I'm in the process of designing a play structure for the kids. I know, I know - I can just buy a kit and slap it together, but those are expensive and not what I am wanting. So I am finishing up the CAD model and starting to cost everything out when I came to the hardware. Nuts, bolts, washers... that kind of stuff. All of the major joints are made with dados (the tall brown 4x6s in the picture are notched with the 2x6 nested into them). Now, since I am using pressure treated lumber, I know that I need to use hot dipped galvanized or stainless steel hardware. That part is easy. Here are where I'm getting hung up: [list=1] [*]Carriage bolts - I hate carriage bolts. Once you sink it in, forget about ever getting it back out. Do I have to use carriage bolts? I'd love to countersink some hex heads in, but they are soooo much more expensive. On McMaster, I can get carriage bolts 25 for $9.87, or hex head are 5 for $5.18! Any advice here? Is there a way to get those carriage bolts not to turn when I go to dis assemble this in 10 years? [*]Size of hardware. I'd love any guidance you guys have here. 1/2", 5/16", 3/8"...? [*]Grade of bolts. Never really had to deal with this before, but there are different strength ratings for bolts. All the HDG bolts are "Low-strength steel". Someone help me feel good about putting my kids on a playstructure held together with "low-strength steel" bolts. [/list] To give you a sense of scale, the raised platform is 6x12', and the peak of the roof is just shy of 13' high. thx PS, this is my first post here, so apologies if I forgot some pertinent info.

Hey, I've got some basement stairs in dire need of TLC. Need to start from the ground on up on this one. I’m a little handy as long as I have some guidance. Usually then I can figure out how to make something happen. First issue is that there is space underneath these stairs on a concrete slab with a square pit in it. Looks like there is a pipe that vents outside and possibly a cleanout valve. I was hoping to open all that up and use it for storage but now I'm gonna leave it shut. Seems like the previous owner put a poorly sized piece of plywood and two sheetrock screws to create a mock access panel or something. I'm thinking I want to maintain something along those lines, access panel type of deal but not hideous. Wondering what people would advise for something like that? Has anyone ever seen basement stairs with a creepy concrete pit underneath them with some plumbing pipes or something? On another front, the stairs were tiled with what appears to be leftover tiles from other jobs, so it's a mismatched hodge podge of tiling with the cheap metal nosing you get at the hardware store. I was sort of debating if I wanted to rip all that up and break out my orbital sander to try and sand down what's underneath and then just use some heavy duty stair/decking paint or something to clean it up but, not sure what is underneath and if that would work or not. I don’t want to invest a ton of loot into these stairs, nor do I want to invest a ton of time. What would be a simple and relatively easy approach to dealing with this? Thanks!