Material for small childs slide?

[Dan Forman]

When I was a wee one, my grandfather made a small slide for us, so that we could slide into the inflatable swimming pool. It resurfaced at my dad's house as he was moving this weekend, and my sister wants me to fix it up for her young grandaughter.

It's mostly in surprisingly good shape considering it must be 50 years old. The slide portion is toast however. It's 3/8" plywood, about 3' long, and is delaminating badly, so I want to replace it, and I'm looking for ideas.

Marine ply, with or without laminate on the top? That would presumably make it more slippery, and prevent splinters, but would the adhesive hold up to direct sun? If just the bare wood, what finish would be good? I will appreciate any advice you might have to offer.

Dan

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I think the old school was to use about a half inch buildup of spar varnish or some such. The idea being that the very very thick coat of varnish wouldn't allow splintering.

I'd prefer one sheet of solid core formica type laminate. White is a good color.

[joe pezza]

plastic lumber. seen it used at a public playground for just that, a slide, great application.

[Ken Werner]

I made a slide about 20 years ago. It's still there at the house, but we moved away. I used 3/4" ext plywood placed in a routed groove. On its surface was a sheet of stainless steel, also housed in the groove. No edges exposed, and rather smooth. Worked longer than the kids needed it.

Ken

[Doug Shepard]

Dont know where he got it, but my brother was able to get 1/8" 4'x8' sheets of UHMW for the floor in his 3-4 machine snowmobile trailer. Says it almost as good as sliding on ice and easy to get the machines slid in/out. You'd have to countersink the screws really well to avoid any catches but that stuff would be great if you can find it.

[Ben Grunow]

Second the PVC (azek or kleer brands). No paint, works like wood. Not totally convinced on the long term UV problems but will last five years for kids AFAIK.

Ben

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for the suggestions, will check out what is available locally.

Dan

[Alister Orme]

I used 1/2" ply covered by coil stock...I thought id have to replace the coil stock with some thing sturdier ,but it's holding up fine.

http://www.orme.com/treehouse/html/the_addition.html

[Dan Forman]

I used 1/2" ply covered by coil stock...I thought id have to replace the coil stock with some thing sturdier ,but it's holding up fine.

http://www.orme.com/treehouse/html/the_addition.html

What is "coil stock"?

Dan

[Chris Rosenberger]

Coil stock is thin aluminum or steel in different widths sold in rolls at Home Centers.

I built a slide for my kids when they were young. I used 3/8" plywood & galv. steel coil stock for the slide. It lasted until the kids got married, but did last for the grandkids to use.

[Dell Littlefield]

If you use aluminum, it will leave dark smudges on clothing.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for the clarification.

Dan