Project Play Set

PROJECT PLAY SET has FINALLY been completed!
It's taken about two months (which seems like ten years for impatient ME!) to complete, but we're finally done.

It's always fun to have "before", "during", and "after" pictures of projects so we can actually see our progress and what we've done.  I wish we would have taken more pictures for other projects!

Here's how the play set looked when I purchased it (from Connor's Mom).  It was in Aberdeen, in a friend's yard.  The cute little guy in the picture is Connor's other little brother, Bridger.

 Here's our yard, before we started moving dirt.  The dirt spot there is from an old apple tree stump that we had removed.

 Our neighbor, Pat, started to level the ground for us.  We were going to do this project ourselves!  Oh yes, what grandeur ideas I have.   Murphy's Law struck once again; as the pad was being leveled, the skid steer hit an old well or cistern that was underground.   We had to move the location of the pad back to accommodate, making the retaining wall much more complex to build (a much larger wall, particularly outer wall, would be necessary).   DIY notions for completing the pad and retaining wall came to a halt.  I had to call in a handful of contractors to bid the project.

After receiving two bids back (one was RIDICULOUSLY priced), we accepted our fate, pulled the trigger and approved the work to be done by a local skilled crew.

Here's the play-by-play:

 They're almost done!

 DONE!   We were impressed, as it took a 3-man crew only one full day!  It would have taken us... months!!

Then, the following Sunday afternoon in July, we drove to Aberdeen to fetch the play set.  We took it apart and hauled it home.  We joked that we looked like a cross between the Clampetts and some gypsies, with this huge set hanging out of the GMC pick-up.  When we pulled into our yard, we pondered how we were going to unload it, having a toddler with us and no one to watch him.  We took the plunge.  Leaving Ramsey in the back seat (content), Eric and I [unbelievably] unloaded it ourselves and placed it on the pad.   I won't begin to tell you how heavy that main tower was... uh...muh...gawd!

Over the next few days, I put it together (I needed some help from Eric to get the A-frame carried over and stood up - that darn thing was heavy and awkward) and then power-washed every crevice to revitalize the wood.

 Here's a partially-completed pic of the new tunnel deck that I built.  It doesn't look like much, but it took me HOURS to assemble.  I love puzzles and building things, but I didn't dream it would take as long as it did (I estimate 8 hours).

After that, on another evening, I attached the deck of the tunnel to the main tower, installed the green tunnel hood, added the new slide, plus the new red glider (which also needed assembly!) and the two swings.  Voila!  Done.  Well, almost.  The pad still needed pea gravel.

 I ordered 10 tons of pea gravel from the local rock and gravel business and contracted a truck driver to haul it in with his pup truck.  He said he'd give us a few hours notice before he would come, depending on his schedule for the week. 

The day the driver had called to set up the delivery, I had to decide whether or not I was going to stain it this year.  Truthfully, I was bushed and burned out from the project and just wanted it to be over.  But, if I didn't get the legs stained now, I would have to deal with trying to stain it in pea gravel next year.  So, I decided to start staining (*groan*).  I got the legs done, plus anything that was within 6" from the ground.

Back to the delivery... it was quite... uh... "interesting".  The (super nice) truck driver was masterful, weaving around and between our trees, backing in, missing the culverts and other obstructions, etc.  We (to include the driver) were all worried that his truck was going to tip over, so I didn't have time to get any pictures.  That was a little stressful.  :-)   And, unfortunately, he couldn't dump it directly into our retained pad and had to leave it in a huge pile on one end.  Rats!   

I got the rest of the darn thing stained.  That took a few days.  I felt like a monkey most of the time, balancing on beams, reaching for odd places on the roof, crouching and contorting in weird little spaces, etc.  I did have one little accident and spilled stain on the plastic and part of the wall (the bucket I was standing on wasn't exactly sitting on level ground and I lost my balance - in true Kara non-ballerina form).  OOPS.  Oh well, the rest of the retaining wall (and the new tunnel) gets stained next summer anyway (the treated lumber has to breathe for a year).  :-)  

Our neighbors saw our pile and offered to move the rock onto the pad for us in a few areas.  The skid steer tore up the grass, but moving 20,000 lbs of rock by hand, or even with a wheel barrow, would have taken eons!

The last few nights, I have just been leveling the rock, little by little.  There's still a bit to do, but I'd say "Project Play Set" is 95% DONE.

HOO-RAH!