Question:
> Repost – got only 1 reply first time around… > We are in the market for one of these. Have looked at everything from > local hardware kits (~$600) up to Rainbow kits made of redwood and > brought in and assembled for ~$4000. Of course the more expensive > ones say they are safer (no toxic chemicals…) but little data to be > found on this. > Anyone have thoughts and or experiences, especially with the higher > priced ones?
As you have realized, the farther you get from the west coast the more egregiously expensive redwood gets. What do you want to do with them? I don’t know how redwood holds up, but PT has a very fixed life before it gets splintery. Almost every public PT playground monstrosity more thana few years old has been ripped down and replaced with a plastic and metal monstrosity instead. I built a PT one for my two kids and it’s lasted just about it’s usefulness (as they are in HS now).
Response:
We put in a "Swing ‘N Slide" version this summer. We didn’t use pressure treated lumbar as the wood can still "leak" the chemicals whenever it rains, is really humid, etc for up to a YEAR! Since we didn’t want our young kids near the chemicals (Geez, I don’t even let them put in the dish-washer detergent!), we used cedar. Cedar isn’t treated with chemicals. It’s used lots here in Illinois for decks. It has a 10 – 15 year lifespan. However, it costs about 2 to 2.5 times what the comparable pieces in PT lumber would. Figured it was all just part of responsible parenting for us. (Our version of responsible…not anyone else’s. My sister’s kid’s wood swingset is PT lumber, and yes, I do let them use it.) The Swin N Slide equipment looks to be well-made. A basic kit comes with all the stuff (other than the wood) needed to build the picture on the box. We and kids have been very happy with it. Deana. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Repost – got only 1 reply first time around… > We are in the market for one of these. Have looked at everything from > local hardware kits (~$600) up to Rainbow kits made of redwood and > brought in and assembled for ~$4000. Of course the more expensive > ones say they are safer (no toxic chemicals…) but little data to be > found on this. > Anyone have thoughts and or experiences, especially with the higher > priced ones? > Reply here or email. > Cheers. > — > Ashland, KY USA I Voted For Bob Dole > —-Doing my part for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy—-
Response:
> We put in a "Swing ‘N Slide" version this summer. We didn’t use > pressure treated lumbar as the wood can still "leak" the chemicals > whenever it rains, is really humid, etc for up to a YEAR! > Since we didn’t want our young kids near the chemicals (Geez, I don’t > even let them put in the dish-washer detergent!), we used cedar. Cedar > isn’t treated with chemicals. It’s used lots here in Illinois for > decks. It has a 10 – 15 year lifespan. However, it costs about 2 to > 2.5 times what the comparable pieces in PT lumber would. Figured it was > all just part of responsible parenting for us. (Our version of > responsible…not anyone else’s. My sister’s kid’s wood swingset is PT > lumber, and yes, I do let them use it.)
We put up a Swing ‘N Slide set about 6 years ago and have been VERY happy with it. I chose to hire someone to install it for me, and I did use PT lumber, and it still cost less than one of the sets you get all put together. BTW, one other option for "wood" is this new Trex stuff that is sort of plastic wood. It’s as expensive as cedar, and basically doesn’t rot. > The Swin N Slide equipment looks to be well-made. A basic kit comes > with all the stuff (other than the wood) needed to build the picture on > the box. > We and kids have been very happy with it. > Deana.
Ditto. They have a lot of great accessories for it and you can really build it exactly how you want it. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Bill
Response:
Repost – got only 1 reply first time around… We are in the market for one of these. Have looked at everything from local hardware kits (~$600) up to Rainbow kits made of redwood and brought in and assembled for ~$4000. Of course the more expensive ones say they are safer (no toxic chemicals…) but little data to be found on this. Anyone have thoughts and or experiences, especially with the higher priced ones? Reply here or email. Cheers. — Ashland, KY USA I Voted For Bob Dole —-Doing my part for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy—-
Response:
>Repost – got only 1 reply first time around… >We are in the market for one of these. Have looked at everything from >local hardware kits (~$600) up to Rainbow kits made of redwood and >brought in and assembled for ~$4000. Of course the more expensive >ones say they are safer (no toxic chemicals…) but little data to be >found on this.
I can speak only to the toxic chemical part of this as I never had any of these for my children. Usually a wooden play structure will have some sort of provision against rot. The chemicals involved are whatever the maker has decided to use as that provision. Otherwise, and even with these treatments, the wood will eventually rot. Of course if you use metal, the metal will eventually rust. Whether the disintegration of the play set is something that you need to worry about depends partly on how many children you have, what ages they are now, and how long you foresee living in your same house (don’t think you can take it with you any more than you could take a deck that you built). One other possibility for toxic reactions is the type of wood used. Western red cedar specifically (not redwood which isn’t the same thing) can cause allergic reactions to the sawdust for the person doing the sawing, cutting etc of the wood. When Redwood is used, this wood has a certain resistance to mold and rot that is intrinsic to the wood. It seems to be used more on the west coast of the US. I am on the east coast and am not aware of any play sets being built here of this material. Other possibilities are CCA treated lumber, creosote, and –there is another less common treatment that I can’t think of the name of right now – something like PVC. Creosote is what they do to telephone poles and is nasty black stuff. Can’t imagine anyone using it on a play structure. CCA stands for copper chromated arsenic. It turns the wood sort of greenish (probably from the copper). The wood is treated in a pressure chamber. Only the surface is treated. The problems with this wood are as follows: a) When the wood is still wet it may be absorbed through the skin. In some cases it may cause an allergic asthma. Wear gloves and don’t get it on your skin. b) The CCA treatment may leech out into soil – probably only a problem in gardens. c) There is a prohibition against feeding animals out of feed bins made of treated lumber. d) People who work at places that make this equipment who are exposed on a long term basis to the sawdust may have symptoms of arsenic poisoning. ****E)***** Most important *** Never, never, ever burn any of this lumber. The smoke is very toxic. The other treatment doesn’t use arsenic, but it has some hazards and items a, c and e may still apply. What we have done when building a deck is to use clear untreated lumber for the deck – we have used the CCA treated stuff only for the underpinnings of the deck (those wood pieces directly in contact with the soil). The other issue with these sets is the surface on which they are installed. You need to be sure the area on which the set is installed is properly prepared for the safety of the children using them. I have done inspections of a plant in MD called Woodset, and they seem to have a nice variety of sets, but they do use CCA treated lumber. They do installations in some cases. RA F Beasley, CIH grandma Rosalie Use your own judgement…then do as I say.
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