Totally confused about swing sets..please help

[overcome]

I am having a difficult time finding a playset.

We don't want treated wood of any type, but I think the untreated wood, such as cedar, is going to be too expensive.

And the descriptons of the wood used can be so confusing. We bought a set from Toys R Us b/c it didn't appear to be treated, but while we were waiting for it to come in, as I was reading the description, I investigated a little more and found the wood WAS treated (so we returned it).

Ugg...can someone just point me in the right direction? Maybe we should just a get a metal playset like I used to have as a kid!?!??

TIA
Ashley

[emmiem]

Try Childlife, Rainbow, or sets at Lowe's and Home Depot. Most places are going with untreated wood now I thought.
Michele

[Karenn]

I think the smaller, build it yourself "Fiesta" sets by Rainbow were not treated. The cost for those was *I think* (it's been a couple years since I was shopping) more comparable to TRU.

[overcome]

Most places are going with untreated wood now I thought.
Michele

Treated wood has changed over the past 5 years as now it is against the law to use arsenic, but it is still treated by various other methods. That is part of my confusion.

I will check out Lowe's/Home Depot....
Thanks!

[overcome]

I think the smaller, build it yourself "Fiesta" sets by Rainbow were not treated. The cost for those was *I think* (it's been a couple years since I was shopping) more comparable to TRU.

I still think Rainbow sets may be too expensive for us....also the nearest showroom is over an hour away.

Metal is looking better and better :-)

[brittone2]

My kids have a metal set and really enjoy it. DH just built a separate fort/slide structure (the thing is huge!) out of Cedar (used logs for the uprights, and then we found a local mill that made us cedar planks, etc. Our pea gravel is held in place w/ multiple long cedar logs as the "border").

DS is 4 and still plays on the metal set daily. The fort wasn't because they were unhappy w/ what they had. It was just a fun addition, kwim?

We got a metal set from TRU 2 years ago that is mostly dark green and a little bit of cream. It is Flexible Flyer, and made in the USA, believe it or not. Because of the color scheme, it is really not obtrusive for a metal set, IMO.

I realize that building it yourself is not a great option for many people. We also live where cedar is pretty abundant, so maybe that was a factor, but the price for the cedar itself was very reasonable. But it *may* be an option. I don't regret our metal set, but I think part of it depends on how adventurous your kids are. If they really like and are accustomed to enormous play structures, the slide might seem very small in comparison, etc.