A Simple Swing Set

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This swing set was one of those spur of the moment projects that we just decided to do. We were so excited for it! Especially since all of our grandkids love to swing!

One of the things we love most about this swing set is the small footprint. It hardly takes any room from our yard. We positioned it under one of our trees, so it will provide some shade during the summer months.

It really isn't a difficult swing set to build. Here's what we did....

First, we determined where the posts were going to go. We used shovels to give us an idea of the space.

The posts and holes will be 6 feet apart, measuring from the center of each post/hole. We felt 12 inch holes would be good, leaving plenty of room for concrete for 6x6 posts. We started digging out the holes, but quickly realized we needed to rent an auger. These holes need to be 3 feet deep. These are going to be some mighty big holes!

We rented an auger from Home Depot for a couple of hours. That made quick work of those holes!

We purchased 3 - 6x6x12 treated posts. Plus the hardware to attach the posts together. Lowes had everything we needed.

We place the posts into the holes. The next step is pretty important. You want your posts to be level in all directions. We used scrap lumber to attach to the posts to keep it level. We pounded stakes into the ground and attached them the supports to keep it stable. Adding 2x4's to the top and bottom of the posts also helped keep it all level and together.

Time for concrete! We ended up using 4 bags of concrete for each post. Those babies aren't going anywhere! We used both methods, adding in dry concrete and then wetting it in the hole and mixing the concrete in a wheel barrel first, then pouring it in. We felt mixing it first insured that the concrete was getting completely wet and mixed before adding it to the hole.

The concrete needs to set and dry overnight. The next day Hubby started by measuring each post and cut off the excess to make them both level for the top post.

We weren't sure how we were going to lift that top post on.... It is heavy and big... God always helps us find creative solutions! We created a 'ladder' system to lift it on. The next photo points out our 'ladder steps'. We lifted one end up, then the other and kept going until we reached the top. It worked perfect!

We did have one slight issue.... We really didn't want to cut branches off our tree. We had already cut one branch that was in the way and didn't want to cut more, but one of them was a bit low to fit the top post on.

Well, hubby found a perfect size board and pushed up on the branch with it and wedged it in. It lifted it just enough to add the top post!

Lifting branch out of the way of top post

It gave just enough room! And yes, once we removed the board, the branch was resting on the swing set, but we think it will be just fine.

Now time for hardware! This is the hardware we purchased at Lowes. Black T-Strap Plate front, Black plate for back and special screws. We always pre-drill the holes before we add the screws.

Now that the swing set structure is finished, it's time to make it pretty. We have a TON of work to do in our backyard.... all that stone we need to clean up... So, for now I just made a brick border to keep the stone out and define the line for grass.

I put bricks around the posts to make mowing easier and that way the trimmer wont tear up the posts.

I added some top soil and smoothed it all out. Then threw down some grass seed and spread some hay.

As you can see we added some swings to test it out. We purchased these on Amazon and really like them! We also purchased a bench swing and cushion. I picked up a baby swing on Facebook Market.