more enjoyment. See for example this simple Swing-N-Slide Steering Wheel. Such toys cost $10 – $20 and can give so many new ideas for outdoor play for your children. When buying such a toy, better pick one made of plastic (durable polyethylene) instead of metal, because metal ones may bring you some troubles in case of rust.
	One slightly more expensive but a lot more useful toy is the Swing-N-Slide Climbing Rock. These climbing rocks fits best to wooden swings but there is no real reason (except the look) not to put attach them to a metal or plastic swing set. This accessory will stimulate more physical activity and may help you grow a mountaineer! Well, if nothing else, it’s a lot of fun.
	If you and your children like the idea of more active swinging and combining it with other sports, then Ring/Trapeze Combos are yet another great and very affordable accessory – usually costs just $20 – $30 and can be of such a great help for the kids physical growth. Such rings can be attached to any kind of swing set as long as it is high enough. Of course special attention to safety is required.
	If you have a baby but don’t want to buy a special toddler swing, don’t worry, you can still let it play on the set. There are excellent baby swing accessories that can be attached to the seat or directly to the main beam. The toddler accessories which allow additional protection with a belt or plastic border are much preferred because of the extra safety they provide.
	If you have more kids, gondolas are within the greatest accessories you can buy for their swing set. They are usually made of plastic with carbon steel frame and are appropriate for kids of age 3 and above. The gondolas can be attached to different kind of swing sets, but often only a specific gondola is for only some specific type of swing, so you need to check for compatibility when buying. Usually the gondolas cost $200 – $400 which makes them an expensive accessory.