I ordered my play structure and it arrived today!

Going to get it built hopefully before Saturday.




I am looking into ground cover for it. I know that there have been many threads on here discussing the options for it.

I wanted to do the rubber chips, but one of my kids is OBSESSED with eating everything. So I was leaning away from pea gravel because I can see her choking on it. Also, the gravel would be all over my yard and ruin my lawn mower. So I am thinking sand, but know that sand would be wet, and packed down, but sand is more what I am thinking because it's more fun for the kids and not a choking hazard. If it ends up in the grass not a big deal. It's a tough decision but I'm looking more towards the sand. Just seems like the better option for us.

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I just put up my new play structure. I have been reading all the threads here about what to put under it. My mind changes every week!
I have two small dogs and neighborhood cats so sand is out for me. I had planned on putting down rubber bark but read too many bad reviews about it. Last week I was going to do pea gravel then after reading the threads decided against it since it would end up in the grass area, as you said; bye, bye lawn mower! lol I can't have wood bark because my dogs would drag it into the house. I don't know what I am going to do!!!

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Here as long as it's under 5 feet tall I don't have to put anything. But by putting something I increase the age range of who can go up on the upper level. Plus it would just make it look nicer in the yard too.


I was against sand at first because it'll be in their pockets, hair, grass etc, and we do have some random cats around. BUT the positives to the sand outweight the negatives right now, and sand is always the kids most favorite thing to spend hours on end in. So i'm going to go with sand. If things aren't going too well with the sand, next year, i'll top it off with gravel and try that out. If a cat does go in the sand, i'll just scoop that whole area out of sand. The cats seem to prefer going under the living room windows of mine and the neighbors yards. Somethin about right against the house they like.

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We did pea gravel....****n FAR away from that idea!! I HATE it. It does go everywhere. I even have a rule that the rocks stay in the rock area but it still gets brought in inside shoes. I of course am the one that steps on those pesky rocks.

Edited to add that I guess "r u n" is a bad word...lol.

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hahaha i thought you swore! lol.


Yeah i'm really not excited about the rocks. at least with sand the kids can build castles, or drive trucks/tractors through it.

We had a little tiny boat sandbox before and most of the sand ended outside of it. when we got rid of the sandbox, the remainder was dumped right under the tree. The kids have been playing in it every day and now there is barely any left because it has spread out and been moved in the yard etc. They are bored without it.

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Can you link to where you purchased?

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I got this one sale though, I didn't pay this price!

http://homehardware.ca/en/rec/index....Ntt=chesapeake

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I have woodchips, and so does my sister.

I actually got the last batch free at the town dump site (not the DUMP, the place our township puts yard debri...lol). Free means there are more big sticks to toss out, but that's ok.

My dh went and picked it up, and the older kids helped spread it out.

There is a little in the house sometimes, but it's not too bad.

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My DH and I are moving our swing set this weekend, and were actually wondering about the wood chips. The licensor suggested them, but when I went to the store to look at them, I thought maybe she said the wrong thing? They look like they would hurt to fall on! Or is that just me being silly?

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I have had pea gravel in my yard for years and have never had a problem with my lawn mower. It does occasionally get into the yard, and they do bring it in in their shoes, but the same things happens with sand too.

I purchased wood chips from a local tree company and there were so many large pieces in it, my licensor wouldn't sign off on them. It was a giant waste of money and a ton of work to fix.

We don't have any large play structures because our rules are so over the top on how much we would need. We can't even have little tikes items without a resilent surface unless they are less then 24 inches high.

Your playset looks awesome! My kids would've loved to have something like that when they were growing up!!

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They soften the blow, especially if there is a minimum of 3", but they can scrape a little bit when fallen on. Still, a little rugburn is a whole lot better than a broken head.

No walking barefoot (for me anyway).

Make sure NOT to get the colored ones. They look pretty, but I am pretty sure whatever they are dyed with does not belong on or in kids bodies...and SOMEONE will want to taste them!

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If you want to get mulch, playground mulch is more ground up for more cushion and less poking That's what I'm going to get.

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my wooden structure has nothing under it, so its fine. But I have a large play area with pea stone. I've had it for 10 years, and this year I think I'm going to add some to it. The kids all know to keep it in the play area, it doesn't ruin the mower either as for the eating. Well usually all the 1 yr olds try it out, they don't eat it, they like to suck on the rocks ??????
Now with sand, I would hate the fact that if it rained they couldn't play in the play area but the sand will be wet. Over time sand will harden and become like concrete. Cats, will use it, also, the sand throwing and the sand in the clothes, shoes and diapers every day would drive me insane.

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Ok, so when we were ready to set up the swing set beam, we realized it was the wrong one! So we phoned, and the lady was so nice, she offered to send out a princess package for my daughter, and a pirate package for my son! I had said, "I'm not sure what these packages are, but I do have 2 boys and 1 girl". She said we will receive it by next friday (today).

We just received the beam and the packages. My goodness!!!!

I just phoned and spoke with the manager. I wanted to express that I had no idea what these packages were going to be, and the fact that she just sent them for my kids anyways. I just assumed maybe like a tiara and maybe a pirate hat or sword or something. I had no idea that it was a package for the play structure itself!

The Pirate package we received x2! was a Pirates of the Caribbean steering wheel and telescope

The Princess package was a big mirror and telephone



DH and I were shopping last saturday and were going to buy a steering wheel for the playstructure, but there was no price on it. When we checked the price it was (can't remember) 20-30 dollars! We said no thanks as DH has steering wheels kicking around. Now we've got 2 sets of pirate stuff!!!!

It's nice to see a company stand behind their product, and have such friendly customer service. They could've simply just sent the beam and said sorry.

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Wow that's great customer service. That's so awesome. I love when companies show you that they are sorry for mistakes by sending you immediate replacements but WOW!

PS: I want to see a pic of the finished product once it's all set up

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Yes for sure! Even the manager at Swing'N'Slide requested a picture! So i said when I can get all kiddies on the same day, I'll get them all together for a picture for them! I'm still waiting to frame it up and put gravel in, but I think we may do that next year. Our counter is looking like it's going to be 1000 plus grrr...

Part of my licensing was that I replace my counter top. I get 50% of the purchase back, up to $500 (remaining on my grant of 1500). So not a big deal. But DH works at a cabinet place, and gets a 75% discount. Our counter is only goin to be $200, but our estimate for everything came in at $1000. They charged $100 to come and measure our counters!!!

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