How to Build a Children's Swing Set
- 1). Call your local utility locating service. Tell it what type of project you are planning and where you want to place your swing set. Give the locating service time to have professionals come to your property and mark the active lines. Keep your swing set at least 3 feet from any active, underground utility lines.
- 2). Have an assistant help you dig 2 post holes 3 feet deep and 12 inches wide with an auger. Space the holes 10 feet apart.
- 3). Shovel 6 inches of gravel into each of the post holes. Stand a treated post on top of the gravel base in each hole. Add 6 inches of gravel around the base of each post. Pack the gravel around each post with the handle of your shovel.
- 4). Hold a 4-foot level to each side of the upright posts. Push or pull the posts as necessary to make them perfectly plumb in each direction. Fill both holes with dry concrete mix. Add enough water to the mix to make it soupy. Check and adjust the plumb of both posts and leave them alone for 48 hours while the concrete cures.
- 5). Lay the remaining post across the top of the two uprights. Move the horizontal post so that the overhang past each upright is the same as the one on the opposite side. Use the bit driver on your drill to drive 2 of your 16-inch lag screws through the horizontal and into the end of each vertical post. Keep the screw and your drill perfectly in line with the upright posts as you drive each one so that none of the screws comes back out of the wood.
- 6). Stand on your ladder and use the 1-inch bit to drill down through the center of the horizontal post to make holes for the swing chains. Make a hole 9 inches from each side of the center of the horizontal beam. Drill holes at 15 inches and 33 inches from the inside face of each upright to complete the 6 holes you need to hang all three swings.
- 7). Use your pliers to crimp an S hook onto the last link of each chain on your three swings. Slide the S hooks on each swing chain up through a hole in the horizontal beam keeping the pairs of chains next to each other. Bring the end of each chain up through a hole, wrap it around the outside of the beam and back to itself. Hook the chains onto themselves so that each chain is equal in length. Crimp each S hook onto the chain body in the appropriate place to fasten them permanently and complete your swing set.
