My husband and I put this together and it took us most of the morning, about 4.5 hours.  My husband is not a direction follower, but I am, which is good because you really do need to pay attention to the directions, take it slow, and follow it step-by-step.  The playset is not big but it is the perfect fit for our smaller backyard.  We have an almost 5-year-old who is on the bigger side and it is very sturdy for him and his 18 month old brother to play on.  My boys are tall so the oldest (already 4 ft+ did have to really crouch to play in the sandbox but he doesn't seem bothered by that.  It is sturdy and will give them ours of playtime in the outdoors.