Consider This Before Buying a Child Porch Swing Set
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Happily swinging on a child porch swing set!
Installing a kid swing seat on your front or back porch can be a welcome distraction during your shelter-in-place and/or social distancing. This post is a pre-purchase checklist to make sure a child’s porch or patio swing set is the right choice for your family: expectations on how it will be used, ensure you buy the correct swing hardware and determine the best location.
There are several reasons to consider a swing seat installed on your back patio or front porch instead of an independent structure:
- You don’t give away an entire area of your yard to a playset.
- It’s cheaper.
- The grass and area under the swing won’t get worn down.
- You don’t have to mow around it.
- It is easily removed.
- It is in the shade.
Sample unobstructed back yard activity.
Although there are many positives, it may still not be the right choice for you and your family.
THE CHECKLIST:
Is this REALLY a good idea?
Are your kids old enough? Are they daredevils and will jump off (especially unsupervised) and you’ll end up on a first name basis with the staff at the ER?
The book is about monkeys jumping off a bed…not a swing set!
Will the swing be used for more than a few hours? You don’t want to go drilling holes in the rafters or beams of your house only to have an unused swing.
Do you have a suitable spot?
Even if you have enough space, are there other items around or hard surfaces that make it an accident waiting to happen?
Swing set stomach gliding…
I myself have the swing setup on the edge of a concrete patio. I have a thick moving blanket and soft sleeping back on the ground just in case. I will always be on duty when the two-year-old is on the swing (not just for safety but also because she DOES NOT want her sister to push her for some reason).
Are you sure that spot is the best option?
For instance, I have wooden beams with some significant knots in them. I avoided those places to prevent compromising the integrity of the beam.
Notice there is a large knot on the bottom as well as a couple going up the side. Better choose a different spot!
The first priority of the beam is to hold up the roof, not sag due to a poor choice for a heavy pendulum.
Since this is a beam holding up the roof over a span of eight feet, I didn’t put the swing in the middle, but closer to one side.
There are multiple possible swing set locations on this beam. The swing seat is not as close to the middle support post as the picture suggests–it is 28″ away.
At the same time, you don’t want the swing too close to the side to avoid a collision with a post / siding. There obviously needs to be enough room on either side.
Which leads into the next question…
Will you allow spinning?
Many kids love twisting themselves up on their bellies. Freefall spinning calls for additional clearance. There are two ways to address this:
- Say NO.
- Or get a setup similar to my brother’s: steel plates on either side of the beam to prevent damage to the supporting beam.
Custom heavy duty swing hangers: scrap steel with 3 holes from a drill press. Another option is to get a set of 3 or 4-hole splice plates.
What I’m talking about there:
As beefy as these structural screws are, I’m not allowing a four year old to rip them out from shear pressure and then having to make more holes in the beam.
GRK Fasteners 5/16″ x 3-1/8″
Not happening!
My own Jungle Gym Kingdom heavy duty swing hangers that are at a distinct disadvantage with attachments going straight up, hence, no twisting on this swing set, please!
On top of that, I anticipate the plastic part in the hinge is going to get brittle and break from the combination of sun exposure and just regular swinging back and forth.
I’m going with option #1.
If you opt for steel plates (or something equally indestructible) you’ll need additional space around the swing for extended legs and feet.
This also leads into…
How far apart should the hinges be placed?
Example #1: The swing seat is installed on hinges 20 inches apart.
Example #2: The swing seat is installed on hooks 4 feet apart.
Here are a few considerations:
It is harder to spin the further apart you set the hinges.
It was easy enough to twist the swing four times with one hand and hold my phone in the other.
It was SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult to twist the swing on the hooks spaced four feet apart, intended for a regular two person porch swing.
So you don’t necessarily have to say no–you could physically prevent spinning by setting the hinges four feet apart. 😉
There is also less side to side movement the further apart you space the hinges.
YOUR butt will hurt a lot less if the hinges are further apart.
This one is personal experience. I’m not saying I have a big butt, but having sat in a narrowly installed swing belt like this for an extended time. This particular swing has the top hinges spaced 15 inches apart. This caused a whole lot of pressure on my hips and I still remember it hurt when I got off.
No! I am not willing to get up if I have a sleeping baby I just rocked to sleep!!! My butt can just hurt and I’ll still smile with this puddle of cuteness in my lap.
The further out you go, the less pressure is right on your hip joints and your weight is more spread out as you would if you were sitting on a seat with no sides.
Kids probably won’t care (also personal observation).
It’s just physics being physical.
Where is the swing in relation to sunlight?
This swing was installed with the intent to stay in the porch shade all morning long.
One of the major benefits of a patio or porch swing set is the ability to provide shade, whereas a standalone swingset only provides an A-frame shadow.
That isn’t much.
Do you want the swing in an extra shady spot? For instance, the second reason for me to put the child swing seat closer to one side of the beam was to keep the swing out of the sun as long as possible during each day. I also optimized for morning shade to enjoy the cooler temperatures of the day.
Is the swing within your line of sight?
Ideally, a swing seat will go on your back porch. With a fenced in yard (and no daredevil streaks) you won’t have to worry.
But what if you don’t have a covered back patio? If you have a porch you still might have a decent option.
A swing seat on the front porch requires extra caution.
This is where line of sight becomes more important…
If you have the swing on a front porch it is nice to see the outdoor activity happening while getting things done inside.
Let’s be real–this swing is as much for you as it is for them!
A self-entertained moment is a breather for you. But you want it to be a safe one without repercussions.
Another benefit of having set up the child swing seat on this side of the porch is it is directly in front of our designated morning coffee spot. Relaxing for everyone!
If you go through this checklist and feel comfortable with positive answers, there’s not a better time than now to get a child porch swing set!
Next step: Unboxing the swing seat (and going over good potential choices–like this Menard’s swing seat–for the swing belt and hardware) Quarantine Child Entertainment: A Porch Swing Set
Step after that: Install!
