It arrived promptly by courier and was well packaged. The box was smaller and lighter than I was expecting, as the sandpit is built by slotting together small slats. If you were collecting it yourself you would have no problems fitting it into a small car.
The pre-cut wooden pieces slotted together easily, and I was able to assemble it by myself without too much trouble. All you need is a screwdriver to screw on the top ledge. The instructions were easy to follow and also contain plenty of other information about caring for the sandpit. One tip for assembly - when preparing to screw on the top ledge, carefully place all the pieces in position before you begin. I did this and still had some trouble lining up the screw holes with the walls underneath. Also take some time as you slot the pieces together to make sure that you have the nicer sides facing outwards.
We may be moving house soon, and I was concerned as to how easy it would be to take the sandpit with us. It may not be easy to take the whole thing apart once screwed together, but the bottom slats can be removed, and the top hexagonal layer is quite light and sturdy. With two people it will be no more difficult to move than any of our other furniture! Even when fully assembled the sandpit is light enough to move to a different position in the garden without too much trouble, although it would be easier with two people to keep the loose lower slats in position.
The sandpit is supplied with a geotextile underlay. This needs to be cut to size for the sandpit before the sand is put in. I cut it slightly larger than the base and positioned it so that a small amount overlapped up the insides. I'm perhaps stating the obvious but the sandpit is not supplied with sand, and it does hold a lot. I put in about 15kg, and this was only just enough to cover the underlay with a thin layer. Ideally I think that you would want at least 50kg of sand. You also need to make sure that you use proper playsand. Even with the underlay I suspect that sand will escape, but then that's the nature of sandpits!
The walls of the sandpit are not too high, so little ones can get in and out easily. It is nice and wide in diameter, and the hexagonal shape means that there is plenty of room for several children to play inside. The walls are also strong enough to bear their weight. I probably wouldn't give Harry water to play with inside to avoid too much mess, although the underlay looks as though it would be waterproof. It can also be placed on grass.
The circular protective cover closes snugly over the sandpit by means of a drawstring. Water will pool on the top when it rains. The instructions say that you can place an item inside which is higher than the walls of the sandpit to prevent this, otherwise you will need to remove the water to prevent it sagging down and being a potential safety hazard for small children.
I can't comment yet as to how the wooden sandpit will stand up to the outdoors in the long term, although the instructions suggest that a suitable wood treatment should be used yearly. I will probably remove the sand and store the sandpit in the garage throughout the winter just to be safe.
I am very impressed with this sandpit, and I think that it's really good value. It's a good size and appears very sturdy. I hope that we will be able to use it for many years.
We were sent the sandpit for the purpose of this review
That is a lovely sandpit.
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