TL;DR: I work in IT and have no DIY skills whatsoever. I have 3 kids and wanted to build them a jungle gym which doubles as a bodyweight gym for me and somewhere I can hang a punch bag.This is the final result: http://ift.tt/2wjbzZ2 with my Dad come to take a lookUsing itThis is my Dad, who was a gymnast in his 20's taking a look at the rings and saying..."Let me have a quick go". Not bad for a 61 year old truck driver.http://ift.tt/2wN3Bui Cost: I estimate this cost me somewhere in the region of $1400 but that includes a lot of landscaping costs and also making some mistakes custom ordering items.Total Time: I thought it would take 3 days but it genuinely took around 3 weeks but that is while holding down a full time job and trying to be a Dad haha! :-DThe Photoshttp://imgur.com/gallery/XsBmNIf someone call tell me how to embed photos in the forums then I would appreciate it.Problems I facedThe garden had a severe slope being on a newly built housing estate on a quarryThe soil is simply clay. Nothing else. It is thick, horrible stinking clay which goes rock solid in summer and is a quagmire in winter. Weeds grow like crazyHaving three children, the garden was filled with kids bits and pieces which all needed movedI work away Monday to Friday and could only work at weekendsI have zero DIY experience. I work in IT and Programming for chrissakes!The StepsI knew I needed a flat area so I did some measurements and decided to build a retaining wall about half way up the garden.I bought a shovel and started digging. After 3 hours of labour I thought "fuck this" and Googled diggers for hire and found a Micro digger for $100 a day. It is designed to get through small spaces so I booked that bad boyI YouTubed How to Drive a Digger and went to town.I basically scraped all of the clay from the bottom of the garden and dumped it in the top for laterSent the digger backI then decided what to do with the lower area and spent a few days researching "retaining walls". I didn't trust my brickwork and clay is notorious for drainage problems which I read destroys walls so I googled Alternatives to Retaining Walls.Part 2After considering a railway sleeper wall I finally settled on a gabion which is used for holding back rivers without any need for supports / concrete / masonryI got on eBay and found some gabions the size I needed for $80. Bought those.I googled "gabion rock" and found that it costs a fortune to deliver until I remembered a quarry in my local area so I rang themThey did not know what a gabion was but they did say they want rid of 200mm rock they have lying around and they would sell it at $10 a ton! Winner!I hired a tipper van for $100Drop to the quarry six times and got six ton and dumped that shit on my driveway. Photo of my son "helping" :-DI built the gabions in place in the garden (4.5 metres by 1 metre and 0.5 metres in width and 1 metre in height)I carted all 5 ton of rock into the gabions by hand using a wheelbarrowNow I had a retaining wall and no idea how to proceed but crap was everywhere in the garden.Part 3I decided to deck the lower area and so bought some decking, joists etc and ($380) and a Mitre Saw ($150).Googled How to Lay DeckingGoogled How not to cut off penis or fingers with Mitre SawI laid the bearers / joists 500mm apart and began to get the deck in place.I designed a custom for the top of the gabions to stop the kids running / sitting on the wire cagesI used excess decking boards to make the frame and deck area on the gabions and spent 3 hours cursing and swearing as I battered it into place on the wire gabions that had "bulged" with rock.I took a few days off.Part 4I asked a custom welder to weld me some monkey bars and 4 pull up bars (2 x 2.0metre and 2 x 1.6metre) costing $50 each and $180 for monkey bars. Simply googled custom welding #hometownGot the digger back and flattened the areaBought ten 100m x 100mm fence posts 2.7 metres in length.Started digging holes manuallyGoogled easy way to dig holesBought an augur for $30 and used that make the holesRealised that the builders had concreted everything under 300mm of clay. So my 2.7mm post could only be sunk 300-400mm at most.Went full on Incredible Hulk rage and started smashing the garden.Got depressed. Drank beer.Part 4Rethought my strategy and decided that experimenting is the ally of successDug the deepest hole I could. Smashed two house bricks as ballst and lobbed them in then installed the post and half filled the hole with waterDumped POSTCRETE mix into the hole which is concrete and ballast that hardens in 2 mins and goes solid in 15Sat back and prayed.Wobbling was at a minimum....success!!!Part 6Installed the Olympic Parallel Bars but put them 56 centimetres apart because I have got a bit fat and 40cm is too thin haha. Used 75mm coach bolts to hold the bars in placeMost postcrete and waited...Used the Olympic bars the next day and everything worked fine. No swaying.Installed the rest of the bodyweight gymOrdered 2 tons of bark chippings for the floor certified for kids play areas ($150)Added weed membrane to the area ($30)Made a border out of excess deckingFilled the border area with $80 (700 litres of compost)Painted the entire metal area with Hammertite Green ($20)Spread the bark chippings and let the kids go to townAdded Olympic rings ($30) and two swings ($20) and also some climbing ladders ($20)RelaxedNext Steps*On the right hand side I am adding a 2.7metre kids climbing wall, decking the area to the right and putting in a weight bench and squat racks and will add more pics when it is done.Questions?Thanks for reading :-D I am happy to take any questions about any aspect guys.Also, would love some improvement tips from actual carpenters and tradesmen to make it better. via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2wDb12M
