Wooden product:
- A tape measure
- A pen and some scraps of paper
- A set of good quality tools
Before you build your outdoor toy
- Always try to find a flat level piece of ground on which to build your outdoor toys
- Open the MAIN product box first and take out the instructions
- Read through the instructions thoroughly taking special note of any left or right handed parts, at what stage things like roof panels or swing arms are attached whether there are any stages where you will need more than one person during the assembly.
- Before unpacking the box, think about where in the garden your new equipment will end up – things like our Kingswood are very big and heavy once built so try to start building them where they will eventually end up to avoid any heavy lifting!
- When unpacking the parts, identify where the part number stickers are and lay out all the parts with the stickers facing up, then try to group identical parts together to make it easy to find them later.
- Some parts will look very similar, so have a tape measure handy and take note of any holes drilled in parts that might be subtly different to other parts of a similar shape and size.
- Open the packs containing the nuts and bolts and try splitting them up into neat piles (or better yet little tubs or bowls like TV Chefs) of each type, diameter and length – screw and bolt length is very important and can vary by only a couple of millimeters so take extra care selecting the right fasteners according to the instructions. Top Tip – don’t open the pack on the grass! Nuts and washers all to easily go missing on the grass, so try using the lid of one of the product boxes as a container.
- During assembly, work slowly and methodically through the instructions, and if you are struggling on a stage, try reading forwards and backwards through the instruction stages to double check everything has gone to plan. Sometimes getting a part the wrong way round at the start can cause a headache at the end!
- With modern, powerful drills it’s easy to over tighten screws, sinking them into the parts and potentially splitting the wood. Try using the torque setting on your drill (if it has one) and set it stop at the point the screw wound in just enough. If in doubt, use a power drill for the first 90% of the screw then tighten up the last 10% by hand.
- Wood is a natural, living material – and as such splinters and knots will occur. As you are building the product keep some sand paper to hand and take off any little splinters that you might find before letting the kids loose on their new swing set, climbing frame or pirate ship!
We know separating all of the parts, nuts, bolts and paraphernalia might seem like a hassle – but it’s worth it! You will find things will run smoother when all the parts are to hand and you’re not trying to find the last 6mm dome nut that may or may not have fallen into the grass!!
