Our daughter LOVES this slide. She has a great time on it, which makes
the fact that it was a nightmare to assemble at least worth it. The
instructions that go with the slide aren't thorough at all. For some
parts of the instructions we just relied on common sense and guessing to
get it right.
For instance, we shouldn't have to look at a picture of
the finished product to figure out which way the slide turns, it should
be stated in the instructions if it makes a difference. And it does
make a difference. Only half of the holes lined up if put on the wrong
way (slide turning counterclockwise instead of clockwise) whereas all
but 2 holes lined up going the other way.
Which leads me to the next
complaint: not all the holes lined up . . .ever. The instructions
state that some holes may need to be enlarged and that using
screwdrivers on adjacent holes will help keep things lined up. This
doesn't always work. We had to drill new holes in more than one place
-- at least once per section.
It also states that mounting the slide
takes a minimum of 3 people.
These shouldn't be just any 3 people but 3
good-sized people. The slide is fairly heavy and awkward when
assembled making it very difficult to hold up and keep straight at the
appropriate height for mounting while actually doing the mounting and
referring to the instructions to be sure to mount it properly.
There
is also a support bracket for the base of the slide. Without this
piece, the slide moves a lot while in use and doesn't seem very stable.
Unfortunately, there is only a picture (and not a very detailed one) to
illustrate how to make this support. We've done our best and it
doesn't move nearly as much, but I'm still not sure if it's what the
manufacturer actually intended.
The same goes for the mounting bracket,
with perhaps one sentence and one unclear picture for instruction --
it's not even clear if the mounting bracket is needed in every case or
only in certain cases.
It took several hours to finish and there was a
lot of frustration and cussing involved, but at least it's getting used
daily. The smile on my daughter's face made it worth while.
