Lifetime 90042 A-Frame Playset

I read many reviews and researched quite a bit before deciding on this swing set. I had it narrowed down to the Lifetime brand because I definitely wanted a metal set vs wood. I grew up with a Step2 climber set and we loved it, but we quickly out grew that. I wanted something that could be used by our young and growing children. We have issues with carpenter bees around here in Ohio, so that made it easy to rule out wood, and I also was looking for something that was safe, maintenance free and study- to last a long time. We have owned it for 1 month now, and here is the breakdown of my thoughts. Thank you Amazon prime for the free shipping of this large assembly! It was obviously not a 2 day shipping, but rather you have to schedule with a local delivery service to deliver on a certain date. It comes in a huge pallet (5' wide x 10' long about) so make sure you have a good spot for them to drop it. All the parts are contained in the boxes except for the slide. One of the boxes is labeled "directions included in this box" make sure you open that box first, it makes things easier. Assembly: It took us about 2, 8 hour days to set this up. My husband did the majority, but I was present for about 1/2 the time. My job mainly was to organize and "stage" the parts for him. The directions are rather clear but it takes some time to match up the actual pieces with the steps. A BIG bonus was the baggies with the small parts were all labeled, so you grabbed a baggie for the step you were working on and it only included the parts that would be used at that time. This is nice because when you finish that step, if you have pieces left, something is not right. The big pieces (poles) were not labeled, so you had to use the book and reference the picture for how many holes the part had, and then find it. It was nice that they listed which parts were in each box. So all in all, the matching up parts and staging took about 1.5 hours. Another note I want to make, these boxes are HEAVY! My husband and I are both tall and athletic build (6' and 6' 8") but we even struggled to carry 2 of the boxes from our driveway to the build site (about 100' away). So once the staging is done, the actually assembly is not too bad. I took the advice of other reviewers and purchased the Allen wrench set right here from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dewalt-Handle-Ratcheting-Metric-Piece/dp/B005O1RGY8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1415555150&sr=8-6&keywords=allen+wrench+set). Trust me, this is WAY easier than using the provided Allen wrenches. They do include a hand tap tool in case the threads have burrs. We didn't find too many burrs, but did have to re-tap the hole when I cross-threaded it. Unfortunately, we ruined the bolt at that time, but the local hardware store had one that worked, so we were good to go. My husband wishes the fastener type was different. He basically said that this thing is together now, and will never come apart. I agree, it would have been nice to have a hex head nut & bolt combo vs the allen head with the built in style bolts. Kids thoughts: The kids LOVE this. We finished it right before a family party and it was a huge hit. Every day (rain or shine) our kids play on this. (2.5 yr old and 5 month old) I did swap out the rings and put a baby swing in the spot. We will bring the rings back out when the kids get older and can use them. Other things I like: The natural color scheme, the fact that it is self leveling, it has 3 spots for swings & the long/wavy slide & multiple ways to get up to the fort (we most like the regular ladder and the rope ladder). Our 2.5 yr old is in love with the "noculars" (binoculars) and steering wheel accessories that come with it. The whole set is just a lot of fun in general, even us parents can play on it. Seems very sturdy. What I would change: Besides the fastener type that I listed above, I also think the rock wall is semi pointless. It's kind of awkward since you climb up, and then have to make a huge step to get from it, onto the platform. Maybe good for older kids, but I personally would have rather had a solid wall there and offer the option to expand (add more swings or a dual glider, etc) Like other suggested, the ladder can be slippery when wet. So I decided to add the grip tape right away and it is working great! Also to add, we had no issues fitting the rope ladder on the poles. We didn't exactly follow the directions in the steps they suggested (so maybe that helped us?) or Lifetime made some changes to it due to all the customer complaints. Either way, no complaints here. Overall, great set! We love it and look forward to many years of fun! I will update if anything changes!

This is the best playset I could ever hope for. The size, variety of activities, and quality is perfection for our three small boys. Here is a quick and dirty summary of the important things: DELIVERY: I received a call from the local carrier about 2 weeks prior to schedule the exact date and time frame. It was delivered on the date scheduled (they did miss the time window by a little). It came in a large freight truck on a pallet. Pretty big as you can imagine. It fit into our two car garage with room to spare for one car. ASSEMBLY: Okay here's the deal. Life is too short and far too busy for me and my husband to do this ourselves, so we bit the bullet and hired a guy we found on craigslist who installs playsets for a living. He charged us $350, and it took him about 6 hours BY HIMSELF to install this set from start to finish. He also hauled away all of the lumber from the pallet and all packing supplies. I was impressed--and grateful we didn't have to do it ourselves. The process looked tedious and challenging (when I was spying on him during setup), and the reason he was so fast is that he'd done this exact set before. He did have to dig in one side to level it. He made it look like child's play to do, and it's sturdy as can be now. QUALITY: Truly top notch. This set will last soooo long. Easy to clean, easy to maintain, and no wood to ever have to pressure wash or stain! Why anyone would get a wood set when this is an option is beyond me. We chose not to mulch around and are using playground mats under the slide and swings to avoid mud spots. Boys haven't used the helicopter swing much.... maybe they will in time. SAFETY: I feel comfortable with my 3.5 year old boy climbing on this. He watched his older brother for a few hours and quickly learned how to master the rock wall and rope ladder. In just a few weeks, his agility has skyrocketed. We have temporarily taken out the trapeze swing thing and replaced with a wonderful baby swing for the 1 year old (that my 3 year old also really likes). In summary, my 6, 3, and 1 year old boys (the 1 year old has his own smaller Step2 set for now) will enjoy this for many years. Since it's been set up, my children have spent literally all day outside. They never want to come inside... They haven't been on the Wii or the iPad... It's truly a miracle product. Best investment ever. Do it. You won't regret it. And if you can budget for it, hire a guy and save some of your sanity.

Beautiful set, very well made and we expect our daughters will enjoy this set for years to come!

Easy assembly and built to last!!