Customer Reviews

Swing - N - Slide W"Ter Wood Complete Ready - To - Assemble Swing Set Kit

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before I start my rant, let it be said that this thing looks nice and my daughter loves to play on it.

Here are some things to know before ordering it:

1. The instructions are poorly written and outright wrong on several occasions, so be prepared to read the instructions and then scratch your head for a while. Then at the end of the step, you will realize the instructions were wrong and you have to undo everything you did in the last step and calculate the correct steps to take on your own.

2. The wood splits easily, so you have to pre-drill each hole for each screw (several hundred holes).

3. The hardware (screws, bolts, etc) is scattered throughout the kit in several different boxes, so when it seems like you're out of screws, go dig around in other boxes to find more. It would have been nice if they could put all the hardware together in one box. This would make life much easier.

4. The green roof boards were painted green and then placed into the box while the paint was still wet, so they will be stuck together and the act of pulling them apart will probably peel the paint off some of the boards.

5. If your children are still small enough that they can't climb a ladder safely, then there is no way for them to climb up into the structure and use the slide or hangout under the roof. I built stairs for my daughter so she could climb up into the structure.

With all of that said, it is doable, but it's going to test your patience and you might cuss under your breath a lot, but your kids will love it.

I bought this swing set for my two grandaughters. It was a big Birthday surprise for them. My son-in-law worked for about 16 hours to get it up and ready for them. It's definitly worth the money I paid for it. Everything seems to be nice and sturdy. The little picnic bench could have been made a bit stronger though. With both girls on the bench it seems to bend in the middle a little. We've talked about buying some wood to brace it up so it won't cause a problem. Other than that all is great. Most days we have five kids climbling all over it. I see it lasting a long time. I'm happy I bought it. And the free shipping topped it off. Right to the house and carried to the back yard.

Let me start by saying that I am not a carpenter or a professional tradesman. I am handy with tools and so are the other father's that helped in my neighborhood.

The good:

1) my 2 yr old son likes playing on it.
2) it looks nice.
3) you WILL have problems with assembling the set and missing parts. On these occassions, I found the customer service agents to be friendly and courteous.

The BAD:

1. Like many others have said: The instructions are VERY poorly written and outright wrong on several occasions, so be prepared to read the instructions and then scratch your head for a while. Then at the end of the step, you will realize the instructions were wrong and you have to undo everything you did in the last step and calculate the correct steps to take on your own. In some cases, this means re-doing an hour or two of work.

2. The wood splits easily, so you have to pre-drill each hole for each screw (several hundred holes). The kit comes with several hundred pieces of wood. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is assembled ahead of time.

3. The kit comes with over 700 screws -- I am NOT kidding. You WILL be an expert at using your drill after assembling this. Also, you will be using several different drill bits throughout this assembly -- there is no common standard size screw/drill head used throughout the set; best bet is to have several drills ready with different bits in them to escape the hassle of changing the bits every few minutes. Do not be fooled by the "ready to assemble" marketing of this set. The hardware (screws, bolts, etc) is scattered throughout the kit in several different boxes, so when it seems like you're out of screws, go dig around in other boxes to find more. It would have been nice if they could put all the hardware together in one box. This would make life much easier.

4. Like another reviewer: If your children are still small enough that they can't climb a ladder safely, then there is no way for them to climb up into the structure and use the slide or hangout under the roof. I built stairs for my daughter so she could climb up into the structure.

5. Do you have the time: Just to get the main frame and swing beam up, it took me and 3 other guys five hours to assemble. To get the rock wall, ladder, and side (fence-like) panels, and roof on took me and two other guys another 5 hours. Calculated: 25+ man hours to assemble. If you can afford it, it might be best to consider hiring a crew of men to assemble this kit for you -- my guess is over $1000 labor, if not double that because the instructions are so sketchy or contradictory in parts.

With all of that said, it is doable, but it's going to test your patience.

the wood is pretty poor. it splits quite easily whether following or exceeding the safe distance the instructions recommend. i recommend drilling holes first. also the swings are too close to eachother. I see this being a problem in the future. also, the swings have a 150 pound weight limit, but the company sells "adult" swings that support up to 350 pounds I think. I don't know why they wouldn't just use the stronger swings in this set.

awesome, kids love it. could be a little heavier duty for the 11 and 12 year old but they still enjoy it and don't get too rowdy on it.