How to Build a Playground Kid's Slide
A slide is one of the main attractions on a children’s playground. It is a smooth slope with a ladder on one end and a soft landing surface on the other. It also has raised sides to keep children from falling off. Slides can be simple or have a wavy or spiral shape.
Supplies:
- Wood braces
- Power drill and screws
- Plastic handles
- Ladder
- Metal tube
- Paintbrush
- Primer
- Paint
- 3-by-4, 1-by-4 and 2-by-4 lumber
- Spray paint
- Shovel
- Slice 3-by-4 wooden posts for the supporting structure. Measure the height of the posts from the ground to the platform at the top, adding three feet for a foundation. Use a power saw to cut four wooden posts for the platform.
- Use spray paint to mark the posts on the ground. If there are distractions on the ground like plants and rock, remove them. The structure is going into the ground and is immobile.
- Dig four holes in the places marked. Use a pointed shovel, making sure the holes are three feet deep and two to three feet wide.
- Pour five inches of fine gravel in the holes. Put the post in the hole and screw the wooden braces for support. Apply fast-setting cement around the base of the post. Leave five inches of space to cover later with soil. Use a level so the posts are even. Do this for all four posts and let the cement cure for six hours. Join horizontal 2-by-4 wooden elements around each post to connect them, making a ring that provides stability.
- Build the platform at the top of the four posts. Take some 1-by-4 and 2-by-4 boards as well as some deck boards to create a secure deck. Make the frame from the 2-by-4s and add the 1-by-4s for the floor across. Join the elements with screws and mount the deck on the wooden ring.
- Install a rail and pickets to the edges and use 3-by-4s for corner posts, 2-by-4s for the top and bottom rail, and 1-by-4 for the pickets. Create a hole on the side of the slide adjusted to the child's age. On the other side, create the same hole with or without the top rail.
- Join a plastic slope below the hole in the handrail and mount it firmly to the structure. Use some screws from the installation kit and read the instructions for joining the slope to the deck.
- Construct a small ladder at the opposite side with some plastic handles above the ladders for climbing to the top. Add a metal tube at the top of the hole over the slide itself to hold before sliding down.
- Use some wood primer and wood paint to treat the wooden surface.