DIY Sandbox

Peter and his dad made the boys this sweet DIY sandbox a few years ago. I thought it was time to share the design, it was fairly easily to create using a few materials. If you’re lucky or a hoarder, you might have some of the material on hand already. 😉

DIY Sandbox Materials

• 4 8-foot landscape timbers
• 2 11″ decking planks
• 4 L-brackets
• Lags
• Landscape material
• Sand 🙂

We saved money by installing it in the corner of our yard, using our brick wall for two of the sides.  To give the sandbox height, they stacked two landscape timbers (similar to railroad ties) to create each side.

I don’t have a picture o how the landscape timber is attached to the ground but basically rebar is placed through the stacked timber into the ground.

Using an auger drill (with a really long bit), Peter predrilled holes through the top of the stacked timber to the ground. Then he pounded rebar (about a foot longer than the height of sandbox wall) into each hole. This secured the sandbox sides to the ground.

To keep the timbers attached securely, he used lag screws to attach the two corners together.

Then he attached the sides of the sandbox to the block wall using L-brackets.

He also used L-brackets to support 11″ wide planks attached the top of each side. The PVC deck planks are splinter free, making it safe for little hands and wide enough to create a nice seat.

That’s it. We lined the ground with landscape material before adding sand to minimize weeds. The reddish color in the sand is cinnamon, it’s supposed to be a natural ant deterrent.

It’s definitely an upgrade from the free plastic turtle sandbox, Quinn started with as a baby. The boys have a pretty sweet play yard with a nice sized sandbox now! 

If you are looking to add a little excitement to your own sandbox, I suggest a sandbox treasure hunt! My boys love it!