Seeking Advice on Outdoor Playset - Naperville,IL

We bought a used set this spring, rainbow for 300. I highly suggest looking in your local paper and craigs list to see if you can buy a used one!

Make sure it's made out of cedar and some redwood cedar. I just got a Rainbow, because my last playset was a cheap one and it didn't last. You can't beat a Rainbow.

Hi,
My husband and I just purchased a Rainbow playset for our 2 year old son. He loves it! The great thing about this play set is that you can get different attachments to grow as your children grow and change. The only thing is that your lawn has to be completely level in order for the playset to be installed. Our lawn was not completely level so we had to have someone come out and make it level which just added to the cost. Even though the playsets are expensive it is well worth the cost. I had a baby 5 months ago and when he is sleeping our 2 year old can go outside and play rather than staying inside.

The Rainbows are the best. They last forever. they istall them in two hours!They have indoor showrooms to try them out. We went to the one in Naperville and the kids had a blast!good luck!

Five years ago we were on the search for a great playset. We went to a display of Backyard Adventure ones down in a town off of I80 at a nursery. My kids got 2 splinters. They had a rock wall that went up 8 feet then just ended - there was no where to go so you had to climb back down which is not safe or easy. They also had a rope wall that went nowhere on a different set. I found that they were very shakey and we were not impressed.

We investigated lots of them at http://www.world-playground.com and found http://www.cedarworks.com and were thrilled. We watched their dvd (well it was vhs then, lol) and were sold. That fall we were in Maine and visited their factory. Our little 14 mos old spent 20 minutes going up the little rampino and down the little bambino slide over and over. Our then 4 yr old played and played. We designed our own set that day and had it delivered the next September (they are on sale in Sept every year).

Cedarworks uses naturally splinter free wood. We never have to stain it, sand it or worry about splinters. It also is naturally rot resistant. There are a few other companies that use this wood, and I highly recommend you go with one of them.
http://www.triumphplaysystems.com/ http://www.heonplaysets.com/home.shtml

I did check out Rainbow and got a huge splinter from their display set. I also hit my head on a not well placed board. They also have rope ladders going to nowhere - one of my pet peeves on playground safety.

So, please check out Cedarworks before you buy. They do cost a bit more, but they will last forever, and my kids are now 6 and 9 and still play on the set.

N.

We ended up going with the series Menard's sells. It's a build-it-yourself wooden kit, but there are so many options for attachments, including baby swings for your little man. It took my hubby and stepdad a weekend and it was complete. It has held up beautifully and was easily half the price of the Rainbow Play Systems brand where they construct it for you. Whatever you pick, make sure you don't go too young. They will grow so fast!

Have fun,
A.

We bought a Rainbow set from Costco 3 yrs ago for $1200. It's red color wood and holding up very well. It will get a coat of paint/stain before winter this year to keep it looking sharp.
You need at least 2 men to put it together and I left for the weekend to be sure we weren't in the 'way'. Our friends did it over 2 weeks after work and wished they had just did it over a weekend. It's tiring for the non-handyman. You'll need a truck to transport it.

Wow, seems like a lot of mom's knocked the Big Backyard sets. We got ours and I LOVE it. Only thing with it is, it does get a little shakey when kids around 80 lbs or up get on it and start swinging really high. But mine are really little so i have about 5 years minimum til I have hat problem... We ended up going with the Pine Ridge III. The lady that talked about a rockwall leading to nowhere and a rope ladder leading to nowhere. I don't know what set she saw or maybe it was an incomplete set... But ours leads to a landing with this little chalkboard thing (it's actually like a material not a hard board) that is one of their favorite parts. Only thing it doesn't have is the monkeybars.

As for assembly, as long as you put the pieces of wood (which are not labeled) in order. (we set them up like they were shown in the picture to find them faster) and it only took like 5 hrs. Which isn't bad compared to some people I read about online that did not put the wood in order.

Backyard Adventures playsets are actually very comparable to the quality of rainbow systems and are more affordable. Adventure playsets are different than Backyard adventure sets. The adventure sets are sold at big box stores like walmart, lowes, sams, etc. The Backyard Adventure sets are sold by independent dealers like Rainbow and are built with larger and better quality of lumber. I bought a set from a big box company(I won't say who or what brand) but the set splintered and was not safe for large children or adults. If you want something that will last and something you can turnaround a sell, I would recommend using a independent dealer like Backyard Adventure. The playsets are much more superior to the big box stores with many more options and higher quality of materials. You will likely have to throw the cheaper playsets away when your children grow out of them(or they break down in my case)verse being able to resell them. I would say that a backyard adventure playset would easily last twice as long as the cheaper big box stores carry and therefore worth the extra investment.
Thanks,
Mona

I researched this 2 years back and decided on a Rainbow. We mostly decided them because they can assemble it for us. My husband is not handy and it would have taken me a year to put up at least. I called many places and people hoping to pay a handyman or someone to do it, but no such luck. I went to Rainbow in January when they are selling their floor models on a great clearance deal. I liked it because you can interchange the pieces later if you want to. They are pricey though, so I am not sure we will do that. We exchanged out a few pieces when we bought it, so keep that in mind. You don't have to buy the set as is in the store, we changed out the climbing board for monkey bars. We like our Rainbow, but their are some of the wood pieces where the wood is cracked and I can see splinters waiting to happen if my kids were to put their hands on there. That said, it isn't anywhere near where they would put their hands on it. The other thing, they say they replace wood if there is an issue. Well, we have had a few knots in the wood come out and had them come out to replace it and all they did was put some stain over it. So, I don't think their customer service at the LITH location is anything great at all- actually, I'd call them terrible. But, we are happy with our set overall.

Hi M.,

We purchased the Pathfinder model in May of 08. We are very happy with our purchase from Walmart. My children are 5,3 & 8 mo's. They play on it EVERYDAY and absolutely love it. It has a grandor appearance compared to others in the same price range.

I know a lot of the other responses are guiding you towards the Rainbow play systems but they're not in the same price range as the adventure playsets. It's not an accurate comparison.

One thing we thought of when deciding how much money to invest in a playset is how long of a life expectancy were we looking for? If you're looking for a set to take your kids into their teens, then you probably should invest in a more expensive playset like a Rainbow with an extended warranty.

We feel there are better sets out there for more money but our adventure playset is perfect for our needs and family.

Hi M.,

I just wanted to let you know that last year we bought a fantastic, HUGE playset from Sams Club for 1/4 the price of other stores we had been to. You may want to check it out.....
My kids will get many years of use out of it - it has a climbing wall, huge slide, couple of swings, top fort, bottom fort...

Also - just for future reference - make sure your hubby (or whoever installs it) pours concrete in the ground where the legs of the set will go. TOo many people dont do this, and in a year or two, the whole playset gets lopsided from the changes in the ground....

Best of luck!
E.

I know this isn't exactly what you are asking, but check out craigslist.com There are some great playsets you can get for 1/4 -1/2 the price new. It may be worth looking at. It's all local so you have to pick it up, but no shipping costs.

I have never heard of the Backyard Adventure playset but if you want one that will last a long time, Rainbow playsets are very good. You can find them used in the paper for much cheaper and on Ebay and Craigslist. We purchased one that was 6 years old in good condition, my husband put some new paint on it and it looks brand new. Might be hard to find at this time of year, but in the spring and summer there will be more. You must call on them right away because they do go fast!!