Toledo Towers

Hey All,

My wife and I had 5 children in 5 yrs (no twins), our oldest being 6. Christmas was fastly approaching and we were brainstorming on what to get them. Through the years we had spoken of an indoor climbing wall and/or ballpit due to the long hot summers in FL but never really dedicated the time to researching our options. We decided that Christmas would be a great time for a project like this. I sketched out a few ideas and started to google. I came across your site via a pintrest image. The wheels started turning very quickly for me, we were super excited as you can image. The dimensions are different (8x8 ish) from the indoor playground you all constructed but the bones were there thanks to you all. 

I measured our room, purchased the wood after creating a diagram of the basic frame work. 2 weeks (20hrs ish) later of sanding and precutting I started lugging approx 300-500lbs of material to our second floor playroom area.  Why so much material, you ask... We wanted to include all of the ideas we have had through the years plus a few others we came across on your site. It was a huge undertaking considering how many eyes were watching and the fact that we wanted to keep it a surprise. For the framwork I enlisted the help of #1 (the 6yr old) and we stayed up late and had great fun. Once we got to the point were I thought she would start connecting the dots I continued on by myself mostly. Every night I would mock up what was needed and then break it down to not give it away. Many long nights, cuts, a broken toe and a hole in the sheetrock later we were getting close.

The kids had their guesses as to what it would end up being but were ultimately super surprised. After 8 weeks of work during which we had my wifes family visit and then my parents came. Thank you to them all by the way b/c they worked on this too, which helped me immensly. Christmas Morning 90% of it was finished with the exception of the ballpit, canvas & foam coverings for safety. It took another 3 weeks to finish as I had never used a sewing machine before and wanted the kids to know this was a labor of love.

We ended up with monkey bars over a ballpit, cargo climbing nets on the far back wall and also transition from the ballpit to the top deck, outfitted with pirate telescope that leads to the slide and  LED lighting throughout. Under the deck we have a small fort like area for them. My wife and I decided to not fully enclose this space b/c we all know kids get into all kinds of mischief when they think noone is watching. The kids chose the name for the playground. Hope you like the "Toledo Towers" , I know they sure do :)

Thank you for access to plans, endless threads with advice and plenty of pics to motivate.

Juan Toledo & Fam

Tampa, Florida