A complete guide to the timber parts in our climbing frames

Why wood? Wood is a self-renewable resource that plays an important role in conserving our ecosystem. Naturally durable, or treated for extra protection, it is beautiful, strong, environmentally friendly, CO₂ neutral, recyclable, and endlessly renewable when sourced from sustainably managed forests. This makes wood the perfect material for your climbing frame: sturdy, cost-effective, and long-lasting. Thanks to its durable properties, your Jungle Gym or Hy-land playground will stay in great condition for years to come, even during the most adventurous play sessions.

Our timber

Jungle Gym backyard and Hy-land climbing frames are made from timber sourced European forests. We use high-quality softwood, available either as pressure-treated pine or premium Douglas fir (depending on your country). These timber species are the ideal material for building sturdy and durable products. Combined with their natural beauty, they are perfect for creating safe, strong, and elegant wooden climbing framestower playhouses and wooden swing sets.

Robust timber parts

Our solid and robust timber parts are exceptionally strong, making them the perfect material for building safe, sturdy, and elegant climbing frames, tower playhouses, and swing sets. Each piece is carefully selected, cut to length, and planed smooth, with dimensions chosen to maximise stability and strength. For added safety, the longer edges are rounded. During assembly, you may need to lightly sand some end edges or corners, which is quick and easy with the included sanding pad. The timber parts are not pre-drilled, giving you more flexibility during assembly, allowing the structure to adapt naturally to the wood over time, and preventing issues such as misaligned holes.

Wood types and properties

Standard Pine/ Spruce

Standard pine offers an excellent price-performance ratio. Valued for centuries for its natural strength, it is the most commonly used wood in Europe. An environmentally friendly, chrome-free impregnation process significantly increases durability, protects against wood rot, and makes it perfectly suited for outdoor use.

Thanks to its strong dimensions, this timber ensures a solid play structure and many years of safe play. Each play tower and playhouse will be unique, as natural variations in the wood give your equipment its own exclusive character.

The impregnation reduces the need for maintenance. However, pay attention to timber parts that are in direct contact with the ground, and always treat cut surfaces with a preservative, even if the wood has already been impregnated.

Wood types and properties

The table below highlights the key differences between Premium Douglas and Standard Pine / Spruce.

Characteristics
Premium Douglas
Premium Douglas
Standard Pine / Spruce
Standard Pine / Spruce
Sustainability
Naturally resistant to wood rot
Protected against wood rot by impregnation
Long lifespan
Backyard climbing frames: 10 years warranty
Commercial playground equipment: 5 years warranty
Maintenance
Water and weather-resistant
No paint, oil or stain required
Greyed and weathered without maintenance
Environmental
Derived from sustainable forest management
Local European production
No chemical treatment
Reusable
Construction
Solid and robust dimensions
Superior strength and stiffness
The strongest pine in Europe
Cut to length with rounded long edges
Quality
No toxic substances or allergens
Limited resin and splintering
Dry, dimensionally stable and delivered packaged
Luxurious, natural appearance

Sustainability

The timber used for Jungle Gym backyard or Hy-land professional climbing frames and playhouses is PEFC certified. PEFC is an international non-profit organisation that promotes sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. This guarantees that your Jungle Gym or Hy-land play equipment is made from responsibly sourced wood, with care for people, wildlife, and the environment. Trees are essential to life: they produce oxygen, improve air quality, conserve water, protect the climate, and provide habitats for millions of species. By choosing us, you support sustainable forestry and help protect our planet for future generations.

Warranty on timber

The timber parts of Jungle Gym play equipment are made from impregnated Pine and Douglas Fir, making them resistant to rot. We are confident in their quality and therefore give a 10 year* guarantee on all timber in the case of rot. This warranty is valid for the first owner and limited to purchases made directly through our webshops. If any timber part of your Jungle Gym climbing frame is affected by rot within the warranty period, we will replace it free of charge, provided that the assembly and maintenance instructions have been properly followed and no alterations have been made.

Wood characteristics

Because wood is a natural product and every tree is unique, every piece of timber varies from the next and has its own specific characteristics. Over time, timber used outdoors will experience faded colouring, deviations in dimensions, knots, resin pockets, cracks, and other deformations. These features give the wood its character and natural beauty and do not affect the structural integrity of your climbing frame.

Expansion/contraction

Wood responds to changes in temperature and humidity by expanding and contracting e.g. in extreme dryness the wood shrinks, and in high humidity, it expands. This can result in dimensional deviations of up to 10%. This is a characteristic of wood that is unavoidable.

