When a prospective buyer for the used Atherton Cottage arrived into our inbox, we were thrilled. Not only do we love helping our play structures find new homes, but this particular play structure is solidly built in our Level 2, fully waterproof style, and an absolute gem.

The only problem? It needed to be disassembled from it’s current location and reassembled at the new home. Not only were parts of this playhouse quite large and heavy, but the current and future sites each had their own challenges. Undeterred, Barbara and Marco (our shop supervisor) got to work brainstorming how to move this beautiful, not-so-little play structure.

Read on to see how we did it!

The crew poses with the playhouse in it’s original location. They have removed a lot of the trims and it is ready for the larger parts to be taken off. But how will we safety remove the large roof, walls and floor?

Enter the Spyder Crane! We hired Ad-Lite Crane Service who provided the Spyder Crane and the experience crew to run it. This was the second time we had used their services for a site with difficult access. The Spyder Crane is designed to get where regular cranes cannot go. The playhouse was originally located at the very back of a large pristine backyard lawn. We didn’t want to damage the lawn in any way, so to bring the compact crane in and out, sheets of plywood were laid down ahead of the crane as it made it’s way to the playhouse. The crane operator gets the crane in position, unfolds the spider legs and raises the boom. Ready to roll!

Once in place, the spyder crane gently liftings the roof off the playhouse and onto the awaiting dolly.

The roof making it’s way down the lawn on the dolly to the awaiting truck. Plywood keeps the dolly moving while also protecting the grass. Our goal is to make it look like we were never there.