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broncomom1973 01:08 PM 02-24-2011
We bought an awesome swingset about 3 years ago before I started daycare. It had a 10' wavy slide, 2 large clubhouses, deck bench, swings, sun deck, climbing ladders, rock wall, and a tunnel over the top of the swings. It was really, really neat. After I started daycare, I checked into the regulations and spoke with the local surveyor. After pricing woodchips to place underneath that swingset according to manufacturer recommendations, we would have had almost $2000 in just woodchips to cover the necessary circumference. We would have had over $3500 into this swingset and the groundcover, so at that point we decided to sell it. I didnt want the liability of someone falling off the upper clubhouse or off the top of the rock wall even with approved ground cover. My kids loved that swingset, so dh bought a basic swingset this past September and I contacted the local surveyor and spoke with her about the groundcover. She said to follow manufacturer recommendations for the fall zones. Even for this basic swingset, we paid almost $500 for wood chips at a 6" depth. They prefer a 12" depth for many swingsets and that, again, would have been $1000 for this "basic" swingset. I will say that these woodchips do provide a very soft area for the kids should they fall. As for the rubber chips, when I priced them a few months ago, they were ridiculously high. Good luck finding what works best for you.
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