Playground Reveal

Posted by Crafty Echo September 18, 2017

Playground Reveal

Hey Everyone! Hope you are all have been doing well! We've been extremely busy with life and adjusting to all the changes that have been occurring. The kids have started school, which has been quite an adjustment. With all the moving we thought it would be best to homeschool them for the past two years. Homeschooling is very rewarding, but TONS of work! Cuddos to all the peeps out there that can do that every day! The one big project we did manage to accomplish this summer was the playground. If you remember from before it wasn't the most stable of playgrounds. All the weed whacking over the years had taken chunks out of the legs.

The stain was in rough shape, there were names all over the inside, and the wood was feeling rough. The one good news was that all the plastic pieces were in really good condition. Once the bottom was all framed out, I started nailing in the picket fence boards with our 16g nail gun. I used the level to make sure the boards were all level with the world and then nailed them in with 1 3/4" nails.

You may notice the different color boards, we had a little bit of an incident with spilt stain going everywhere and had to replace this whole side. Accidents happen unfortunately. We kept gaps in between the boards to help with air flow. Utah is so hot during the summer, if there's a breeze you want to use it! On the front we created a doorway and also made a little garden box next to it.

Before we put the boards up, we put down weed barrier and then some pavers down. We used what we had laying around the backyard to try to save money, but we still needed about 20 more to fill in the rest of the space. I wouldn't say these are the best pavers for this job, they're not flat. On one side there is a lip to help them to not move forward when you're using them for edging. We were saving money, so it'll work, but I'd recommend you look into other ones. We filled all the gaps with about 10 bags of pebble gravel.

Outside the windows I made mini shutters using leftover fence pickets and 1x2s we had. I painted them blue using a leftover exterior paint I had from our old shutters from VA. It's just like a part of VA came with us.

On the backside we created an awning (separate post on that coming soon) and made a chalkboard so the kids could write a menu.

Josh rebuilt the ladder to climb up to the upstairs. Essentially it's a basic square that he attached leftover 2x6s onto the front of. He first made the square box frame using kreg jig pocket holes (best tool ever) on the inside. Then he nailed the boards in place where he wanted them, about 4 inches apart, just to keep them from moving. After that he was able to screw the top boards into place and then attach the ladder to the playground using the preexisting hardware. We decided to make the ladder like this so that we had the option of putting on climbing holds in the future if we wanted.

Upstairs I built a super easy small table to fit in the corner using leftover 2x4s. I painted it the same blue that I had leftover from painting the shutters. Then I got a couple stools from ikea for the kids to sit on. In the other corner I also got another stool that I'd like to put a plant on eventually and then an inspirational sign on the wall up above.

And that's pretty much it! We'd love to at some point install climbing holds, a pirate wheel, and telescope. Maybe next year, we'll have to see. But we took this raggedy old playground that seemed to be on it's last leg (literally), and gave it new life. Now it'll last another 10 or more years while our own kids are growing up.