How to make a slide for children with your own hands - wooden

On the slides, children have fun, learn sports development skills, use the facilities in winter and summer. A children's slide is installed in playgrounds in parks, on high-rise buildings, on beaches, in the courtyards of private houses and summer cottages, as well as in swimming pools and apartments. The material is wood, metal, plastic. The sizes and shapes are made in such a way as to ensure the safety and comfort of babies.

Varieties of slides

Products are divided into age groups. For preschoolers, small, low buildings are used, which have a short descent trajectory. Schoolchildren skate from large structures, while the rolling strip is made of various shapes.

Types of trajectories:

• in the form of a straight plane;
• in the form of a winding track;
• with repeating undulating rises along the length of the strip;
• in the form of a pipe with a descent in a closed tunnel.

Slides are built as a separate structure or combined with passages, bridges. Upstairs they put superstructures in the form of a rocket, a house, and fabulous buildings. The staircase is straight, made of two parts with a turn.

Safety requirements for a home children's slide

The structure must be reliable and stable. The parts are joined so that the caps of the self-tapping screws do not protrude, the ends of the bolts, after screwing in the nut, are cut and grinded.

Other requirements:

• a comfortable staircase with a handrail is being built to the launch site;
• the slope is provided with bumpers along the entire length;
• the start area is fenced off with handrails;
• the inclination of the tape does not exceed 40 °;
• at the end of the descent, the slope is changed to 5 - 10 ° to stop the movement.

A straight strip is made 70 - 95 cm wide, winding and spiral descents provide no wider than 70 cm, tunnel options in diameter - no less than 75 cm.

Materials for making

Structural parts of the frame must be resistant to static and dynamic loads.

Requirements for materials:

• ecological cleanliness;
• durability;
• ease of repair, maintenance and cleaning;
• resistance to ultraviolet light, temperature extremes, humidity and precipitation.

Plastic is cheap, lightweight, easy to care for, but brittle in the cold. Wood is a durable natural material that is susceptible to moisture decay and bugs. Metal products are reliable and durable if painted regularly. A combination of different materials is preferable to make a children's slide.

Construction stages

Dried lumber is used to reduce the risk of deformations when assembled. The boards are processed with a plane, a grinder, and the surface is cleaned with sandpaper.

Features of the device:

• the bottom of the supports is treated with antiseptic impregnations, coated with three layers of molten bitumen;
• the pillars of the ladder frame are tied at the bottom with a beam for stability, fastened according to the groove-thorn scheme, fixed with self-tapping screws.

The ends, edges of the parts, the corners of all wooden elements are beveled with a plane so that rounded edges are obtained.If the supports are not buried, for example, into the asphalt, then they put rigid struts or stretch ropes.

Location selection, drawing up drawings

The slide is placed in an area open for viewing by parents. In front of it, additional space is provided for the child to take off at speed. The structure is made available for the parents to lift if necessary.

Drawings of a children's slide made of wood are taken standard or compiled with their own hands. Take into account the height, the method of fastening the elements to each other. According to the norms, you need to calculate the load-bearing steps, floor, slide strip. The designers foresee that several children will be on the building at the same time.

Materials and tools for work

Measuring tape, squares are used, the structure is set using a plumb line, level. A screwdriver, drill, hacksaw, jigsaw, hammer are prepared for cutting and assembly.

Materials for making:

• wooden beam 100 x 100 for pillars;
• rail 20 x 40 mm for braces;
• bars 30 x 30 mm on the railing;
• boards 20 x 100 for the bottom strapping;
• board 25 x 100 on the floor of the launch pad, steps, sides of the launch strip;
• floorboard or OSB plywood, plastic ready-made descent.

Prepare bars for the bowstring of the flight of stairs. Parts are assembled on bolts with nuts, additionally fixed with self-tapping screws.

Site preparation

If possible, they prepare the territory in the fall, and it is better to make a slide for children in the spring. On the site, they remove the fertile layer, cover it with sand 10 cm thick, tamp it down, it will additionally sit down during the winter.

Wooden blanks are cut to size, polished and signed. On the site, the installation axes are marked, binding to existing objects is taken from their drawing.

At the time of work, the place is limited with a colorful tape so that children do not fall into the construction area.

