Badger Basket Wooden Sandbox with Lid & Benches - Large Outdoor Sandbox for Kids Made of Cedar - Foldable Cover, Seating & Backyard Playset (46.5 x 46.5 x 9.5)

I ordered this as a birthday present for my 3-year-old grandson. I was a little hesitant, because many of the reviews had commented on how flimsy the hinges were. So before starting to put this together, I decided to buy replacement hinges that would be heavier-duty. Well, no luck there! Because the holes were all pre-drilled, and the little hinge had to fit on the end of the 1 X 2 brace, there just weren't any hinges available that would have worked. So the day we were going to start putting it together, we spent half the day running around looking for hinges, but in the end, we decided we would just use the hardware it came with. I was so pleased at how easy this sandbox was to assemble. My daughter and I (and believe me, we are not DIYers) had it completely assembled in a couple of hours. It was easy cheesy! All the holes lined up exactly right, and it was easy to screw the screws into the right place. I say that, and normally I am the queen of stripping screws, so I was VERY pleased. The sandbox seems sturdy, and the boards are nice and smooth, so no worries about splinters in little legs. We finished it off by "painting" a water-seal product all over it. As soon as that dries completely, we are going to staple a landscaping black cloth stuff (what is that stuff called???) to the bottom so that water drains through. The box says it will hold 750 pounds of sand. We did find a sale on playground sand, so we bought six 50-pound bags, which I think will be enough, but if it's not, we can always go back and buy a couple more bags. The benches, when closed to form the lid, seem to be heavy enough that they won't blow open in a storm. All in all this seems like a great product.

Really like this sandbox, bought it for grandchildren so it is not used every single day, but it's very sturdy. Easy for kids to open, but the 3 year old is a little rough with it, so I would suggest supervising a toddler when opening. I really like that it not only has a protective top but that it folds open into benches to sit on. One of the slats on the top did split (from a defect, not abuse) and it was after warranty. I contacted the company, Badger Basket, and asked if I could purchase a single replacement slat. WIthin a few days, they mailed me a replacement board free of charge. I would not hesitate to purchase from this company again!

I bought this sandbox kit about a month ago. After reading the reviews, I was skeptical about the quality of the hardware. Maybe the company has changed what they use, but the hinges we received are definitely sturdier than tin. They seem to be very thin stainless steel. I felt no need to replace them. The kit was easy to build; everything fit together just as it was meant to. I used hand tools to assemble everything, as the cedar is so soft that I was afraid my drill would strip out the screw holes easily. My kids, ages 8 and 6, fit in the sandbox together with plenty of room to dig and play. I appreciate that this sandbox has no bottom because my kids wanted the sand to be deep enough to dig tunnels. I leveled the ground under the sandbox, left a large foundation around the edges, and dug out the ground in the center for 2.5 to 3 feet to make the sand very deep. We have had a lot of rain over the last month and the sandbox is still in great shape. The benches are a nice feature, and the cover keeps my cats out of the sand. My kids absolutely love it!

Love the design of this sandbox, keeps the neighborhood cats out but is not plastic!! It blends into the landscaping, too, as opposed to the green turtles! Ideal size for one child or two small children and easy to assemble. The hardware does seem a little on the flimsy side, but we installed the factory hardware and will replace as needed. Edit 12/28/2012: after a full summer of use we did have to do some hardware upgrades. It's an inexpensive thing to do so it doesn't affect my overall rating, but given how short-lived the hinges were I'd recommend saving yourself some time and get heavier hardware right off the bat. Edit 4/17/2016: this has survived 5 Minnesota winters and is now ready to be passed on for the next young family to enjoy. It didn't receive heavy use but has stood up well. Would definitely recommend this product!

Love this sandbox! Bought one a year ago and had to replace after I trimmed a tree and broke the box with a huge wrong way falling branch. This box is 47.5"x47.5"x8" tall. I put brick under each corner to raise up the box and not have the wood on the grass to keep from routing. I also added landscape black mesh on the bottom and stapled it to the sides before putting and in and the top pieces on. It'll drain better with the mesh and no chance for mold on the wood. Simple and easy additions that don't cost really anything. I had this stuff already sitting around the garage and yard. I also purchased a tarp like cover that fits almost exactly. Well worth the cost. Think it was $12.00. Keeps the rain or sprinkler from dousing the wood. Again.... love this sandbox. Big enough for 3-4 toddlers to play in. Tall enough shell for enough sand to play with dump trucks and excavators and also dig their feet and hands in. Grandma and Grandpa can even sit on the benches and play too!

