CedarWorks assembly
The only playset here that never touches the ground.
No digging. No concrete. CedarWorks sets are entirely free-standing, and that one decision means yours can be moved, extended and reconfigured for as long as your children want it.
It is an object, not an installation
CedarWorks say it plainly: you will not need to dig. Every set is strong enough to hold your whole family and is entirely free-standing, sitting on top of the ground with no digging and no concrete anywhere.
That is unusual enough on this site to be the headline. Everything else here gets anchored, buried or poured. A CedarWorks set does not, which is why owners routinely add a wing to theirs years later, and why one family moved a five-year-old set from one house to another entirely. It is modular by design, and the modularity survives the build.
The trade is that it is a real piece of carpentry, and a big one. An owner’s account is the most useful figure available: her medium-handy husband spent about nine hours building it alone with a power tool, and then another three hours with a neighbour for the harder parts, notably the swing beam. Call it twelve hours, one long weekend, two people for part of it.
What it takes
Owner-reported, and CedarWorks’ own pricing guidance.
| Model | Time | People |
|---|---|---|
| Building it yourselfA power tool is not required, but an owner called it "a big time-saver." | ~9 hours solo | 1 |
| The swing beam and the harder partsThis is the bit where you call a neighbour. | +3 hours | 2 |
| CedarWorks’ installation estimateTheir own figure. On a $5,000 set, roughly $750. | ~15% of purchase price | a contractor |
| Getting the boxes into the yardClearly labelled, and not too heavy. One owner carried them all himself. | easy, for once | 1 |
| Lead timeMade to order in Maine. Plan the summer accordingly. | 4 to 6 weeks | — |
| Adding to it in three yearsThis is the whole point of the design. | an afternoon | 1 to 2 |
Delivery is unusually civilised for this category: numerous clearly labelled, manageable boxes rather than one 600 lb pallet. It is the only playset on this site where getting it into the back garden is not part of the problem.
What to know
CedarWorks will refer you to an installer. They will not vouch for them.
Ring CedarWorks and they will happily give you the name and number of a playset assembly service provider near you. That is helpful, and it is also a third-party contractor rather than a CedarWorks employee. A reviewer put the consequence bluntly: because they use third parties outside Maine, the quality of installation can be a little sporadic. A phone number with no reviews behind it is not the same thing as a recommendation. Check whoever you hire, however you find them.
They budget installation at about 15 percent, and it can run higher
CedarWorks’ own guidance is that installation costs roughly 15 percent of the purchase price, and reviewers note it can be considerably more depending on where you are. On a set that starts around $2,000 and frequently runs far past it, that is a real number worth having before you design something enormous.
Do not put it on grass, and CedarWorks say so themselves
They are candid about this: their sets are photographed on grass because it is beautiful and because that is where many people put them, but there are better surfaces. They recommend loose fill such as wood chips or pea stone, which is safer, and which spares you mud puddles and mowing underneath it. A manufacturer telling you their own marketing photographs show the wrong thing is worth listening to.
The safety spacing is bigger than people expect
National guidance, which CedarWorks pass on: six feet of clear space around all sides of the set. And for swings, twice the height of the swings clear in front and behind. That last one catches people out badly. Measure the yard against the design before you order, not after.
Indoor sets: less than 3.5 inches from the wall, or more than 9
A specific and genuinely important one for their indoor playsets. Position the set either closer than 3.5 inches to the wall or further than 9 inches away, and nothing in between, to avoid creating a head-and-neck entrapment hazard. That gap between 3.5 and 9 inches is exactly the wrong size, and it is not the sort of thing you would work out for yourself.
The cedar is unstained, and it stays that way unless you act
Northern White Cedar, chemical-free and splinter-free, and it ships unstained. Many owners love the silvered look it takes on. Others stain it. It is your call, but make it deliberately rather than by default.
Before you design it
Measure the yard for the set PLUS six feet all round, PLUS twice the swing height front and back. Then design.
Decide your surfacing now, because wood chips or pea stone go down before the set does, not after.
Order four to six weeks before you want to be using it.
And if you are hiring, hire somebody you can check, rather than the first number you are given.
Where an installer earns their fee
On the swing beam and the upper decks, which are the parts every owner mentions and the parts you should not be doing alone.
On the surfacing, which is done before the set arrives and which almost nobody plans for.
And on the spacing, because six feet all round and twice the swing height fore and aft is the difference between a safe set and a set positioned by optimism.
CedarWorks build these things to last twenty years. Owners write about saying goodbye to them when the children grow up. It is worth a day of somebody’s time to start that properly.
What an installer does
- Lays out the site with the correct clearances, including twice the swing height fore and aft.
- Prepares the loose-fill surfacing CedarWorks actually recommend, rather than setting it on grass.
- Builds the modular set square and level on ground that is rarely either.
- Handles the swing beam and the upper decks, which is the two-person part of the job.
- Checks every fastening, and shows you which ones to re-check each spring.
- Comes back to add a wing, a slide or a climber in three years, because the design allows it.
Get it built by someone who has built one before.
Tell us your ZIP and what you bought. Installers near you will quote you directly, and you deal with them, not with us.
Questions people ask
Does a CedarWorks playset need concrete?
No, and this is what sets it apart. CedarWorks state that you will never need to dig, because the sets are entirely free-standing and sit on top of the ground. No holes, no concrete, no anchors. It is why they can be extended, reconfigured, and even moved to another house.
How long does one take to build?
An owner reported about nine hours working alone with a power tool, plus a further three hours with a second person for the harder parts, principally the swing beam. Twelve hours all told. The boxes arrive clearly labelled and manageable, which is more than most playsets manage.
How much is CedarWorks installation?
CedarWorks estimate roughly 15 percent of the purchase price, though reviewers note it can run higher depending on where you live. They will refer you to a third-party assembly provider near you, but the quality of those contractors varies, so it is worth checking whoever you use.
What should I put underneath it?
Not grass, and CedarWorks say so themselves. They recommend loose-fill surfacing such as wood chips or pea stone, which is safer and saves you mowing under the set and dealing with mud. Their own photographs are mostly on grass, and they are honest that this is not the best answer.
How much space do I need around it?
Six feet clear on all sides, and for swings, twice the height of the swings clear in front and behind. That second figure is the one people miss, and it is usually the one that decides whether the design you fell in love with actually fits.
Installers.org is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CedarWorks. CedarWorks is a trademark of its owner, referred to here only to describe the assembly services that independent installers on this directory provide.