KidKraft Appleton Wooden Swing Set, (Amazon Exclusive)

Great playset, especially if you get it on sale
Got this on sale for $350, which seemed like a great deal. It’s been 3 months since I put it all together and so far, it’s holding up great.Playset is on the smaller side – don’t expect something from a public park, but it’s perfect for toddlers and small kids, any under 4’6″ and 80 pounds (it’s rated for 110 pounds but kids that big are probably on their smart phones instead). Any playset that is bigger will likely cost way more ($1,500+), so this is a great deal all things considered.My set came with all the necessary pieces, nothing broken. Cedar wood is of good quality and smells nice. Cedar is considered a softwood, but these planks seem sturdy enough. Still, be careful when you drill in screws or bolts The wood appears treated in some way as the water beads off, but I’ll see how it holds up this winter (I live in Southern California so I’m more worried about sun damage – I’ll likely need to stain/seal before each summer).It took me and a friend about 7 hours to assemble it all – we spent an hour organizing and about 6 to build, with a long lunch in the middle that involved a lot of beer (not recommended). Required tools – socket wrench with 5/16 and 1/2 drives along with a power drill. You’ll need a Phillips drive bit and the hardware provided include a Robertson drive bit – definitely use it over anything you may already have. Most of the holes are pre-drilled and I encountered only one piece that seemed to be pre-drilled incorrectly (fortunately, I have a power drill).Other tips – you need a flat surface. Sort out ahead of time the wood pieces by number group and the hardware size (bolts, screws, washers, nuts) together by size so they’re easy to grab – this is what took so long to organize as we figured out some of the hardware could be set up in advance (bolts paired with their washers and nuts, etc). Don’t tighten anything until the end so you can maneuver all the pieces into place, especially when you manhandle the swing portion to the main station.Finally, take your time reading the instructions – they can be a bit confusing and if you look at it wrong, you may mix things up (I actually mirrored the whole set on accident, but that actually worked out to be a better fit for my backyard).I modified my version in order to support installing a pirate ship wheel (basically, there are some horizontal supports you can screw on from the outside of the “fort” rather than inside) and left the back space open, taking out the chalk wall and putting a rope ladder instead.All in all, considering how little it cost, I am happy about this and so is my son, so that’s all that counts.

Best Value
This in my opinion was a steal for the price. Bought it for our 1.5 year old and she loves it, replaced a swing with a baby swing and it’s ready to go. Installation took me 3 hrs alone but I’ve assemble similar playset before. I do suggest pre drilling your holes to prevent cracking other than that its a great product, the materials are good quality wood is already prestained I may add a sealer to prolong the life of the wood.

Poorly designed
We are contractors and remodel homes for a living, so building in general isnt a big deal for us….but….You couldnt make a more poor build design if you tried. Lots of parts that may or may not be labled and labeled without any logic or reason like a toddler was rambling numbers and they stamped them to a part. 25+ diffent bags of hardware that may or may not be used including 8 different sizes screws, 7 or 8 different sizes bolts, washers, t-nuts, nuts, etc that literally took up the entire tail gate of our truck when laid out….they too are labeled like a toddler rambling numers. Instructions were beyond horrible.You will need a full bag of tool: socket ratchet set, adjustable wrench x2, hammer, drill (square bit included but did strip the screw heads so we had to improvise), 1/8 drill bit for lag screws, a square, measuring tape, level, 2 step ladders. We had 2 people, again very experienced in construction, took us about 5 hours to complete.Final product: its small, not for adult use at all, wood is flimsy, most is made with 1x4s, and lots of cracking while it was built, i dont expect the tarp roof to hold up to much wind or snow and im shocked that one of the walls on the platform is just a tarp…with screws in it…ment to stop a child from falling 5 ft…yeah im gunna go to lowes and add 2 more boards to reinforce that “tarp wall”…Anyway, likely over priced for the cheap, way overly complicated design. We laugh as we were building it that it would have been easier to make one from scratch…but not for the price i guess. Itll do for a few years but i dont expect much from it.

Leí la mayoría de los reviews antes de comprarlo. He de mencionar que recomiendo que LEAS absolutamente todas las instrucciones antes de iniciar nada. Todo tiene un orden. No te quieras adelantar.También, recomiendo poner en contenedores con post it’s toda la “herramienta que llega (tornillos, rondanas, etc.) nosotros los pusimos en orden alfabético y con el código en el que viene En las instrucciones. Eso nos ayudó enormemente a asegurarnos de que está TODO lo que debe de venir en el paquete, además de revisar una por una las tablas que están enlistadas en las instrucciones. ENTIENDO que este paso pueda dar flojera pero estarás tranquilo/a de que el set está completo y si no encuentras algo es porque no lo encuentras y no porque falte.Si lo recomiendo. Considera que te tardarás probablemente más de 8 hrs. En armarlo. En mi caso lo armé yo y mi mamá de 65 años. Así que entre dos es posible. Uno solo de plano no se puede ni es práctico.

Llego en el tiempo especificado por paquetería especial. Nosotros nos llevamos dos días armando entre 3 personas. Es un juego de jardín muy bonito. Lo único que no me gustó es que un par de tablas llegaron semi fracturadas y que los columpios son muy largos. Nosotros los colgamos en el tercer eslabón para que los niños de 2 años a 3 puedan subirse. Cuando crezcan tendremos que ajustar las cuerdas porque no será suficiente altura.

El producto que me enviaron no es el que estaba anunciado, de hecho es una versión que costaba mucho menos en la pagina web.Estoy en el proceso de armarlo y es un esfuerzo de al menos 8 horas y que debe hacerse por dos personas al menos. Es fácil equivocarse. El material se ve de buena calidad, ya comentaré cuando esté en operación.