2 Hours My Ass!

Since we are probably going to be spending more time at home this summer I thought we should buy something nice for ourselves. Last year we bought a portable fire pit and recently I bought a nice 3 seat yard swing. The reviews were pretty good and the swing was rated highly. Most people said it took about 2 hours to put together.

We let him open the box

All small parts seem to be there, do we need them all?

Hmmmm, this is going to turn into a swing huh?

We didn't have the time to do it all at once, but started Mother's Day weekend. The frame went together without too much trouble in an hour and-a-half and we were excited to finish the next day.

The boss looks over the directions

Uh, this one Dad

We put it together under the patio so if we dropped a screw it would be easier to find. Hubby's knees were getting sore so I told him to kneel on the cushions which were still wrapped in plastic. He kneels down and his hand slips and he rolls over like a turtle between the cushions and the grill. The more he tried to get up, he'd slip on the plastic and the grill would roll away and trapped him more. I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants.

Yurtle the Turtle

Next came the seat frame and just as we're getting ready to attach the very last piece we find out there is no screw hole on the end of one pole. So close and yet so far away. Dammit. That section took us about 45 minutes and now we had to stop. So we skipped a few steps and went on to the awning. Nothing is really hard, but it is time consuming. Another 30 minutes down and now we are just at a dead end and can't go any further.

Stuck now

The next moring we called the company and they will send out a new part, no questions asked. They said it would take 5 days but in reality it was 10.

We eagerly jumped back into the project over Memorial weekend; took off the defective arm and put the new one on.

Who's helping who?

Daughter and I got the arm tubes on, moved the frame where we wanted it, attached the swing and put the canopy on. This all took a little over an hour.

We make a good team

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

It took closer to 4 hours (plus 10 days) to put this together. Maybe if we would have been on a roll and not had to order a part it might have gone faster. Some of the instructions were confusing too and their little diagrams didn't help much until it was together and then I could look back and say "Oh, I get it now." I haven't tried to put it down for a hammock yet so for now will just use my daughter for a pillow. We deserve a rest.