Swing-N-Slide Pioneer Custom DIY Play Set Hardware Kit (wood not included) Beige

This was purchased as a birthday gift. For the price it is a wonderful set, and because it's able to be customized it makes for a much nicer set than the $99 A frame two swing kit from Home Depot. Things to Know: We purchased the lumber the night before we started the project and then cut everything ourselves the day of assembly. The biggest complaints about this set are that it does not come with the 2 1/2" and 3" screws needed to assemble the decking and frame (and it is not mentioned on the page for the lumber required) so we didn't find out about this until after we had started cutting the boards. Also, at least at our local Home Depot, they do not readily carry the 4x6x16 top beam but do have the 2x6x16 beams available for lamination (attaching the boards together with screws per instructions.) Because we were not aware of this before purchasing the lumber, we did do the 2x6x16's which so far has been perfectly sturdy even when there are two adults swinging. A heavy duty drill will be needed, there's a lot of drilling and screwing needed for this project and a little 9-12v home drill won't cut it. This project did end up taking one person about 12 hours to complete, and from the looks of the instructions a second person is really only needed for putting the pieces upright. I recommend putting this together in the place you'll be using it, it is not something you want to be moving as it is really heavy. Finally, one of the boards is supposed to be used as stakes to hold the swing on the ground. Even though we assembled this set after a solid week of rain, there was no way 2x4's were going into the ground as stakes. We bought some large eye bolts and some railroad ties to stake the set to the ground which are working just fine.

This is more of an "our experience building this" than it is a review of the kit. The kit came and was as advertised, all needed parts were included. -highly suggest buying treated lumber. Buying cedar lumber, while it will look better, will be $300+ -suggest upgrading the top beam to 6x6x16 as opposed to either buying or building a 6x4x16 -you will indeed need a LONG drill bit. You'll be drilling through 6" of wood several times -you will need a GOOD DRILL. My cordless one couldn't make it through one hole using both batteries. -a hand-held compound miter saw, while it will work (as it did for us) is not the best tool for the job. An actual circular saw / radial arm saw will be much better. Most of my cuts look like garbage - but it's assembled! -you will be asked to counter-sink some of the holes in the main beam with a spade bit. We found the recommended depth to be a bit too shallow, and 1" to be too deep. -if you counter sink too deep, as I did, you will need a deep socket (1/2"). A standard socket won't work. -the instructions guide you to cap over the counter-sunk holes with little steel covers and 4 screws. Two screws work just fine - I don't see a need for all 4. Plus, if you have to remove the caps to re-tighten the nuts, it's less work. And less wood you're chewing up with the screws - should you have to re-align and use new screws. -if you're using brand new treated lumber, I suggest pre-drilling all of your screw holes when you're assembling the frame of the swing set. I cannot tell you how many splits I got in the ends of the 2x4s I was using. Taking the time to pre-drill would have eliminated this, I believe.

This is a sturdy play set and should do well with smaller children. It would benefit from having the "EZ Frame R/L Brace" hardware (see below) for extra lateral stability. Those braces and required bolts will probably add $60-75 to the cost. My total cost for this project was $600 (without the braces) $180 for kit and slide, $320 for wood and another $100 for hardware and two drill bits. EZ Frame R/L Brace (pair) The instructions were clear and easy to understand and the time estimate was good. I spent about 2 hours cutting the wood, another 2 or so assembling the A-frames & deck, 2 hours drilling the beam and an hour fastening the beam to the A-Frames. I used both a circular saw and a table saw, but it might have been worth paying a buck a cut at the lumber yard's radial arm saw to get all the 2x6's cut exactly the same. For assembly, I used no nails - 2 lbs of 2 1/2" and 2 lbs of 3" SS deck screws did the trick with plenty of leftovers. 3" screws for wood-to-wood joints and 2 1/2" for metal-to-wood. I purchased treated Douglas Fir, non-incised decking by Elite Decking. Here in the Pacific NW, the wood cost just a bit over $300. Definitely go with the 4x6 beam. I omitted one of the 2x4's used for side stakes and purchased 3/4" x 18" steel stakes at Home Depot. If you have hard soil, you will never get anything else into the ground as anchors. I put four 5/16" SS Eye screws at the outer A-frame inside corners and drove the stakes through them at an inward 45 degree angle. The bolts and hangers are easy to cross-thread, be careful. Assembly tricks that helped: 1) After assembling the first A-Frame & 72" cross member, use it as a guide for assembling the other two. Stack the 4x4's on the assembled frame to make it easy to align the brackets. 2) Use a scrap of 2x6 to make sure the second bracket on each A-frame is parallel to the first, otherwise the beam might not rest firmly on all the frame brackets. 3) Fasten the cross members to each A-frame to stiffen it before moving it around. 4) Before drilling the 4x6 beam. Assemble the deck to the A-frames, with all rails and steps - THEN measure the distance between the mounting holes for the beam. In my case, there was a difference that would have complicated attachment of the beam. 5) I used an alignment tool like the one below on my drill to insure that all the holes in the beam were perpendicular. It made beam attachment a piece of cake - everything lined up exactly. I drilled as deep as I could with a 5/16" wood bit and finished the holes with an 18" twist drill. Wolfcraft 4525404 Drill Guide Attachment for 1/4-Inch or 3/8-Inch Drills 6) After all the drilling was completed, I treated all the holes and cut edges of wood with "Copper-Green Brown" wood preservative. 7. I fastened all the beam covers in place with one screw, drilled pilot holes for the others to make it easy and quick to fasten them in place after bolting the beam in place. 8) Instead of bolting an A-frame to the beam and lifting it onto the deck assembly, and friend and I rested the beam on an 8 foot ladder and the deck assembly. I installed one bolt (without nut) through the outside deck A-frame, then lined up the single A-frame with both bolts and shifted it until the inner A-frame was in line. This avoided torque on the top brackets that might have occurred when trying to lift an A-frame and beam assembly.

