Swing-n-Slide Kodiak Custom DIY Play Set Hardware Kit - Project 512

I read a ton of reviews on playsets and saw some display models and if you are/have someone that is handy with tools then I'd say any of the swing-n-slide DIY playset kits are the way to go for a number of reasons. 1 - 4x4 construction insures the playset will hold many kids as well as adults without worry/breakage (the slide being the exception) and you get to buy your own boards so the quality of the wood is known (kits that come with boards precut tend to either have cheap/easily broken wood or the wood is already dried out). 2 - Reviewers rarely complain about any missing parts in the kit (which is not the case with other kits I looked at, especially those with precut wood - the odds are not in the buyers favor for complete kits with those). 3 - The vast majority of reviewers say the instructions are easy to follow with only a few hiccups (again, not the case with competing DIY kits). My husband put this together almost entirely by himself over 4 days (I helped by holding some things in place in the beginning stages and he got the neighbor boys to help lift the 4x6 swing beam into place), so if he had more help, I'm sure it would have gone together faster (plan on dedicating an entire weekend to it). 4 - The DIY kits are the best value for your dollar. The wood cost us about $400 so with wood, screws, slide and extra climbing rocks (we plan to add other swings or rings later to 'freshen' it up) the total cost was under a grand. To get a playset of this size/quality precut/built, you will have to shell out much more. The Kodiak kit has 3 (actually 4) build options, and you should pick one before you buy if you want to buy the slide at the same time (b/c the slide heights needed are different for the different plans; full plans are available online in free pdf files to help you decide). We built the 512 plan (4ft slide height, 5 ft climbing wall height) for our 4 yr old (and baby brother). He loves it, as did the 8 kids aged 3-7 that we had over to christen it!. Next year we plan to stain it and replace the tarp roof (by following the basic instructions for the wood roof on the 513 plan or making a shingle roof if we have enuf leftovers from our project). Wayfair customer service answered my questions via email in less than 24 hours and the kit arrived in about a week (always takes a day longer to get up here than most places), so I was also very pleased with ordering from this site. HTH - happy playing!

my husband and i got this for our little girls 2 birthday. she loves it. its great bc all 3 of us can play on swing unlike swingset premade. one bad thing it takes longer than 6 hours it took 3 days. o and u can also add on to it. we our adding toybox bench and small table underneath.

Playset is great. Directions were easy to follow with only very minor misprints (2). I bought lumber from local lumber yard for [$]. Total playset price was about $900 (built ladder, I did not buy the rock mountain). I researched many playsets and did not like the lumber that was included and felt it would not withstand 3 boys under 5 playing on it. The 512 set is solid as a rock and have no worries about its durability. I cut the lumber the day before we started construction (directions were right on). Spent about 6-7 hours on a Saturday and then a few hours throughout the week to finish. In total, it took about 12-14 hours for construction (add about 3-4 hours for cutting lumber).

[...] We tweaked the instructions a bit by adding sturdier pieces of wood where they might call for thinner boards. It took 2 men almost all day Sat & Sun to complete so the "estimated time" of "x amount of hours" is a bit unreasonable. The kids LOVE it! The size of the fort is great for kids & adults. Now let's hope it'll hold up during hurricane season. :o)

I bought this particular one because of the price. I thought that it is a wood playset, ok, it's going to be hard to assemble. The directions made it impossible to mess up. With the wood that I bought for it the set holds even me, a 300+ pound, 6'6" man and that's saying a lot for the playset.

The Directions are really simplified, however some directions are left out that would make it easier. The equipment supplied makes assembly easy for someone who has some experience with wood. Do not attempt alone, you will need some help if you are a novice or a do it yourself-er. I would recomend this product to anyone it is sturdy and it holds me a 6'7" 300# man.