Installing the frame

Racks for the frame of the stairs and slides are placed in the pits, a garden drill is used for excavation. The pillars are deepened into the soil at least 50 cm, they give an increase to the device of a sand-crushed stone pillow (25 cm). At the bottom they make a bedding, ram.

The pillars are set according to the level, they are first fastened with spacers so that they do not warp during concreting. Concrete is made at a concentration of 1: 3: 5, where there is M400 cement, river sand, crushed stone of the middle fraction, respectively. The poured concrete in the hole is bayonetted with a piece of reinforcement to expel air bubbles.

Floor laying

The floor is arranged on top, in the place where the children are waiting for the start.

Step by step guide:

• wooden girders are installed on the supports in parallel to support the stiffeners on them;
• the flooring is laid from a grooved or edged board, self-tapping screws 50 mm long are used for fastening;
• in grooved lumber, holes are made for water drainage, and planed ones are placed with slots no more than 7 - 8 mm.

The boardwalk is painted. In another embodiment, a non-slip coating is used. The ends of the boards do not have a free overhang; they are fixed on the beams so that the ends are flush with the stiffeners.

Making stairs

For each age there are step parameters, tread width, height. The elements are positioned so that no gaps are observed between them when viewed from above. The edges of the steps are rounded, the elements themselves are placed horizontally, they allow a slope of no more than 3 °. For fixation, two parallel parts are mounted on which each step will stand.

The slope of the flight of stairs is made about 30 - 35 °, it is slightly less than the same indicator of the descent. Installation is carried out on a stringer or using the principle of a bowstring. A comfortable handrail with a height of at least 60 cm is made on the stairs.

Downhill

The plane of the slide is recruited with floorboards so that there are no gaps between them. They are fixed at the end to the side faces, additionally provide for supporting stiffening ribs. A sheet of stainless metal, plastic is placed on top, slippery linoleum is laid.

The sides are straight, beveled inward, their minimum height is 10 cm. The tunnel fence is made with plastic. It can be transparent or translucent. The structure is assembled so that any vertical planes do not form an angle between themselves less than 60 °. The end of the galvanized or stainless steel is hidden under the side so that it does not protrude outward.

Railings and awning

The railing is an important supporting part, it does not allow the child to fall out from the height of the platform or when climbing stairs.

Handrail installation rules:

• the design is chosen so that the children do not have a desire to sit on the railing;
• the joints of the elements are additionally duplicated with metal corners;
• more often they use wood so that the touch does not cause discomfort from overheating by the sun's rays and cooling in frost.

Decorative balusters can be installed, but all sheer parts are fastened on top with a common handrail. For fixing, wooden pins, metal threaded studs are used.

Wooden structure finishing

Children's facilities are painted in bright and rich colors. Before painting, the tree is primed, impregnated with antiseptics, fire retardants against fire. Combine several colors for more color.

Types of paints are used:

• oil;
• pentaphthalic;
• latex;
• acrylic.

Each variety has its own characteristics, for example, drying speed, resistance to fading. The first two formulations have a pungent smell, but this is not important in street conditions.

After painting, the slide is varnished in order to increase the life of the tree and to protect it from the adverse effects of atmospheric factors.

Tricks of a slippery surface

The choice of materials for finishing the escapement depends on safety and durability. There are varieties that are not used for the roll-off strip. These include polycarbonate, plastic panels, fiberglass sheets and slabs. These species have a slippery surface, but are harmful to contact with the skin of children, and also quickly deteriorate from stress and the sun.

The secret is that the surface is covered with oil, which polishes the wooden surface and retains this quality for a long time. Layer-by-layer sanding with the substance makes the wood strip for the descent mirror. The plywood board is covered with acrylic, which is used in the repair of bathtubs.

Children's slides for an apartment

Such structures are sold ready-made or assembled directly on the spot as a constructor. The material can be wood, inflatable rubber or durable plastic. Each model is designed for a specific age and weight, information about this is contained in the instructions.

For children under one and a half years old, they choose a height of 1.25 m, older ones, up to three years old, ride 1.5 meters down a slide. For preschoolers, 2.8 - 3.0 meters are suitable (depending on the height of the ceiling in an apartment or house). It is possible to connect the water if the slide is located in the pool, on the beach of the summer cottage.