I bought this set last December as a Christmas present for my two boy, and it's been wonderful. Building it when the snow is starting to fall is a very bad idea, as you want to take your time and pay close attention to the instructions (near LEGO quality). My only issues have been with broken screws since it's seen the summer sun. Higher quality screws would significantly increase the cost, so I'm not bothered replacing the few the snapped.

I bought the Skyfort ll 2 years ago. A massive wind storm came through 50 mph + and flipped the swing set. Luckily we were able to flip it back over but the damage was significant. Angela in customer service was the best. Also replacement parts we very reasonably priced. I was very impressed with the initial build quality but customer service will make me recommend over and over.

We purchased this as a Christmas gifts for our 1-year-old granddaughter realizing that we would not be actually installing it until the spring. Over all, we are quite happy with the set. I feel it is well made and the fittings are particularly well built. Our installation was made more difficult because of a relatively unlevel site. Being from out of town we had to budget our installation time carefully as our visit was limited by other factors. I had planned on several days of site preparation prior to the actual installation. What I had not planned on was the fact that the wooden pieces are shipped with with no moisture protection. The installation instructions are quite explicit that failure to provide such protection voids the warranty. It took days and 2 gallons of marine spar varnish applied prior to the actual assembly. I feel that this feature should be well advertised by the company. I also feel that an option to have a wood prevarnishd at an additional cost would be a real benefit.

This is a nice set and the price is good, but it is not an easy build. There are 4 boxes in the order and each box has its own parts list. Open the boxes one at a time and confirm all the parts in the box before going on to another box. The manual is uneven in quality. Some parts have holes in them that have to be oriented a certain way. Make sure you have the pieces oriented properly before attaching them. You want to get this level both vertically and horizontally. Make sure you have things leveled and squared before securing the fasteners. When you are done expect to use at least 3 gallons of wood preservative the first time you apply wood preservative - I would also recommend getting the best preservative you can buy. I did this mostly by myself and it took me about 45 hours. Emptying the boxes, sorting the parts and confirming them against the parts list took several hours. Some things you absolutely need help with. If you assemble this correctly you will be happy with it. Just make sure you are up for the task. You need to be patient and take time to confirm what you are doing. Keep all the fasteners in their original bags. There are lots of different sizes of fasteners and boards.

After doing a lot of research, this playset seemed to be the best value. The freight company called several days in advance to schedule delivery. We live in the country, well off the road, and they were able to unload the 4 large boxes right into my garage. My husband and I assembled the set in pieces in our large garage and then transported the assembled pieces to the location we picked out in our yard for final assembly. We were able to even assemble the fort in the garage - all except for the roof - as we have 10 foot doors. We then loaded the fort on a utility trailer hooked up to our pickup for roof assembly and transport to our yard. This worked very well as we were able to assemble inside over several evenings and a Saturday and were out of the spring rain. It was also helpful to assemble on the level garage floor. We followed other posters' advice in sorting and doing inventory of the pieces and this saved time later. When we were ready to do final assembly, we just loaded the other completed pieces (slide, rock wall, ladder, monkey bars, etc.) in the trailer as well. The instructions could have been better - many times they were not clear on the orientation of the holes in each individual piece, and this made it necessary to tear apart and reassemble several steps later. All the parts were present in the 4 large boxes and we had quite a few pieces of hardware left over. Our 2 grandsons, ages 2 and 4, LOVE it, so the aggravation of assembly was worth it. I would estimate the appropriate age level at 2 -10. The 2 year old can even get into the crows nest, but he has his older brother to show him how. I'm sure I won't like staining/sealing it every year, but it looks great in the yard. My husband is very handy - he built our house - but I can see where this could completely overwhelm someone without some skills. My job was basically to keep 1 step ahead of him and find the next pieces for assembly and the corresponding hardware. There are an unbelievable number of pieces, but it is definitely doable - just don't be in a hurry!

We’ve had ours for about a month. It took my handy husband a day and a half to put together. We have kids ages 6months , 2, and 11. The 2 year old and 11 year old have a blast on it. I love that they will be able to to use it for so many years. Looks great and has all the essentials!

I just finished the assembly. With about 26-28 hours from opening the first box I completed it by myself. There are some parts that would be helpful to have two people but I managed alone. My son has been on it ever since I finished it. The directions are about 95% accurate with some things having to be interpreted by looking at pictures but nothing so bad to cause an issue with assembly. If you want a great play set this is it.

We shopped for a long time to choose a swingset for our two sons (6 & 2 years old). We searched all the way from Amish built to buying plans and building our own. We found that backyard discovery was the best value. Mae Donovan was incredible in the purchasing process. We love the playset. If you want Fort Knox in your backyard, then this isn't the play set for you. You will spend over $10,000 to get these features in an indestructible form. We're more than pleased with the product and installation service. Thank you Backyard Discovery for helping us create memories for our two sons.

I assembled the Fort myself and had a good experience. Very good layout and instruction manual. A broken and a missing piece, called the number, got a person, and they sent me replacements right away. Quality hardware and wood pieces, I don't know how they make any money for the price they sell for.

Would easily be a 10 but the small screws are terrible and strip before tight but other than that and a few cracked boards I'm not excited about and a bad scratch in the slide. I'm happy with the purchase easy instructions took me 17 hrs by myself to assemble