Hawk's Nest Wooden Outdoor Playset with Wave Slide, Rock Wall, Monkey Bars, Tarp Roof and Swing Set Accessories

Built this for grandkids a week ago. Overall very pleased. Took total of 15-20 man hours to assemble. At one point we needed 3 people (to place the swing beam onto the tower). Two people present made the rest of it easier, otherwise you'll need to use clamps to hold pieces in place while you level and fasten. Finished product is very sturdy and very heavy. We'll stain it in a few months after all the beams (that we purchased) dry out. We bought a used slide from Craigslist, saved us about $65. Spent extra $$ on heavy duty swing hardware. Here's a few pointers: 1-Prior to assembly we measured and marked each piece of wood, many are close in size and if you use the wrong one you may get away with it at first but you will likely need it later. This saved us lots of redo. 2-Prior to assembly we placed each piece of hardware, by size, in separate small plastic containers. Many are close in size but there are only a few extras provided so be sure and use the correct fastener 3-We substituted a 4x6 for the 4x4 swing beam. This made the whole unit steady and heavier, but this is where we needed 3 people for placing it onto the tower. Also forced us to get different (longer) drill bits and hardware for attaching to tower and for swings. 4-Swing hardware included is rated at 115lbs, although chains are heavier. We substituted 250lb rated hardware in case the parents decided to use the swings. Again, needed longer bolts due to 4x6. 5- You need a post hold digger - they don't tell you that - for the 4x4 monkey bar vertical poles. 6-Kit includes bits for star drive screws. We quickly stripped the T20 sized one and bought one that was rated heavy duty at Home Depot for about $3. That one lasted for the rest of project. Coincidentally we switched to an impact driver from the drill driver...maybe that drill caused the stripping. In any case the other bits provided were fine. If you have an impact driver that helps. 7-The monkey bars are a bit unsteady; perhaps we should have anchored the posts, no danger of it pulling the tower down though 8-The anchors were of questionable value, for us, since we could not get them into ground more that about 6-8 inches. However, the extra weight of the 4x6 swing bar makes the whole playset really steady. 9-Open question on whether to keep the rope. We'll leave it up to the kids Conclusion: Delighted with everything: quality, looks, functions. The price was right and everything they said was included. The hardware was high quality and the instructions were adequate. A day after completion it got a good test at the birthday party with many small and large kids using it at once. It totally met my expectations

By adding the 4x4's to this set, it makes for a very sturdy playset for similar price of sets from other retailers. This sucker is solid; I'm 240# and can swing and climb on it without a problem, comes with ground anchors but I don't think you need them unless you're in Tornado Alley. You definitely need help to get the 4 posts of the tower up, and to set the crossbar to the A-Frame. I had a buddy come help for about 2-3 hours, at a leisurely pace and a few cold ones. The rest of it I finished the next day at a slow pace in about 6 hours. Definitely pre-drill your screw holes, screws feed much easier and won't split the thinner wood on the accent pieces. My 5 year old and his friends love it, and it should be around for his one year old brother, too.

We spent most of the winter researching play structures for our son and were disappointed at some of the on-line reviews, disheartened by the quality of the lumber used in other sets, and discouraged by the high prices. We were beginning to lose hope that we would be able to find a set we liked and had actually decided to try to build our own. We literally stumbled across this one when roaming through Home Depot one day and it was like the planets aligned. Decent price, quality, full-sized lumber and we got to select our own 4x4's. Perhaps a downside to some, but we were really concerned about ensuring the lumber we used wasn't warped or otherwise inadequate. The instructions claimed we could 'build and play in one day' and they were right. It took three people and two drills to set up the structure, but we got it done in about 9 hours (one hour more than the instructions claimed, but still really good). The rapid-loc bracket system was brilliant, the lumber was really good quality, as were the component pieces, and the instructions relatively straight-forward. The worst part was digging the holes for the monkey bars - we'd recommend getting a post-holer to aid that particular process. The set looks amazing in our backyard and our son can't get enough of it. Definitely lived up to its claims and we would certainly recommend it.

This play set is perfect for our kiddos! Quick shipping/delivery. Great instructions

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] How about this I want to go for my kids. They have loved every minute of it. Shipping was extremely fast right to my door.

It's a really cute playset, big and fun, however, it was not that easy to put it together. It took my husband about 1.5 days to build it. It doesn't include slide or 4by 4s so it adds up in price. Extra wood cost us $180 and slide is $100. If you d like wider slide, it will cost $200, instead of $100. Plus, we had to buy sealer for wood, which was $50+.so, the whole set is around $650-$750 with all added materials. Monkey bars behind the house have to be buried in soil pretty deep, lots of digging. Roof is hard to attach to the house. Holes in wood need to be predrilled. Some measurements in manual are a bit off too. Definitely better to have more than one man to put set together, as it's a lot of work.But in the end, this set ended up looking pretty cool and our 3 year old kid loved it.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Instructions were hard to follow and the markings were not clear. It definitely could use some improvement there. But overall, very pleased with the quality of the playset.

Great value. Th hardware, particularly the screws, tended to strip easily. I bought new, higher quality screws and the assembly went much quicker.

I am giving this an average rating because: 1. Some parts were missing (screws, bolts either stripped or did not fit). We spent approx. $40 more to replace parts that were stripped or missing. This is not acceptable when purchasing a playground for over $300. Where is your quality control?