Tip: To ensure an exact fit, the wooden parts are not pre-drilled. We recommend pre-drilling the wooden boards first to avoid cracks.

Green spots

During impregnation, wood is coloured green by the copper-containing preservative we use. In places where resin is present in the wood, this manifests in the form of green spots and the formation of salt crystals. This is common and occurs in all impregnated wood. After being exposed to the sun for a few weeks, the spots will disappear. After this has occurred, it's possible to stain the wood, if desired.

Tip: Lightly sand any severely affected areas.

Tip: Stains and weathering of the wood can be treated with an oxalic acid based stain remover. The solution has multiple possible applications, for example, to remove green deposits and to prevent greying.

Deformations

Wood responds to changes in temperature and humidity by expanding and contracting. This can inevitably lead to cracks and other deformations. This is a characteristic of wood that is unavoidable and usually has no effect on the structural integrity of your climbing frame.

Tip: Cracks under ¼ of the wood length and ¼ of the cross-section length will not compromise the strength and stability of your playground equipment.

Mildew

Impregnated wood is very moist. In warmer seasons especially, the wood is susceptible to mildew or mould as it dries out. This can result in white spots on the wood’s surface. This fungus does not affect the quality or strength of the wood and is not harmful to health. These superficial imperfections disappear by themselves, but are also easy to remove

Tip: Upon receipt of your delivery, remove any protective film to prevent condensation from forming underneath the film, as this will produce stains and mould on the wood.

Tip: Stains and weathering of the wood can be treated with an oxalic acid based stain remover. The solution has multiple possible applications, for example, to remove green deposits and to prevent greying.

Discolourations

During impregnation, drying, and storage, some areas of the timber may be covered, while other areas may be exposed to sunlight. Light reacts with the wood and preservative to turn the exposed area of the timber brown before discolouration and fading occur.

Tip: After being exposed to sunlight for a few weeks, the colouring of the wood will even out.

Knots

Some wood pieces may contain knots. Knots are round or oval areas of dense, dark, wood, where a branch once grew. Knots are a natural property of wood and contribute to its character.

Irregularities

Rough spots and splinters may occur on some wood parts. Despite careful selection and production, these cannot be completely avoided. Depending on the type of wood, rough spots occur mainly around the knots and at the outer ends. These aesthetic defects form an inseparable part of the wood and do not affect its strength nor are they cause for concern.

Resin

All coniferous tree species contain resin pockets. Due to the effect of sunlight, in the first year resin may ooze from the fresh, newly cut wood. The sticky substance can crystallise on the wood surface, taking on a yellowish colour. These processes are natural and are considered normal.

Tip: Resin can easily be removed by scraping it off with a sturdy brush or putty knife. If necessary, you can also use a special alcohol-based resin removal agent.

Maintenance

Due to the effect of sunlight and other weather elements, the colour of wood will change gradually over time. This natural ageing does not affect the durability of the wood and does not compromise the timber quality. Impregnation of the wood is a protection against rot and not a decorative finish. If you wish to preserve the original colour of the timber, you can treat it with a special wood oil or stain, or a water-based paint or varnish. Do this 4 weeks after assembly.

Tip: The darker the colour of the chosen finish, the less visible the natural ageing will be.

Tip: Stains and weathering of the wood can be treated with an oxalic acid based stain remover. The solution has multiple possible uses, for example, to remove green deposits and to prevent greying.

Dark spots: small exit holes

In nature, small beetles often feed off the sap of trees. When these trees are processed and the wood is sawn, the timber loses its nutritional values causing the beetles to leave the wood. When this occurs, it may create a few small exit holes surrounded by dark spots. These do not impact the strength or quality of the wood and therefore are no reason for concern.

Splinters

Splintering may occur at the ends of wooden pieces when they are cut to length. The long sides of all wooden pieces are rounded and planed, however, the ends are not. These are only visible to a limited extent, and therefore, have little impact on aesthetics. Using sandpaper, edges can be rounded off and splinters easily removed.

Dark discolourations and/or stains

Over time, all woods experience discolouration. Douglas wood tends to discolour slightly faster than other woods and may turn black when in contact with moisture and metal connecting elements. Superficial stains can be mistaken for mould, but are fortunately easy to sand down and clean. This natural reaction in no ways impacts the integrity or durability of the structure.

Tip: If desired, the stain can be treated with an oxalic-acid based stain remover. This solution (10% oxalic acid, mixed with water) is available at many hardware and DIY stores.

Do you have any more questions? Head to our customer support page for more information about our wood species and properties.