Build a Better Sandbox

Papa made the kids a sandbox and they love it. It is easy to make one, and doesn't cost much. We choose to use 2x4's stacked two high to keep cost down but you could use a 2x8 instead to save some construction time and effort. We are all tease Papa around here because whenever he makes something, it's very well made; perhaps he puts more effort into his projects than necessary because it's a work of love! 
We already had the landscape cloth and the screening material, both of which we thought were 5 foot wide; um... they were 4 foot. I think I would have liked to have had the finished sandbox be 3 1/2 foot by 4 foot rather than 4 foot by 4 foot because of the 4 foot widths of those two items. We would not have had to overlap and sew the screening, and we would have been able to easily use one layer of landscape cloth. You decide after you read through this tutorial what is best for you. For this project you will need :

• 4 8' redwood 2x4's 
• 6 or 7 8'1x2's
• 2 feet of redwood 4x4, or 2x4's screwed together
• a 6 foot length of landscape cloth (ours was 4 foot wide)
• 6 foot of nylon screening, or 2 pieces of 4' if you want to wrap the edge.
• Sand **
• 3" deck screws
• Finishing nails
• Chop saw
• Drill
• staple gun
• belt or hand sander
• Your choice of wood finish/sealer....we used a 50/50 mix of turpentine and linseed oil.

You will make a square, drill your holes then screw together with deck screws.

Sand all rough edges.

Cut 4x4 sections, sand the edges.  Drill through and then screw into place into each corner. Trim the landscape cloth back to the edge.

Cut 1x2's to fit top and nail them with finishing nails on the top edge of the 2x4's covering the staples and the landscape cloth. Counter sink the nails. Sand this edge well. 

Now you are ready to seal or finish anyway you would like. Ours is out in the rain and sun so we chose to seal it with a 50/50 mix of turpentine and linseed oil that is brushed on, to make it waterproof and keep weathering to a minimum. The great thing about this mix is that it won't peel like varnishes or other sealers will. We suggest you do several coats, allow drying time between coats. Now it's ready for sand.

I didn't have the chance to photo this as he made it but here is the finished lid. It is made to fit over and not on top of the sandbox. The screening material is wrapped over the edge and stapled.

In hindsight, we would have made the lid to fit evenly on top and used some sort of latch to hold it down tight; perhaps using weather stripping to make it scorpion proof. Also it would have been easier to run the braces back and forth across the top instead of making an X and still would have worked well. 

**There are some questions being raised about the safety of sand in sand boxes and play grounds these days. It seems some people are concerned about silica in the sand. I believe, after some research, that it is the dust and not the sand that is the issue. The sand we purchased was from a landscape supply and it was sold in bulk....they dumped it into our truck bed. 

We purchased 600 lbs. and had some left over. The cost was about $27. It is the same sand that is used in sand traps on golf courses and it is so clean and dust free; I really love it! Before Papa made this sandbox we used a little plastic tub for a sandbox and had purchased play sand at our local home improvement store by the bag. It was expensive and very very dusty. I would never buy that sand again for my kids to play in. So I suggest you do your research and decide for yourself what is safe and what is not. 

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