So I was shopping around trying to find a swing set for my daughter (she's 12) and there aren't too many for her age group and weight. Most are for toddlers or you're forced to buy this MASSIVE set with slides, climbing bars, and the whole shabang! I just want a couple of swings, why is this so hard? Anyway, this kit solved my problem. In the end, I spent quite a bit of money (because I bought cedar wood) but I still saved in comparison to premade/whole sets. After wood and screws, stain/sealer, I spent probably about $500-$600 dollars. That's including the cost of this kit. I built mine to be about 10 feet tall (used 10' 4x4's as opposed to 8' like the instructions say) so I ended up having to buy extra chain too (for the swings). So there were places to save but I, again, went the extra mile. So let me list some of the pros and cons here. Pros: - It's a custom kit so you can build just the swing set portion like I did, you don't have to build the entire set - The instructions are easy to follow and straight forward. I DID NOT have that issue that other people are saying with the bolts being too short with the 4x6's. The bolts the kit came with were spot-on / perfect. I'm in Canada though so maybe our measurements are different? Or maybe the manufacturer heard the complaints and fixed it since? Again, everything measured up perfectly so as long as you adhere to the instructions properly. - The manufacturer's Customer Service (Swing-N-Slide) is EXCELLENT. I ended up having a stripped bolt, I told them over the phone and without even hesitating, they offered to send me a new bolt for FREE. In fact, they shipped me an entire bag of them and it cost me nothing. - Again - their customer service is AWESOME. I had a complaint about this kit not having any support braces for the main beam to prevent lateral swaying (just Google - "Swing N Slide EZ Frame" to see an example of what I needed). Immediately they said "sure we'll send you some" at NO cost. Wow. That saved me $60. Now I can't guarantee everyone will have the same luck as me but I can't remember the last time I had support this good from anyone. Cons: - As I mentioned above - this kit did not include the "Swing N Slide EZ Frame" braces to prevent lateral swaying of the set. The set would still work fine without the braces, but it's unnerving to see it sway like that and these braces prevent it. Anyway, their customer service fixed me up. Also, keep in mind, my 12-year-old is using this. If you have toddlers, then you probably won't have the same issue as me with the swaying. - This set does not include the necessary deck screws (2-1/2" and 3" screws). - There are no extra parts at all (unless you decide not to build the entire set, like me). So if anything is stripped or damaged then you're out of luck -- until you call their amazing customer support, that is. You don't have to be too handy for this project, just have a power drill and circular saw at the least (you'll have to do some cuts). It's pretty straight-forward otherwise. I think I rambled on enough.

Great kit. Only took an afternoon to put everthing together and the kids love it

Sturdy parts, good instructions, just add lumber.

What a great solution. When the parks closed during COVID I was able to get a load of lumber and use a slide I found in my neighborhood to make a backyard park for my kids. Only flaw was the markings for drilling into the 16" beam were off and I had to adapt at the final stages. If I was doing it all over again I'd drill in place rather than pre-drill the holes on the ground and hope they line-up.

This kit is awesome, for any one building a swing set. I would definitely recommend it. Great buy