We had an old turtle pond we made in the back yard but no more turtle. For a while it sat with old rain water where mosquitoes and frogs would lay eggs. When we shrank the dog fence, we filled the hole where the old turtle pond was with sand. Then Ethan started playing with the sand at least once a week. We had been discussing making a sandbox for him. During some Christmas vacation, I finally finished it.
The sandbox was a dug-out style due to size. We also used some heavy duty 2x12 pressure treated boards that we had left over from the new dog pen after adjusting the design. Once we finished the sandbox, we were able to make good use of all the material from the dog pen.
First I put the boards in the hole for measurement and fitting but we fastened them together outside of the hole.
The usual shot...boards being cut to size.
Once they were all cut, we had to screw them together.
It sounds easy but it can be meticulous.
We screwed all the boards together outside of the hole on the level ground. We used heavy duty lag bolts to screw the boards together. Naturally, the boards were warped, some more than others. We really couldn't have squared off these warped boards without our cheap $10 90-degree angle clamp we had laying around the garage. That clamp was able to save us from wasting the warped boards we had left over from the last project that twisted from lying around this wet Florida environment.
After the walls were installed, we installed seating all around.
The final sandbox was about 7x8 feet and the hole was about 12-16 inches deep. It took around 2000lbs of sand to fill it just over half way. I did a lot of research for bulk sand. Minimum delivery was 3000lbs and was a little more expensive than 2000lbs (40, 50lbs bags) from Lowes. My pickup truck is having issues when it rains and I almost didn't make it back home after the full 1 ton of sand was loaded in the pouring rain.
The sandbox was a success and we were able to use it as an early Christmas present.
It ended up being a great activity day or night. Something for us to do together after work without the benefit of sun or an activity for the mild winter days.
