Homemade swing is a favorite pastime not only for children, but also for adults. The measured swaying has a surprisingly soothing effect. This design is installed in many summer cottages.
Characteristics and types of structures
Gardening usually means an option for adults. Their amplitude of movement is minimal, since they are not designed for rocking, but rather for rest and relaxation. The seat is usually larger. A model for several people must be equipped with a back for convenience. They place a garden swing in a beautiful place - in the shade, near the water - and decorate it effectively, for example, by installing a backlight.
Distinguish a variety of design options
By frame type
Do-it-yourself hanging garden swings are very similar to children's ones. The seat, with or without a backrest, is suspended on some kind of support - a beam on the ceiling, a tree branch. The pendant model can be removed and repositioned at any time. Swings are usually made from the lightest materials, such as an aluminum frame and a knitted seat.
Frame or floor options are installed on their own frame - support posts made of logs, beams, profile pipes and a crossbar. Most often it is a stationary swing, but there are also portable ones.
By material
Garden swing made of metal - the design is the most durable and durable. Usually, a frame and a base for the seat are made from a profile pipe, the back and the seat itself are sheathed with wood. The wrought iron swing is exceptionally beautiful and graceful.
The wooden model is much more popular, since it is much easier to assemble the seat frame. Any material is taken, but it is better soft, easy to process: pine, poplar, apple.
Plastic is more often used in children's models. In adults, the material is used for decoration and decoration.
Other materials are also used, for example, a hammock swing is made of ropes, cords, fabric. A wicker chair is made of willow, rattan.
By design
An adult swing is a very comfortable and aesthetic model, so there are many design options.
- Swing sofa - or a couch. The seat is very wide with a rigid frame. The dimensions are large, since the user does not sit here, but lies. It is completed with a mattress, pillows, blanket. The swinging amplitude is minimal.
- An armchair is a sofa designed for one person. Maximum convenience and elegance.
- A gazebo is an option of a sofa with a fabric canopy or canopy. If you close the curtains, you get the feeling of a cozy room.
- Hammock - construction without a hard seat. Allows you to take any position while rocking.
- Benches are a classic design with a hard seat and backrest.
- Chaise longue - The seat is designed for a reclining position. A chaise longue can be installed not only in the garden, but also in the house.
The size of a garden swing varies greatly depending on how many users it is designed for. With your own hands, you can assemble a model for 1 person or for 2, 3, and even 8.
Where to place a swing at a summer cottage
It is recommended to install the structure in a picturesque, beautiful place.However, in addition to aesthetic factors, other parameters must be taken into account:
- the site must be flat without slopes;
- outdoor swings are placed in an open place, since some area is required for swinging;
- they should not be placed too close to the path or car parking, so as not to interfere with traffic;
- it is undesirable to mount the rocking chair next to the fountain, as splashes of water fall on it.
Most often, the structure is installed in shaded areas. In open areas of the courtyard, it is often equipped with a roof and a canopy.
Step-by-step instructions for building a swing
Making a swing for a summer residence with your own hands is not difficult. You will have to tinker with a sofa or chaise longue, but a simpler design - a bench, an armchair - is also available to a novice master.
It is easier to build a swing out of wood, as this material is easier to handle.
Materials and tools
To equip a home swing-bench for 2-3 people you will need:
- a bar with a section of 100 * 100 mm for racks and 80 * 100 mm for a crossbar;
- boards for crossbeams and seat upholstery, as well as a bar of 50 * 50 mm for the frame;
- chain or cable for suspensions;
- fasteners for suspensions - carabiners, rings, fittings;
- shovel, clamp, woodworking tools;
- screwdriver, drill;
- bolts, screws, nails made of galvanized iron;
- square, plumb line, tape measure.
You will also need a finishing material - antiseptic solutions, paints, varnishes.
Frame fabrication and installation
It is better to make a swing in the country with your own hands according to a ready-made drawing. However, the diagram can be drawn up independently. It is necessary to prepare the lumber: cut to smoothness, chamfer to round off the ends, grind if necessary. The sheathing boards must be perfectly smooth.
- The basis of the frame is usually A-pillars. For their manufacture, the bar for the racks is cut into fragments of 3 m in length, and the ends are cut at an angle using a square.
- Assemble the fastener. You can simply fix the horizontal bar between the posts along the saw line. You can fasten the posts together, and the crossbar can be installed on top. In this case, the junction is reinforced with a metal plate or corner. It is possible not to cut the bars, but to fasten them in half a tree a little lower, and install a crossbar in the formed corner.
- The racks are fastened together with a horizontal jumper from the board. Can be reinforced with an additional screed.
- The elements are fastened with screws and nails. Duplicate fasteners with overlays - metal or wooden staples.
- The ends of the racks are treated with bitumen or wrapped in roofing material. Then they are installed in pre-made recesses in the ground and concreted.
In the portable model, the lower ends of the racks are sawn off at an angle and treated with bitumen.
Making a swing
Do-it-yourself swing according to the instructions:
- A bar with a section of 50 * 50 mm is cut into fragments according to the dimensions of the seat and back - up to 60 cm long. The adjacent bars of the back frame are cut at a slight angle so that the back has a convenient angle of inclination.
- The elements are connected "in a paw" or on bolts. The distance between the transverse bars of the seat and backrest is 40 cm. The joint between the elements of the backrest and seat is reinforced with metal overlays.
- The swing is sheathed with carefully polished boards. The slats are not fastened end-to-end, but with a gap of 3-5 cm.
The seat can be upholstered with soft fabric and padding polyester.
Swing attachment
You can hang a bench in the yard with cables and chains. You can also fix it in different ways.
- Holes are drilled in the extreme bars of the frame, ropes or chains are threaded through them and they are firmly tied.
- Nails are driven into the side bars, eyelets and staples are made of them, and suspensions are carried out. Prefabricated eye bolts can be used.
- As an element of the upper fastening, a swing bolt or a bent hairpin is placed, which is inserted into a hole drilled in the horizontal crossbar.Fix with a nut and washer Instead of a stud, use nails or pieces of suitable reinforcement, at the ends of which a thread is cut.
- The swing on the chains is fixed with their own hands and in this way: they are wound in several turns on the crossbar and the end is riveted.
You can install suspensions on special mounts. They are more convenient.
The finished product is painted, varnished, upholstered with a soft cloth.
