Playset Services- Handyman Nightmares Misc

Making Backyards Fun Since 1997

This was the work of a careless untalented handyman. He was hired by a nice woman who owned and operated some type of daycare. We were called because she was sure the equipment being built by this handyman was dangerous. She pointed out some obvious problems she thought needed attention. He continued to build and told her he knew what he was doing.

We got there and knew it was a DIY swingset kit from Swing n Slide. It was a complete kit with fasteners, plans, a wood list, and a cut list. It should have been easy to build for a person who knows how to use basic tools. What we saw was this poorly executed version of a swing set. The brackets intended for use with this design were still sitting in the box along with the fasteners the manufacturer provided.

This kit comes with a wood list requiring the use of a 4" x 6" for the swing beam, he used a 4" x 4". He was onsite when we arrived. It was shocking just how proud he was of his work. He was insulted when we told the woman to ask him to stop and even more insulted when we told him he should be ashamed for charging someone for such poor work. He did the covered area too, but let's not go there. We were there for the swingset.

This is a Redwood Playset from Kid's Creations. We were called by the owner of Kid's Creations and told about this structure that was installed by novice installers rather than his recommended installers. You can see the rock wall is not right. There's an 18" drop from the bottom of the rock wall and an entrapment area at deck level. The picnic table is a little low and uncomfortable looking. The builders assumed the plans and the parts from K.C. were wrong and cut up boards to make them fit. There was far more wrong, but you get the point. We give Jeff @ Kid's Creations kudos for calling us to come fix this structure.

Rainbow Playsystems Sunshine Castle moved by amateurs. There's a 1/2" lock washer and a nut missing.

3/8" lag bolt missing and you can see the 1/2" washer under the bolt (centerscreen) is too small. It's supposed to be 3/4" like the one to the right. You can even see a depression in the wood where the old 3/4" washer was.

Here it is again. 1/2" washer under the bolt head even though there is a defined imprint where the 3/4" washer was before they took it apart. This made the structure weak and prone to damage. When will it end?

Who you gonna Call? Obviously we want you to call us. We pride ourselves in the types of techs we accept to begin in our apprentice program. It's not enough to come and build swing sets to get a check. We look for people who love this type of work and have the skills to be the best. We've done this long enough to know when someone doesn't have what it takes. Contact us and you'll see we why we think we're the best.

Some things to think about.. It's easy enough to find someone looking to make some money from craigslist or from a local free paper. We have phone numbers, references, a recognized logo, a vast website to showcase our work, we perform background checks, and we sponsor a training program designed to make our installers knowledgeable and confident about this line of work. We are preferred installers for playground companies such as Cedarworks and Kid's Creations.

More things to think about before you hire a playset installer:

	Do they have a website? In the 21st century what real business doesn't?
	Beware of swingset installers who don't list a phone number or an e-mail address in their ad. Where will they be next month?
	Do they have pictures of real work and references to prove the quality of their work?
	Is that guy you hired to build your family swingset a criminal?
	Believe it or not finding the cheapest deal isn't always the best thing. Beware of installers who don't charge enough. They could be hard up for cash and don't care what happens after they're paid.
	Beware of installers without yellow page recognition. Cell phone based businesses come and go and then they're gone.