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If there is a small child in the house, a playground is indispensable. Not every parent can build a swing or slide, but you can install a sandbox in the yard. And it is not necessary to spend money on expensive materials. A sandbox made of tires from a car will cost parents completely free of charge. Alternatively, you can find a large tractor tire. Then you don’t have to build anything. It is enough just to fill the tire with sand. But first things first, and now we will consider different options for making a sandbox from old tires.
Why old tires are often used to make a playground
Residents of large cities rarely face the problem of organizing children’s leisure. The respective companies are engaged in the installation of playgrounds. In the private sector, parents have to independently equip a site for children to relax, and in order to somehow save their budget, they resort to various tricks. Wooden sandboxes look nice, but a good board is expensive. Resourceful parents adapted old car tires for this purpose. Sandboxes made from tires have their advantages over wooden counterparts:
- Old tires will cost free, which means that parents will not spend a penny on making a play space.
- If the parent does not have the skills to make figured sandboxes from tires, you can get by with one large tire.
- You can build a sandbox out of car tires very quickly, and you won’t need a lot of tools for this.
- Tire rubber is much softer than wood. Parents can safely leave the child to play without fear that he will clog up against the edge of the board.
- Small car tires are easy to cut. From them you can make a lot of figures that decorate the sandbox.
- Unlike wood, tires do not rot. The sandbox can be in the rain, the scorching sun and in severe frost for years.
No matter how many advantages are listed, the main point is the safety of the child. The rubber is soft, and the likelihood of a child getting injured when playing in the sandbox is reduced to zero.
Sandbox Placement Guidelines
Before you rush to make a sandbox out of tires with your own hands, you need to think about its location. It is clear that a small child should always be supervised. For these reasons, it is worth having a gaming place in a well-observed area. However, there is another problem – the sun. Constant exposure of the rays to the child will provoke sunstroke. Plus, on a hot day, the tire will get very hot and give off an unpleasant smell of rubber.
Solve the problem with the sun in two ways:
- If a large tree grows in the yard, a tire sandbox can be installed under its crown. The whole day the child will play in the shade, but at night the sand will have to be covered so that foliage does not attack it. For these purposes, you will have to build a cover. The question of choosing such a place may not be suitable if the tree is fruit. This is due to the large number of pests, such as caterpillars. They will fall on the child. In addition, periodically the tree will be sprayed, and the contact of sand with poison is dangerous for the health of the baby.
- When a sunny site is the only suitable place to install a tire sandbox, then the design will have to be slightly improved. A small canopy in the shape of a mushroom is placed above the tire. The size is enough to shade the playing area. The simplest canopy can be made from a beach umbrella.
Having decided on the location, they begin to make a sandbox from tires.
What you need when making a sandbox
There is an opinion about the toxicity of tires, as if they are dangerous to health. However, according to the class of harmfulness, tires are in the same place with vinyl wallpaper, which is pasted over the walls in almost every house. If we are to scrupulously approach this issue, then most of all toxic substances are emitted by old, heavily worn tires. When choosing tires, this nuance should be paid attention to. The less wear the rubber has, the safer it is to use even in the sun.
Tires fit all sizes. Small tires will have to be cut into segments and then stitched into one large carcass. A large tractor tire can be used as a finished sandbox. You can find such good at a nearby landfill or by visiting a tire shop. It is better to give preference to tires without visible damage, as well as smeared with fuel oil or oils.
To make a sandbox, you will need a piece of plumbing insulation or a simple rubber hose. They trim the places of cuts on the tire. Cutting rubber is done with a sharp knife and a metal file.
When making a structure from small tires, you will need bolts and wire for stitching blanks. The play place should please the child with bright colors, so you need to prepare several aerosol cans with waterproof paints.
Three options for making a sandbox from old tires
Now we will consider three options for how to make a sandbox out of tires, but regardless of the model chosen, several basic requirements are met:
- Dig a small hole under the sandbox. It will prevent the tire from moving to the side. In the case of a large tire, the recess can adjust the height of the bead so that it is easier for the child to step over it.
- Before backfilling with sand, geotextiles or black agrofibre are placed on the bottom. You can use a film, but then it must be slightly perforated in places so that rainwater does not stagnate, but is absorbed into the ground. The lining will prevent sand from mixing with the soil, and will also prevent weeds from germinating.
- The finished structure is filled with clean sand. It can be river or recruited from a quarry.
Based on these requirements, proceed to the manufacture of the sandbox.
Single large tire construction
There is enough space for one small child to play in the sandbox made from one large tractor tire. An example of such a design is shown in the photo. The playing place is made according to the following principle:
- On one side of the tire, the side shelf is cut off with a sharp knife close to the tread. In extreme cases, you can leave a small bent edge.
- The rubber hose is cut lengthwise and put on the cut near the tread. You can fix it with glue or flash it with copper wire.
- If the sandbox is supposed to move around the site, it is not buried. Plywood or other moisture-resistant and durable material is placed under the tire. The lining will prevent sand from spilling while the tire is moving.
- The finished design is decorated with multi-colored paints. On the side, you can attach additional elements from small tires that imitate the figure of a turtle, crocodile or other animal.
So that yard cats do not stain the sand, you need to take care of a light cover.
Sandbox in the shape of a flower
An adult child or if there are several children in the family will need more space to play. You can increase the size of the sandbox with small tires from a car. Using a hacksaw for metal, the tires are sawn into two equal semicircles. At the place of the cut, nylon threads and a metal court in the form of a wire will definitely stick out. This must be cleaned up so that the child does not get hurt.
The resulting half-rings are painted from spray cans with paints of different colors. When they dry, the blanks are laid out on a flat area in the shape of a flower, and each segment is sewn with wire or bolted together. Near the resulting sandbox, you can make chairs and a table from thick stumps.
Figured sandbox on the frame
The frame will help to give the sandbox an unusual shape. This concept means the manufacture of a board from any material. It should bend well so that you can give the sandbox any curly shape. The finished frame is dug into the ground and proceed to the upper trim.
Small tires from a car are cut into three equal pieces. The blanks are cleaned from the protruding court, after which they are painted with multi-colored paints. The dried elements are put on the end of the installed frame, and on both sides the side shelves are fixed with bolts. An example of a curly round sandbox is shown in the photo.
The video shows a sandbox of tires:
Conclusion
Each version of the considered sandbox can be supplemented at your discretion with various amenities. This refers to the installation of a roof, an umbrella, benches and other devices.