I’m amazed at how many parts have to be cut, drilled, counterbored and redwood stained to the extent that I’ve decided to start building this puppy. Needless to say there is still the cutting list to go through for making the picnic bench and rock wall but these items are non-structural so that can be done after all the other elements are put together.

I found that even though I marked each piece with a pencil to identify the part, once it was stained it became difficult to read so it’s a question of measuring against the cutting list and marking again. I wouldn’t of bothered but there’s a mountain of parts to go through and I wanted to save a little time rather than measuring each time I needed a piece. I also found that after staining, it may be necessary to rub down with fine sand paper to take the roughness off but this will be done once it’s all assembled, I don’t want the children to get gravel rash from the wood!

Over the course of the past few weeks I’ve ordered the extra hand grips and additional rock wall holds together with two sets of the steel ground anchors. I opted for the steel anchors because I can screw them into the ground to a depth of twelve inches and with the flat mixer type end it would act as an additional resistance if the frame should start to sway. With the wood type anchor, even if they were pounded to a depth greater than twelve inches they still have smooth sides that could become loose over time. Maybe I’m getting concerned over nothing but at least it puts my mind at rest, at the end of the day the weight should be sufficient to prevent it from moving but as the instructions insist, anchor the structure down.

The first job to do before any assembly should take place is to dismantle the older playset. As normal, this is a couple of hours of grunt work, rusted bolts being the main culprit. Why not just cut it up and be done with it you may ask but this has already been earmarked to be reassembled at another home as an interim swing set, just as it was for us. All that will have to be replaced are a few bolts and a couple of T-nuts.

Once down the older playset is stacked in front of the garage, really restricting the amount of room that I have for working. I made a mental note, I will have to get rid of this as soon as possible, it’s getting just too tight around here! Next I ran the lawn mower over the area to flatten it as much as possible because once the frame is erected it’s back to strimming the grass.

The main jungle fort frame will be very close to the previous position but I measured the area just to make sure. Once it was pegged out the base components were placed close by and construction started with the front baseboard that represents the sandbox and the first upright. These two pieces are bolted together with a 5 inch x 3/8 inch galvanized lag bolts, washer, lock washer and nut. Well as I started I realized that I was going to need a 9/16 inch deep series socket to tighten the nut up and you’ve guess it, I didn’t have one. I wonder how many people have been in the same situation. You think you’ve got it all covered and right at the time of assembly you’ve got to make that special trip out to buy that one tool. The good thing is, OSH (Orchard Supply warehouse) is less than a mile from the house so that’s where I’m going first. I really want a 3/8 inch drive socket but their out of stock, typical, so now I get a 1/2 inch drive deep socket with 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch adapter and a deep socket 1/4 inch drive. This will cover the tightening of the bolts and will allow a second little helper with the second drive.

Now that I have the correct size socket for the job, it progresses a little quicker. The structure has to be checked for square with a framing square and a spirit level ensures that it sits vertical and horizontal. The 5/8 inch clearance hole in the parts allow for movement while I adjust it to suit the vertical and horizontal. Once adjusted the bolts can be tightened to hold all parts securely. I found that once everything was squared, the ground that it sat on was sloping away a little. To remedy this I placed additional treated timber under the frame in that one corner. At a later stage I can back fill to provide additional support even though once the ground anchors are installed the frame will be tight against the spacer.

The fall away in the corner is due to garden drainage and affects just an eighteen inch section, just enough to cause a rock in the frame but with the 1 1/2 inch spacer everything is solid once again.

Well with the sun starting to set there’s no time for placing in the braces, this will have to wait until next weekend, I’ve got to clean-up shop before it gets too dark. With most of the teething problems out of the way is should go smoother next week.