Not sure if this is the right board since I don't see a parents board, but anyone know of a good playset brand? Doing one for my son this year and right now the best we find money wise is Home Depot.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

See if you can find a used Rainbow playset on Craigslist.

You and a couple buddies could probably disassemble & reassemble it in a day.

I got a lifetime metal set from shedsforless.com but both Home Depot and Costco carry them as well. It was so easy to put up on Christmas vs a wooden one.

If you want to go a more DIY route, I ordered a kit from http://detailedplay.com/. It provides the plans and all the hardware, and it tells you what type of lumber to buy. From what I recall, it was cheaper to buy the kit with all the hardware vs. buying the hardware from Home Depot. It was a lot more work that I thought it would be, but it was fun to build, and it is much more sturdy than the ones you buy from the box stores.

Man I did a ton of research on these around the holidays.

If you aren't budget conscious then Rainbow, Treefrogs, etc... Are the way to go, but they are not budget friendly at all. They also only have like 2 or 3 base designs and then have a tone of variations. Point being if you don't like the base options, then your stuck with an expensive swing set that you half way like.

I ended up getting the one linked below. I wanted something really big so my kids could get their endless energy out. I couldn't find anything like this from the premier providers for less than $10k... I paid $1,900 on sale.

Again, the premier providers do provide better quality, but the one I got is pretty solid and Backyard Odyssey is easy to work with to replace anything that needs replacing in the future.

http://m.samsclub.com/ip/reno-cedar-playset-swings/prod12000133

I got one from Sams as well. I stained and sealed every board before assembly and it took my father in law and I the majority of a weekend to assemble it. We are going on three years now, and it is still in great shape. No broken or rotting boards, and it is rock solid. My only complaint is that the swings are too close together and the kids will sometimes hit arms when swinging, but that's about it. It's been a good investment. I would do it again.

http://www.willygoat.com/outdoor/default.asp

I found a used Rainbow on Craigslist for $400. It was a good deal but I wish it was bigger and had more features. My BIL ended up getting a really nice Tree Frogs on Craigslist for less than what I paid. If you have time and means to disassemble and transport, there are good deals on used sets out there.

cedarworks.com

wilhunting:

I'm interested in cedarworks, have their catalogue, etc. Do you have one of their products? What do you have and what did it cost? Interested in any other info. you can share...

I got a free one from a buddy...probably a rainbow...Im not sure. It was all cedar and some of it was less sturdy than I wanted. I pretty much rebuilt it from treated dimensional lumber using the old as a template. Its way more sturdy and Im pretty sure its going to last longer than we will. :/

I have one of the Sam's Club models of cedar playsets. I put it up about 2 years ago I think. Took some time putting it up, but really wasn't difficult - just tedious.

It's held up well so far, has made it through a few pretty solid storms without damage and the kids like it. I do need to get some Thompson's Water Seal (the stained kind) and spray at least the roof though as it's starting to weather and I want it to last several more years.

We got ours on clearance from Toys R Us in October a few years ago, and have been very happy with it. I will say I do like the one my parents got from Sam's better. Definitely go cedar over metal.
Also, be prepared for it to be a full weekend build job. Ours said 10-12 hours in the instructions, and it took my very handy husband and FIL every minute of that time.

Edit to mention that if you go cedar, make sure you get the play structure has a wood roof rather than the fabric. The fabric does poorly in our climate and is very expensive to replace.

Got ours from Costco two years ago. I assembled it 90% on my own and I guess that it took about 20 hours to do it, even though I did it over a month or 6 weeks or so. Has a spiral slide, rock wall and stairs and swing with a hanging bar

Careful with that Sam's club set pictured. I have been to more than a few kid parties where one of those really started shaking when you had a kid in each swing and a few up top. That said, they work fine for a family everdau use.

Our neighbors moved and said we could have the old one in their back yard. I took it apart and reused some the wood, the slide and swings. I purchased about $500 in new pine, hardware, added the rope and rockwall, sanded, stained and a finish. Going to add a roof next.

I built one myself. Worked a couple hours here and there and got it up.

Only thing I can recommend if you do it yourself, measure the slide you will use first and build to that height.

Our side is one of the fastest slides I've seen and throws my kid 4 ft out from the bottom. He loves it though, but it does have a good angle on it.

Yes - we have the "modern playhouse" from cedarworks.com and it is a fantastic product. We are very pleased and most importantly so are my 2 girls.

Bump Bump...

My wife and I, as well as my 2 girls, checked out some TreeFrogs playsets today in person because they have some sales going on for July 4th. Has anyone ever dealt with them in haggling a better deal than advertised? Is it possible to not include a couple standard things on a playset that you don't really need so you can save a little money? Any other input on TreeFrogs??

I have a Tree Frogs playset now (going on 3 years). It is good, but I don't think it is any better than the Gorilla Playset I had at my other house, and the Gorilla sets are less expensive. See them here: http://www.gorillaplaysets.com/. My BIL has a metal/plastic Lifetime set and it looks pretty solid. I had the low end $999 Gorilla and was very pleased.

We recently purchased a gorilla playset. We bought this playset on sale through Walmart for $899 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gorilla-Playsets-Ozark-Cedar-Wooden-Swing-Set/33859106. It arrived very FAST for a freight shipping. It arrived about 7-10 days before the expected arrival date.

I spent months researching playsets. Gorilla was consistently rated high on most (if not all) sites. I felt it was the best value. Once I was set on Gorilla I spent most of the time comparing the features from different sites. I was going to purchase the Outing III Gorilla playset through Home Depot, but the Walmart one came on sale and fit best with our yard.

It was very easy to install. The hardest part was leveling the slight slope of our yard. The instructions were specific and items were labeled well. It took me about 8-10 hours of work over one weekend. I only needed a helping hand for a few steps, mostly with the swing beam. So far I'm happy with it. My son loves it. I cannot speak to the longevity of it yet, but most reviews stated that it held up.