OMG $13,000 to prep yard!!

[toby]

I am in shock. I have done SO much research on swingsets and we finally settled on a small CedarWorks. Our yard is so uneven and after some more research (lots of which was done on this board-thanks!), I realized that it was too much for DH and me to take on ourselves.

Soooo...a respected and usually reasonably priced landscaping guy took a look and dropped off the quote today- $13,000! He said that the expense is due to the fact that they can't get machines into our yard and it would be all hand done. Even he was shocked by the price. This would not be anything fancy- shoring up, digging down, landscape fabric, landscaping timber with rebar, 6" of pea gravel...

I don't even think that it is worth getting a second quote because DH and I just can't spend more than $2000-3000 on this.

I didn't really care about getting a swingset until 6 months ago when I found out that DS (3.5 years) has "low muscle tone" (hate this phrase) and is behind on gross motor skills. We can go to the park, but it is a 15 minute drive and, obviously, more of a production than going out to the yard.

I am racking my brain for any other ideas. All of our trees are poplars, so there is nothing to climb and nothing to hang a swing from. I am also kicking myself for talking to DS about the swingset and how he would have his own tower/club house. Big Mouth Mama.

Sorry for the big old blab and boo hoo hoo...do you have any ideas of what we can do (other than move?!)

[ECMom]

We have a Cedarworks playset. My advice is ask Cedarworks for the names of installers in your area and call them. Some may do such work themselves or they may have someone they work with. Either way, my guess is it would be cheaper than a landscaper. Our yard has a downward slope and we used a Cedarworks installer. We just had him install the playset level. We didn't worry about the yard but I know he could have done it if we'd wanted.

[LBW]

I think calling Cedarworks is a great idea.

How's your side yard? Could you go with a smaller set and install it there?

$13,000 is crazy! Is most of the cost in the labor? Could you hire college students or laborers yourself? I think you should look into getting a couple of other quotes. It sounds like an easy enough job. Surely someone would be willing to do it for what you are able to pay.

[sidmand]

What about a Rainbow set? Our yard is extremely uneven and the Rainbow Castle was the only set we could get to work. I thought it was way out of our price range, but the basic set came with almost everything that we had to add on to other sets and we bought the extra long A-frame and rock wall so the yard didn't have to be flat.

We did get a quote to prep the yard and it wasn't nearly $13,000, but it was almost as much as the playset and I really didn't want to spend that over and above what we were already spending.

We bought the Rainbow Castle II I believe and the only things we added were a todder swing and the extra long sides. Even as it was they had to add some wood because the yard was so uneven!! And we don't have a huge yard either, but it worked out really well. Any set that had a flat base didn't work because we couldn't get the yard flat enough. With the castle configuration, you only need the platform to be parallel to the ground.

[hbridge]

Yep, I'm not sure if $13000 is totally unreasonable for the work that you need done, but DH and I were all set to get a Cedarworks set a few years ago until we realized how much prep there would be. It would have cost significantly more to regrade the backyard than to purchase the set! Never mind the cost of the ground cover and edging.

For us, the solution was to forgo a swingset and we have never missed it. We go to the playground frequently (about 10min. away), so when home we do other things; t-ball, soccer, bubbles, bikes, ect.

Hopefully you will be able to get the set that you want without too much of an expense to get the yard prepped. However, if you have a great playground in town, it may not be worth it. Could you talk to his doctors and see what activities would be most helpful for his muscle tone? Maybe he can give you some suggestions for what would be most beneficial.

It's hard to forgo the outdoor play structure. Believe me, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Now we can "splurge" on the smaller stuff and not even think about it. I just picked up a bubble machine and have been looking at balance beams.

Best of luck.

[mytwosons]

One of my DS has/had low muscle tone and I don't credit our play structure with improvement. For my son, what helped was exercises that help develop core strength. We had an exercise ball that we did several exercises with, wheelbarrow races, etc. Also, we bought an "original big wheel" and I really think this helped. It's sort of similar to a recumbant bike (which helps abs/core) and I really think it helped.

Slightly off topic, but I wanted to reassure you that if you don't go through with the swing set ($13k is INSANE), you have other, much cheaper, alternatives to develop his core and improve the "low muscle tone".

[o_mom]

Is the access to the back limited by a fence? I would call a fence installer and ask them how much to take down a section and rehang it. We are currently getting estimates on fences and I was concerned about getting access later if we wanted to add on the back of the house. They said that it was super easy to take out a section of fence and rehang it.

[kijip]

I am not sure it is useless to get another quote (and certainly call Cedarworks like the pp suggested). I have seen a huge varation in landscape quotes. I had one guy bid over $11,000 for an annual *tiny* commercial trim and blow, a little weeding and occasionally dropping in seasonal color (that I would be providing). I am now paying another company about $1300 for the whole year. Also ask for a quote that has them doing part of it and you handling part of it (maybe with helpful friends?) :)

[toby]

Thank you, thank you for all of your quick replies and great suggestions. Once again, you have pulled through for me...much better than a therapist :)

I will call CedarWorks and look into a Rainbow, but I'm not sure that I want to deal with the headache of the yard (steep hills on all sides). We might just have to punt on the whole thing. This is TOTALLY selfish, but I had images of DS playing in the pea gravel with a dumptruck and on the swingset while I actually was able to sit down and drink an ice tea and read the paper! (we have a sandbox which he spends a lot of time in).

"Mytwosons"- thanks for the tips on muscle tone exercises.

Again...I am very appreciative of all of the responses.