Adventure Playsets Aurora Wooden Swing Set 4.1 5 50 50
Great! Agree with the reviews. This thing is great, but it does take some time to build, you are looking at around 14 hours of assembly time. The instructions are excellent, well written and easy to become overzelous and assume you think you know what they say. So read each step carefully. The last thing you want to do is put holes in the slide in the wrong spot or drill through a piece of wood by accident.Ours was missing one small piece of wood that we substituted for a scrap piece of wood from the garage. For the most part, we had EXACTLY enough screws and bolts, so treat each one with respect, you might not have any backups.Helpful hints:1: Lay out all your wood first in alphabetical labeling used in the guide. Helps A LOT and will save you from saying "Where is board XX" at least 100 times, and will save you some frustration.2: Be careful opening the screw bags. Don't get overzealous and rip them open. Don't loose ANY. Leave them in their bags and read carefully. Don't loose any in the ground cause your kids could EASILY step on one hidden in the grass or dirt.3: Read the instructions carefully, especially in the usage of the screws. You'll gather momentum using the same bolt over and over, then it will mention you need to use a slightly different one, its easy to miss.4: Keep the bolts out of direct sunlight! They can get surprisingly hot!5: If you have multiple people going to help in the assembly, you can speed things up by breaking up the project. The slide, ladders, swing set, roof panels and monkey bars can all be assembled independently of each other and attached when the tower is built.6: If you are using advanced power tools (like powered wrenches etc, don't over tighten), you can easily strip the wood or split it.7: Photo copy or goto the vendor's site and print out multiple copies of the instructions. Especially the reference that matches the different board lengths to their associated alpha character. 08/04/2009
Lots of Bang for your Buck Looked at several places for a set that was no where close to the same size and would have been 2-3 times more money. I am pretty handy and it took me several days mostly because could not dedicate more than 4 hrs a day to construct. 3 full 8 hr days should be good if by yourself, less if you have help. Directions are clear yet my number one suggestion: INVENTORY AND LABEL ALL PARTS BEFORE YOU BEGIN! This is not done for you and if you do not do this, it will take you much longer. So take the time to inventory first (Took me and a buddy 2 1/2 hrs). Used small pieces of clear tape and a Sharpie and it made construction smooth. Kids love it. Wife and I have twins running up, down and around and have no complaints. Great Bang for the Buck! 06/07/2009
Organization is the key! We recieved this product in three large boxes. We quickly learned that not one piece of wood was marked in anyway. The instructions are very clear but you must follow them EXACTLY. Even if you think you know best...you don't. I would recommend that you measure and figure out each piece of wood and lay them in your yard in alphabetical order. I think they go from A - BQ. I made three columns on the ground A-Z, AA-AZ and BA - BQ. I put a sticker on each pile so I knew as I took things away what was what without having to re-measure. This was a little time consuming in the beginning but turned out to be a lifesaver when you are in the building stage. We did have some hardware missing and had to improvise with what was in the garage and then make a Lowes run. Other than that...it is a great addition to the yard, looks nice and is sturdy. It took us two days (probably about 12 hours total) to put together. I read the directions and my husband and a neighbor helper did the labor. 06/15/2009
Great design constructed of low grade material I love the overall design of this PlaySet. There’s lots to do for kids ages 3 – 10 as advertised. My 4 year old loves it and could swing and slide on it for hours at a time. It’s not all that complicated to put together if you prepare with the right tools and get someone to help. Unfortunately for me I had to do most of the work alone with occasional help from my father. The entire project took around 12 – 14 hours of work, but since I could only dedicate couple of hours a day it took me a week to complete. The roof in particular was fairly hard to put together. The slides are no picnic either but once I got the idea I managed it pretty quick. I recommend planning out the project properly by sorting all the wood and parts first, making sure you actually have everything. In my case the box was missing a few small pieces of wood and a bag of 2”hex bolts. At the same time I had spare parts that weren’t even listed and were left over after completion. I didn’t bother calling the manufacturer, a quick trip to home depot and $3 of bolts later I was all set. Wood is of mediocre quality at best. It splits VERY easily so pre-drill EVERY hole, even where not instructed to do so. Also, go one drill bit size higher than what's listed in the instructions for pre-drilling. Try to follow directions in detail. All in all, while the wood is poor quality, once built the entire structure looks great and seems to be sturdy so far with two or three kids playing on it safely without issues. As it states in the manual, the wood is not weather treated in any way, it comes simply stained for color purposes. I highly recommend covering the entire wooden structure with exterior wood sealant of some sort. 06/10/2009
