Years ago when my husband's parents moved from NM to UT, they left us with a porch swing. I loved the idea of having a place to sit and watch the kids play, but for years after we moved to AZ, it was abandoned and even abused. The frame was still good, but the wood had rotted away around the bolts and the chains had disappeared. I think they might be in the Halloween decor box! When I took the remaining slats off, I had to cut off some of the blots because they were so rusty. Combined with the rust color that the swing had been painted to mimic redwood, I couldn't tell the difference between rust and paint. My first experience with a hack saw was a good one. I was surprised at how fast the saw cut.
I never want to throw away things that can be fixed up and so after a couple of trips to the home improvement store for supplies, we got a "new" porch swing. I used 2 by 4s for the wood slats and cut them to size using the old slats as a guide. Then I drilled the holes for the new bolts and primed and painted the slats and reassembled the swing using new chain and S hooks. the whole process, not including the trips to the store, took about 5 hours. And I have a new tan to show for the working outside in the 110 degree weather.
The kids love it, and the bright color makes me happy when I look at it. And as I mentioned before it's a great place to sit and watch the kids play. That is when we can get the kids off of it!
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