It was a crushing blow as they became more friends than neighbors during their 15 years living next door.
Plus, having two girls in similar age to our own, play dates were just built into the day.
Still, they left us a lovely parting gift! Their old playground. At first, Tom was a little hesitant to tackle yet another project.
He reasoned that since our eldest two are 8 and 10 respectively, it wasn’t a top priority.
I fired back that Timothy is only 3 and has two years until he goes to school.
He alone will get a solid 7 years usage out of this set not to mention something to do when the girls are at school.
And the girls love it! Even adults enjoy swinging….right?!
Sure, it needed a little revamping but I think you’ll agree the final results are fantastic.
So today’s post is mostly a picture post, I hope you like our hard work!
What have you been tackling due to more time with COVID19?
How-to move a playground or swing set
A few screws were undone which made two sections. One we were able to carry. The other piece with the clubhouse base the neighbor used his tractor to move.
Power washing paradise
Years of use left moss, lichen and a little mold.
As the wood was starting to show some serious wear and tear, we knew all this had to be gotten rid of before we could seal the set with an exterior acrylic solid stain.
We kept watching the weather forecast for when Tom could power wash so that we would be able to paint the following day.
Tom didn’t want too much time to relapse between the power wash and the paint getting applied.
He didn’t want the set to get dirty and green again! And that rock wall was filthy green!
Cardboard & landscape fabric to smother weeds & grass!
This leaves no place for our kids to play in the “swampland” that is our yard.
So Tom and I knew it would be critical to section off the play area, not only as a designated play spot but a place where feet would stay dry and mud not dragged into the house from wet boots and shoes.
Our neighbors had 2 x 4 logs lining the playground and we dragged those over too to line ours. They still do the job!
Before adding mulch, we wanted to kill the weeds, grass and add landscape fabric and cardboard to smother weeds even more.
Maintenance-free is the goal!
Work in progress ~ family style!
Sure, the kids were motivated because they wanted to get using the set. But their help was great!
It’s funny how long we’ve been saving cardboard for the purpose of smothering weeds under our new playground.
The hope is that weeds and grass never poke through with the extra protection.
Fingers crossed!
The project would not have gotten this done this fast without her help.
She worked incredibly hard and got her mission accomplished! Yes, she was covered in paint but she had play clothes on so all is well.
And you wouldn’t believe how many crevices the playhouse had!
So many nooks and crannies that needed paint badly. Little hands can be super helpful.
Spreading mulch family style
Wood or rubber mulch?
We both really wanted the rubber mulch because it’s eco-friendly, doesn’t break down, and it softer when one falls on it.
But ugh….the price. I can’t even give you the final price tag because it’s sickening, but with two pallets shipped freight, you can imagine the cost!
We’re talking 50 bags of green rubber mulch!
The rubber mulch is great! I’m kind of glad we went this route. It’s so soft on the feet and looks awesome!
Finished project!
Now there’s a location for just play. No more moving the sand box, plastic slides or climbing dome anymore to mow the lawn.
All fun activities~ in their place.
The new neighbors
This surprised both Tom and I knowing they had a 5 and a 2-year-old!
We suspect they got bogged down on how the swing set looked. Not too appealing with the mold and lichen.
They said they’d just buy a new swing set. But have you checked the prices on new sets? Even the cheap ones are expensive!
But look at it now.
Do you think they regret that decision?
Leave a Reply