1. DIY Life

DIY Life is a cool blog with tons of DIY projects and tips including a lot of outdoor stuff. Besides helping you on general DIY skills there are some great posts about swing sets, for example Five easy playground structures for under $100 total.

2. LumberJocks

LumberJocks is one of the most complete woodworking showcases I have ever seen! It has literally thousands of projects (currently 30,000) with pictures and all. The site is also a community with blogs, forums and events. It’s a great place to learn all kind of DIY stuff and to find some great swing sets like this baby one.

3. Dan’s Shop

Dan’s Shop is the personal woodworking blog of a craftsman who gives a lot of pictures and very detailed instructions on DIY projects. Regardless the fact there is nothing about swing sets, his blog will be very useful for you.

4. Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog

Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog will not teach you woodworking neither will show you how to build a swign set. But this blog has great landscaping ideas and advice which will help you decide where and how to form the playground in your garden.

5. Outdoor Furniture Buyer’s Guide

Outdoor Furniture Buyer’s Guide is not about making but about buying outdoor furniture. Some of the posts however can give you great ideas for your swing set even if you are building it yourself. Check for example this patio loveseat!

6. I’m an Organizing Junkie

I’m an Organizing Junkie is a bit different than the other blogs listed here. Rather than specific DIY projects or buying advice you will find ideas about organizing your space, life and work. You will find inspiration for organizing your swing set building and your landscape there.

7. This Old House

Now let’s go back to blogs that deal with home improvement and DIY projects. This Old House is amazing content rich blog that has all kind of DIY and home repair tutorials, buyer guides and deal alerts. There are some cool how-to videos like for example How to Build a Tree Swing.

8. Danny Lipford

Danny Lipford is a respected expert on home improvement, but this is not the reason to include his blog here. The reason is that the blog is great and has guides and videos like this one about building a backyard swing. Pretty cool if you ask me.

9. Projects in Metal

We have covered a lot of woodworking advice sites. But what if you want to build or repair a metal swing set? Most people would give up and call a professional but you aren’t one of them, are you? Projects in Metal is a great blog for the amateur machinist. You will not find swing set plans there but you will learn a lot about how to work with metal.

10. Backyard Oasis

Finally, let’s look into some more general advice about arranging and landscaping your backyard at Backyard Oasis. But don’t think that this is just a general read – the blog has a sepcific section about backyard childrens area.

If you can add something to the list, I’ll be happy to hear!

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.