My original review was a few years ago. I think we have gone through two summers with this item and it stays outside through Wisconsin winters. But, like others, from the get-go, the hinges were bad. I did get some new hinges but they were not the correct type. I did not have the skill set to route out the wood and make other hinges fit so I purchased some that were probably too wimpy for this application (a little better than the originals). So the box itself is holding up, the folding benches, not so good. I worry a bit about pinched fingers but my daughter is a bit older now so should be ok. I bet for a few dollars more in manufacturing costs, the hardware issue could be totally resolved. It's too bad as everything else is holding up well! I had a pile of plastic kids equipment in the back yard that I was sick of looking at. Went on the hunt for a nice looking sandbox and this came up. I actually purchased on the Amazon Warehouse area so it was about $20 less than regular Amazon and still eligible for free shipping. SHIPPING/UNPACKING/CONTENTS: The box came a little scuffed (like the cardboard was a little raggedy) but it was taped around the circumference to hold it all together. I was surprised to unpack and it had so few things. Great! Some wood boards and a bag of screws. Boards are not labeled. I figured out what they were and just used a sharpie to mark them on the end to ensure I had all the parts (I marked on them knowing that no matter what, I was keeping this and going to make it work, cruddy hinges or not because I was not going to go through the hassle of returning this). I wasn't sure if open box purchase was actually a returned item so I wanted to make sure I had everything before I moved on. QUALITY: Boards are nice. A few rough spots but cedar is soft so I think this will be ok. One board had a split in it along the line of where a hinge is so I will have to ask for a replacement to be sent from the manufacturer. I am not sure if this was because it was an open box/return item and someone had previously attempted assembly before returning or if that can just happen with this type of wood. The hinges that others wrote of are really not substantial at all (and, the hinges are already on the boards on one side so it saves you even more time--you just line up the board for the other half of the hinge and insert screws). I can see on the design that the way the wood is routed out to fit the hinges, they have to be very narrow depth hinges to fit but, still, router it out more and get some better hinges is what I say! Two hinges were completely broke. I went to hardware store to find a replacement. I did not want to wait for a replacement from the manufacturer. This was a Sunday and was the day I designated for assembly so it was happening no matter what! I found an ok replacement and replaced four of the hinges while I was at it. Spent about $6 on hinges. The hinges I purchased are a thicker depth so when I placed them on the locations and screwed them in, the area did not fold as it should. I then backed out the screws a bit and that seemed to allow more movement for the replacement hinges so that the seat portion could fold like it should. ASSEMBLY: Not that this should have much to do with what I am about to write...but, I am a female, that works in an office all day. My husband does not have the patience for this stuff so I usually end up taking on these tasks. And I did, by myself with a regular ol' screwdriver (I do not think you should use an electric one for this--you might strip things or the holes might not work/align--more on this later). I actually set this up in the living room because it was about 100 degrees outside that day and I just didn't want to do it outside. Overall it probably took about an hour from opening up the box, figuring out what boards were what (the wood boards are not labeled), replacing a few hinges (this does not include time at the hardware store). Once it was assembled, I was able to lift it up and move it outside by myself (kind of shuffling with it but I moved it nonetheless). It's kind of like holding a pallet. The holes on mine that were predrilled lined up perfectly. I did find that since the cedar is kind of a soft wood, you could line these up or think they are lined up and start to screw in the screw and be off a bit and make a new hole--again, cedar is kind of soft. That is why I recommend just using a regular screw driver. It would be very easy to misalign a bit and use the electric screw driver and have a new hole before you knew it. I started to do this with two boards and got quite a ways creating a new hole with just people power and was pretty easy to do. OVERALL: It looks really nice. So much better than some of the plastic junk that I am sick of looking at. We have not added sand yet as we are testing out a few spots in the yard for placement vs sun location etc. And we know that once the sand is in it, that's where it is going to stay for a while so we want to be very sure. Thus far we purchased 10 bags of sand and loaded them in the sandbox without taking sand out of bag. It looks like it will be enough. Maybe add another bag or two down the road. EDITED 8/30/13: We used the 10 bags and it was perfect but you could probably use 7-8 and would be ok too. I made the Mr. take back the superfine, washed sand that he bought. I have seen that stuff in action at the park and it is just too dusty (which as an inhalent is considered kind of dangerous). I opted for a more beach kind of sand with a bigger size and the darker color.

I was just searching for a cheap plastic sandbox and thank goodness I found this instead! It costs little more than what I thought I would pay and it is worth every cent. Things to note..size is great for 3 children to play in..we had 3 kids toddler - teenaged in it over the weekend and all were happy. Hinges may be a little flimsy but they work very easily and opening and closing the lid is no trouble. The sandbox looks beautiful and natural- not like temporary plastic junk. We are seriously pleased and i have been telling everyone I know about it. And free shipping -totally worth it!

Update: 2 1/2 years and 2 grandchildren later the sandbox is going strong. Grandson & next youngest sister absolutely love playing in this (youngest is still too little). Purchased June 11, 2018 and so far, so good. My 2 yr old Grandson is loving his sandbox. Upon delivery, there was some slight damage to one of the seats but I took pictures of the damage, contacted the seller and they sent a replacement seat. Super easy to work with! It was fairly simple to assemble (I don't recall that we had any trouble putting it together). We started with 5 bags of sand from Lowe's (50 lbs each) but we really needed two or even three more bags. I like that there is no bottom so we don't have to worry about mold and such and I love that they can cover it when it isn't in use so it stays cleaner and keeps any random animals from using it as a litter box.