It's been built wrong. What can I do?

[Uhnoh]

We had a builder out to build a playground which they have done well but where they have anchored and cemented in to the ground the park is 'floating' on the anchors and not level with the ground. We are putting play bark in so could just fill up to that level but there is a picnic table and a sandpit that are supposed to be built into the bottom of the frame and can't be now it's floating.

It's cemented into the ground. I don't really know if anything can be done about it. I'm just a little worried as the park was very expensive and I want all features to be usable rather than made redundant?

Bump

Get the builders back and tell them to put it right.

It's my partners friend we did pay him as he's a builder but mates rates and I'm anxious it'll be awkward. It's cemented in I just don't get how to fix it

I think it looks fine - I wouldn't feel the need to overfill with bark to bring it up to the level of the bottom boards.

Slightly off topic, but I wouldn't want a built in sand pit in a playground. You would have no idea if cats were using it as a toilet.

Surely the picnic table will just be attached on to the frame at whatever height it is?

I dont see the problem, presumably they have done it like that so you can have a nice deep layer of bark without losing any of the height of the base boards.

It won't be floating once the bark is down!

This is what the bottom should be like with the sandpit at the front and the picnic table bit on the back. We won't be able to do that with it raised off the ground like ours is, will we?

We were having the builder make a wooden lid for the sand pit so not being left open for cats to use as litterbox (we don't have cats anyway and have never seen one in our garden but not leaving it open anyway as I wanted it rainproof)

Obviously there's is on the grass and ours will have bark but it's still floating, we were thinking it would be flush on the ground with bark around it.

Can you post a picture please @Uhnoh?

Set concrete can be broken out.

I think that’s how it should be, so the layer of bark fills the gap, otherwise the bark would cover the bottom of the structure

If you want less of a gap he could lay more concrete?

Ok phew I'm hoping we're getting it wrong then - that is a lot cheaper than the alternative of having to somehow change it. They are coming back out to finish building and lay the play bark and border so hopefully it'll all work out.

This is how it should be. To allow for the depth of flooring and to prevent sitting water rotting the wood (metal posts in the ground don't rot).

I managed the installation of the playground at my DCs school. It was installed by a well known playground installation company and has gone through all the necessary safety checks. It looked exactly like that before the mulch was put down.

As you can see here.

Wood sucks up and holds moisture ( trees are designed by nature to do this ) so wood will rot pretty quickly if it touches the ground. Being raised off the ground makes good building sense.

Get them back to do it properly especially if money was paid

@TenRedThings

Wood sucks up and holds moisture ( trees are designed by nature to do this ) so wood will rot pretty quickly if it touches the ground. Being raised off the ground makes good building sense.

Yes this.

Cant you just take the three boards off and reattach lower down? Seems a non-problem or one easily fixed in 10 mins