Jack's Backyard
Custom Designed Endeavor
Redwood Forts/ Swing Sets
carries a full line of redwood playsets and a variety of playset parts, canopy tops, swing set accessories, playground equipment for parks, churches, and schools. Buy a new swingset, have it delivered, install it and enjoy.
Click here for more information
Backyardfunandleisure.com also offers an assortment of porch swings, greenhouses, sports grills, boats, kayaks, outdoor furniture, outdoor lighting, and more.
The
Endeavor Fort/ Swingset had humble beginnings.. It was my first fort
design. It was made up of spare
parts from swingsets I'd repaired. These were my Frankensteins, I like to
refer to these as my "Frankie's". It was made more for the purpose of making
something from nothing rather than making a profit. I had to reverse
engineer it based on the wood that was available. I thought it would be cool
for my kid to play on. I spent days sweating in the hot Texas sun building
this monstrosity. I removed nails, cut off broken ends, and selected wood
with the end result in mind. I put my heart in it... I routed the
edges, pressure washed the parts, sanded and sealed the set... My son
thought is was the coolest. I won't lie... I sold it.
Don't
hate... I sold it with the promise I would make a bigger and better one.
(For more about that promise look at the Triton.) The family who bought that
first frankenstein fort sent me a friend and I made another with new lumber.
Soon I made another and each time one was made, the design was refined. It
didn't have such a noble name then. I called it the "fort". Over the years,
I'd put together many DIY kits for families and found the instructions to be
difficult at times. It occurred to me that knowledge was power! I could
utilize my experience to write a plan for a clean, easy to build, easy to
move, and inexpensive playset. The Endeavor DIY Fort was born.
After
years of refinement.. My
Endeavor do-it-yourself wood fort/ swingset plan
was selected to be featured in a Better Homes and Garden DIY book called, "Playsets". This
design is also featured on the cover of the book. In the book, they refer to
it as "Fort Frolic". I would have never come up with frolic!
I like using redwood for playsets.. It's a natural wood, it's long lasting, it's resilient in many climates, and it just plain looks good. When I first started making play equipment, I made them using pressure treated lumber. Pressure treated lumber makes a great long lasting swingset, but I didn't like huffing the dust and that stuff would dull the bits or blades on my tools rapidly, requiring frequent sharpening or replacement. I made redwood my choice because it was good for me and my tools.
It
was fun when I started.. After making the same playsets time and time
again, I lost interest in making the ordinary everyday swingsets you see here
and eventually decided to stop making them. I did learn a lot from my time
building these cookie cutter designs and it allowed me to develop my craft
into more of an art. You can see the type of work I love to do throughout
this site and especially in my
custom projects or
tree house pages.
The reality is.. Unless you want a redwood playset that is totally custom in every way, it's wiser and more affordable for you to buy from a manufacturer than it is for me to build one for you. The trick is buying from playset company that cares enough about what they sell to offer a durable quality product. Most of the popular play equipment companies buy their supplies from China and sell it just to make a buck. I'm not too happy with what I see in most of the industry at this time.
If you're
looking for quality prefab playsets..
There are
a few backyard play equipment companies I believe care about what they build
and offer a product good enough for me to endorse. In other words if I
wasn't so awesome I would buy one of these;
Kid's Creations makes all con-heart
redwood swingsets You can get a quality swingset from
Kid's Creations for
less money than it would cost to have a me make a similar design. Not
only that but they're made here in the USA!
Kid's Creations Playsets are sold through Backyardfunandleisure.com.
You
can also build your own with my
plans.. I offer four basic designs to build on. The links
below will take
you to galleries showing how diverse the systems are, how much you can
expect to spend, and the level of craftsmanship and design put into each one.
Use my story to make your own and enjoy.
Click Here To See My Design Features and Benefits
Click Here to See What Other Parents Think
Natural Wood Designs For Our World
DIY Wood Forts/ Swing Set Plans, Wood Swingset Plans, Plans for Swingsets, Swingset Add-ons, Reclaimed Wood Ideas, Wooden Patio Swings, Wood Mailboxes, and more.
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