Playground Renovation Update Week 3
I’m officially calling that this will be the FINAL playground renovation update for this project before diving into tutorials. Because we…are…ready…to…paint. One more time for the cheap seats in the back. The playground is officially ready for painting. Although that comes with caveats, we’ll get there.
So what have we been up to on the playground this past week-ish? I’m glad you asked. The general rundown is we replaced a rotting beam, altered the monkey bar ladder, moved the deck ladder, filled some large holes, and prepped the structure for painting.
Let’s get into it. First up…
Replacing The Rotten Beam
In our last playground update, we discussed the rotten beam we missed. Seriously…how did we miss this?!
We just kept chipping out more and more and more rotten wood. Enough that we knew it needed to be replaced. The end goal was to replace the beam for structural integrity without taking the whole playground apart. Easier said than done.
Out came the reciprocating saw to try and cut it out.
Which went okay. Between the saw and a hammer, Colby was able to pull it apart in pieces. While the beam finally came out, getting the new one in there was a bit tricky.
In the end, we had to remove all the playground deck balusters and then unscrew the deck boards on this one side. This was just enough to lift the deck boards and slide the new support beam into the brackets where the old one was.
Then it was just a matter of putting everything back. All in all, it did take a couple of hours to unassemble, make the beam, and reassemble. But it’s all worth it to keep the structure from collapsing.
Moved The Playground Deck Ladder
The next step was moving the playground deck ladder. We had originally put it underneath the monkey bars. But on one trip with Rowan traversing the monkey bars, all we could envision was her falling from them and hitting her head on the ladder. So around to the back of the deck it went.
We also ended up making it a little narrower to fit on the back side better. It was just a matter of unscrewing the ladder parts, trimming each step, and reattaching it all. We are MUCH happier with the ladder’s new location. No more parental fear every time a kid swings across the bars.
I also have this neat idea of putting in a garden between the playground and the playhouse, just to the left of the picture above. With a little garden path that goes from this ladder to the playhouse door. It could be really cute. But at this rate, if we finish both structures before the kids turn 17, I’ll be happy.
Adjusted Monkey Bar Ladder
The next change we made was adjusting the monkey bar ladder. When we originally built the ladder we hadn’t put much thought into it and slapped some boards onto the posts and called it good.
But then watching Rowan struggle up the ladder because the steps were too close together, we decided to adjust it.
We took the steps down in number from four to three. And positioned them in between the posts with a wider step base than before. Much improved.
Rowan’s test run approved the updated ladder but Colby did not approve of the sturdiness. The way the steps were attached before made for a sturdier base. Moving them, he noticed the bars were shifting and twisting a little. So next up we…
Added Extra Bracing To The Monkey Bars
The solution, adding some triangular bracing to the top of the monkey bars. There’s bracing on both the back and on the sides.
Now the monkey bars don’t wobble nearly as much as they did before the bracing.
Filling Large Holes
Next up was filling all the large holes in the playground wood. Most of the holes were of medium size, like in this picture.
Most of those holes were from repurposing the old climbing wall wood. The holes were from where the climbing holds were attached.
But then we also had to deal with this monster of a hole.
It’s so hard to get larger pieces of wood that don’t look like this at Home Depot. The wood is often so picked over that you often have to make some concessions. But this knot and hole in the wood was pretty exceptional and we knew we had to use something super sturdy and strong to fill the hole.
I did a ton of research on different methods and products to use to fill large holes and landed on Bondo Wood Filler.
This product is a two-part formula that chemically bonds to the wood surface for a strong, permanent hold. It’s non-shrinking and fast-curing. Seriously. Every 20-30 minutes I was sanding and adding another layer. It’s great for exterior wood, especially wood you paint.
I’ll write up a full Bondo tutorial soon and share it. I’m curious what it looks like stained. Their product specs say it’s stainable but I have my doubts that it will blend.
So after a few hours of filling and sanding, the post looked like this.
Not too shabby. However, the perfectionist in me still sees a couple of spots that aren’t perfectly filled in and wants to give it one more go. But I’ll never notice it once the whole structure is painted.
Speaking of which…
To Paint Or Not To Paint
To paint or not to paint, that is the question. Okay, so here is the deal with painting the playground. All of the new wood we added to the structure is pressure-treated wood. This means you can’t paint it right away since it’s treated. The paint or stain would peel. Typically you let it dry for a few months and then it’s paintable.
I turned to Bob Vila’s guide on painting pressure-treated wood and did the water test. If the water absorbs into the wood, it’s paintable. But if the water beads, it’s best to wait a while longer to paint.
So some of the new wood is paintable.
But some of it is not. Here are the deck boards that currently aren’t paintable.
We bought and installed the wood in July and here it is in late September.
So Bob Vila says wait 2 months, several other resources say wait 3-4 months, and many professional painters say wait 6 months. Hmmm.
So it’s been almost three months of the playground decking drying out. There’s a part of me, that just wants to paint. Hence, I did a test swatch of primer on the boards that weren’t quite ready.
It’s been a couple of weeks with the test swatch and the primer is not peeling off, no matter how much I rub it. But that’s not to say it won’t cause issues later.
So I’m currently at a crossroads and don’t know what to do.
Do I just go full steam ahead and continue priming and painting the playground? We only have a few weeks left of paintable weather here in Vermont so I barely have enough time to finish it as it is.
Or do I wait and paint it in the spring, giving the wood the winter months to dry out some more?
I’ll be honest, I really don’t want to deal with peeling paint and having to strip and redo painting parts of the playground. So I’m leaning towards waiting. I much prefer to take my time and do projects right. But I am so itching to finish the playground and it’s SO close.
But do tell me, what would you do? Paint or wait?
