www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

So true all, when I was growing up in the 50's, there was more danger 'playing out' than there is now in Baghdad!..

Chop wrote:I have 5 concrete steps leading to my back door and my kids walk up and down them many times a day. Chez wants somewhere safe for his daughter to play he's got it, alright I would chamfer the inside edge in case she fell back, but no more than that.

Life is all about evaluating risks, start 'em young I say. This is not to say I would let them go to lion taming classes if that's what they wanted but you've got to let them learn.

on a sarky note
with health and safety a lion taming course would be very sterile compared with my childhood where at 12 we played in an old quarry full off water with steep sides and perhaps 20ft deep water
this was close to the canal a short walk from the railway line we used to play on with 2 farms and a burn all within about 1mile

Wes wrote:Looks well Chez Bet them sleepers were heavy

Thunder storms tomorrow apparently...Don't know if that has an relevance towards the sand pit...Is sand waterproof

They weigh about 100-120lbs each, although one of them must be 150lbs.

It's covered over now with Tarpaulin. Might be a few weeks / months before I get chance to make a proper cover for it.

thescruff wrote:Sorry Chez that is crazy unless you protect the wood with sand bags or something.

Just imagine Isabella falling over as kids do a cracking her head on one of those edges.

That wood is as hard as nails and the edges will be like a razor, a child falling on it would be cut in two.

I did think about running the router over the whole thing or I was going to chamfer the edges using a sanding disk and angle grinder, but I have to get some brown wood preserver first.

It'll be a while before it's completed, although Bella was playing in it as soon as the first bag of sand went in!

EJJ150847 wrote:Looks a nice play pit

Will be a beggar to keep clean though.

John

Hopefully John it won't be a problem as it will be covered up when it is not being used. I lined the pit with a pond liner so the sand will not soak up any moisture from the ground etc.

breatheasy wrote:I made one for my little ones(not so little now) out of seasoned oak logs ... possibly the best present I ever got them!
Covering it every night and against the rain kept it well.

There was not much price difference between oak sleepers and Tanalised sleepers, but they would have been much more difficult to manoeuvre in position and drill/screw etc. so I opted for the treated ones.

Shouldn't need a preserver. They should be guaranteed for at least 30 years

Not sure if you know this already but you will be sand free ever again. Not sure how the little buggers do it but they seem to find a way to smuggle the sand out the pit and into every room in the house/item of clothing/bed you have.

I once found sand on the floor of a holiday let we rented in France! Turned out there was some stuck in the rolled up leg of a pair of little ones jeans!

That’s a big cat litter tray

merlin50 wrote:That’s a big cat litter tray

That would be in my house. The amount of cats around here (I've moaned about this more times than I can remember) LOVE my garden. Left the secluded back garden door open once and walked into the kitchen and found a cat sat on the cold floor restings

My front garden is a giant sh*t box for every cat in a 10 mile radius.

BillyGoat wrote:

My front garden is a giant sh*t box for every cat in a 10 mile radius.

They love my raised beds as well (Veggie plots) I've had to set up a 24 hour armed guard....

The cats see it as a loo...

The butterflies see it as a nursery...for caterpillars...

my front garden is full off pebbles and the cats still use it

After reading some of the advice on this thread I've decided to turn the kids room into my workshop, it's big, comfy and if they happen to stick their hands into any woodworking machines - well that'll learn them!

Big difference between being overprotective and taking reasonable precautions guys

Anyway I've just watched the video and it's a good one. Yes Chez did round off the edges and Scruff gets a special mention in the comments

I've spoiled the ending now haven't I?

Excellent job, very thorough. Well made and should last for generations.

For those with less space - I saw this on eBay a while back. Looks a good idea. And look how much it sold for

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sand-box-Gard ... true&rt=nc

fantastic well thought out video

pond liner ??? how does it drain ??

on the overlap assuming those fixings are silly money and most people will be on a lower powered drill
you could go for 2 diagonally opposite fixings in the square overlap from above on the corners with perhaps 3 or 4 fixings along the overlap from above between the corners

not a critisism in any way just another way off working