Playset Rejuvenation

[Chad_E]

My youngest daughter just turned 3 this past Saturday. My wife and I decided it was time to upgrade our backyard. I was not looking forward to purchasing a new playset. They are proud of them. Well, through the grapevine I find a used one. A guy that I used to cut, rake and bale hay for during my highschool and early college years has two boys that have outgrown theirs. He was wanting to get rid of it and I was "happy" to help him do just that. From the limited research I've done this playset is a Rainbow Play System Turbo Castle, Package II Loaded. He told me that they paid $3,300 for it new about 7 years ago. I was able to pick it up for $500. I thought that was a fair price considering the shear amount of material in this structure. It is a very well made playset. Took 4 of use to disassemble it into manageable pieces and load it on the trailer. My plan is to break it down, nearly piece by piece, and clean it up. I will be sanding all the wood and resealing it. There will be some pieces that need replacing as well.

[Chad_E]

I brought the playset to the house on Sunday and spent some time on it Sunday evening and yesterday.

Here is a picture of the A frame cleaned up and ready for staining. I think this sucker might clean up pretty well.

[Codie]

we did the same several years ago but we just sprayed it down with bleach and power washed it and then re-stained after it dried and it lasted great for about 5-6 years until we sold it for $100 last year. MUCH better than spending $3,000 and having to put the entire thing together

[Chad_E]

I considered pressure washing it as well and still may. I was worried about it grooving the wood too much and increase the chance of splinters. Maybe I'm overthinking it? (I am an engineer after all...)

[dmk]

I think the pressure washer should be fine. It's how they do decks and you walk on them.

[texan4ut]

Buy a gallon of deck cleaner at homer depot put in a sprayer and spray it down then power wash, and seal. it will look new.

[Texastaxi]

Pressure washing it will leave the boards looking kinda furry.
Keep going with the sander. It's more work ... because it does a better job.

[Chad_E]

Pressure washing it will leave the boards looking kinda furry.
Keep going with the sander. It's more work ... because it does a better job.

It is going slow, but going still. With the days being short and the weekends busy, time to work on this project has been at a premium.

Many of the pieces have quite a bit of mildew and algae growth on them. The belt sander doesn't think to highly of the algae and can really slow things down. So first step is to clean those pieces up. We use Oxiclean and a scrub brush...works pretty good. Here is a before and after of one of the railings to give you an idea of the cleanup.


After cleaning up the pieces I break them down to individual pieces, sand and reassemble. Here is the pile that has formed from this process.


Yesterday after returning from an overnight stay in San Antonio we cleaned up the last few pieces left so they are ready for sanding. Then we proceeded to start staining those that had already been sanded. Although I still have quite a bit to do, I think this is going to turn out quite nice.

[Texastaxi]

That thing's gonna look like new, when you're done!

[Carpe_diem]

Looking great!

[Chad_E]

Rain really slowed me down this weekend. Before seeing the forecast, I had planned on completing the staining process this weekend. Unfortunetly, with each piece taking 4+ hours to dry, I wasn't able to finish. Getting close with all the big stuff.

I have a few pieces that need some help. One piece is rotting and either needs to be stabilized or replaced. Anyone ever stabilized a piece of rotting wood? Is it a pain to do so? Plan on looking into that in the coming days.

Also, I need to figure out something with the original ropes. They appear to be in pretty bad shape. Probably need to replace them, but no one in La Grange carries this size rope. Haven't been to a Lowe's or HD in a while. Anyone know if they carry large rope? Probably looking at 1 1/2"

[SAC]

I'm glad I'm only reading about this.

[Bill]

If your kid will be climbing on it I'd replace a piece if it's bad. My thinking, anyway.

1-1/2" X 150' Unmanila Rope AKA Promanila is $225 on amazon, maybe they sell it in smaller lengths.

[Mike]

That's a lot of work but I like the effort. I would have opted for light pressure washing and then stain, lol.

Replace anything that is rotten and I think you can find that rope at a big box store, Maybe even an Ace Hardware but I would shop price before I purchased.

[Chad_E]

If your kid will be climbing on it I'd replace a piece if it's bad. My thinking, anyway.

1-1/2" X 150' Unmanila Rope AKA Promanila is $225 on amazon, maybe they sell it in smaller lengths.

Thanks Bill. There are a few reasons for simply trying to stabilize. First, the piece is not rotted all the way through, only along the edge of one side. IF it can be stopped the overall integrity of the piece is still in good shape. Second, the piece is not a critical structural piece of the set. Lastly, Rainbow (the maker of the set) is smart enough to not use standard sized wood. So if I try and replace (which I still may), I'd have to get someone to strip it down to size. My tool cabinet does not have the needed equipment to do so.

That's a lot of work but I like the effort. I would have opted for light pressure washing and then stain, lol.

After the number of hours I've sanded, I'm starting to wonder if I should have done just that. However, the two pieces that I did lightly pressure wash did not come out good at all. I think I still went the correct route even though its been a lot of work.

I'm glad I'm only reading about this.

You still might get a call soon when I need to set this sucker back up. It is not a one, two or even three person job. Some of these pieces are no joke!