How to build a sandbox on your site

In this article I will tell you how to make a sandbox in the country with your own hands. My children had long dreamed about this, so one day, having overcome my own laziness, I decided to build a small structure (120x120 cm) with a bench and a lid. I made it like our garden beds. The photos that accompany my story are not of very good quality, because I use an old camera, sorry ...

Necessary materials and tools

The first thing to take care of when embarking on a similar project is, of course, lumber. I decided to use mahogany.

To work you will need:

Sandbox Box Assembly

So, you bought the materials and tools, it is time to learn how to make a children's sandbox. Start work with the construction of the box. Saw a block of 10x10 cm into four equal parts (25 cm long). Saw two fragments 120 cm long and two 110 cm long from 5x20 cm boards (you can, of course, just cut both boards in half, resulting in 4 pieces 120 cm long, but then the sandbox will not be completely square - not 120x120, but 120x130 cm) . The rest of the lumber you will do a little later.

At both ends of all boards 5x20 cm in size, prepared for the manufacture of the sides of the sandbox, drill three guide holes for the subsequent screwing of screws.

Then fasten the elements of the box together with screws.

Now is the time to create a bench around the perimeter of the sandbox. To do this, you will need four boards with a cross section of 5 × 15 cm, the ends of which need to be cut at an angle of 45 °. The long side of the trapezoid should be slightly larger than the outer length of the box wall (theoretically - 120 cm, but it is better to make a measurement, since in practice small deviations are possible). When you put in place all the four benches prepared in this way, your sandbox should look like in the photo.

Now you need to fix the bench on the sandbox box. First, fasten the seat boards to each other with 9 cm screws, having previously drilled the guide holes.

Then attach the bench to the sides of the sandbox. For this, two 9 cm self-tapping screws must be screwed into each end of the boards making up the bench. Make sure that they do not go into the "milk": one screw should connect the seat to the side wall of the box, the second to the corner bar.

Making lids for the sandbox

Saw boards to fit the lid. I would not want to give the exact dimensions here, you yourself must decide how much the lid should cover your sandbox (but not less than 2.5 cm from each edge), and, focusing on this, choose the right size boards.For example, I used eight boards with a section of 2.5 × 15 cm.

Lay prepared boards in a row. From the top perpendicular to them, place three 2.5 × 10 cm boards (make sure that the cross-pieces fit well into the inside of the sandbox) and fasten them 4 cm with self-tapping screws to each board of the lid.

Sand with sandpaper and all edges and surfaces.

Now is the time to cover wooden surfaces with a waterproofing agent. I applied two layers of Thompson's WaterSeal Multi-Surface Waterproofer. It remains only to screw a couple of handles onto the lid.

To attach the handles, drill holes corresponding to the size of your screws (the diameter of the hole should be slightly less than the diameter of the screw).

Screw on the handles, and the lid can already be easily lifted and lowered.

For greater convenience, it is best to screw two handles.

In the last photo there is a finished sandbox located in the place allotted to it ... It remains to pour sand into it, and plant grass around.

Now you know how to make a sandbox with your own hands, which means that you can also please your children.