Why Go Out and Play?
Just like mama told me... Go out and play!
How do we help? We give families, schools, churches and communities a bit of shelter in which to escape the commonplace... a chance to get outside and into the fresh air; strengthen bodies with fun and imaginative play; enhance creativity and develop self-confidence; sleep outdoors in the safety of the backyard; spend time alone, curled up with a book, listening to birds singing, frogs croaking, or just daydreaming; or a chance to simply slow down and appreciate the blessings of each day.
The Go Out and Play Advantage
We design with you to meet your specific needs. That means no limits in creativity, size or materials, and no worries about missing parts or confusing instructions. We build off of or in mature trees, or freestanding if preferred, and we work with and take advantage of slopes and "wild areas," while following all safety guidlines. Our commercial grade hardware and components translate to years of fun for all ages, 2-92, including teenagers. Go with Go Out and Play and you can expect affordable, top quality work!
The "Easy" Alternative
We have been hired on a few occasions to build or repair a pre-fabricated kit playhouse from your local hardware superstore. If you’re thinking of going this route, keep in mind that while the price may seem right, the instructions and even the required materials are typically incomplete. Without exception, we’ve found that the "easy build" kits are quite difficult and time intensive to construct. If you’re wondering what option to go with, we suggest you should go for the quality, safety, longevity and imagination of a custom built play structure.
Expect the Best!
- No Missing Parts
- No confusing or incomplete instructions
- No limitations to creativity, size, height, color, lumber
- Designed with you, to meet your specific needs
- Personal communication and consultation for all design and construction
- Commercial grade hardware, components and lumber for strength and durability
- New construction can be attatched to existing structures, mature trees, or freestanding
- Environment friendly: complenting landscaping and any slope or grade
- All structures follow commercial and playground safety requirements
- Clean, Safe worksites friendly to family viewing
- Structures built for youth and adult use
- More bang for your buck
- Supports local economy
Reliable, Quality Materials & Construction
Go Out and Play also wants the best for your children and the environment. That’s why we were one of the first building companies in North Carolina to use ACQ-treated lumber. ACQ, which stands for Alkaline Copper Quat, provides the same durability of traditionally pressure-treated lumber, WITHOUT ANY CHROMIUM, ARSENIC, or other EPA listed hazardous compounds. Since 2004, safety regulations have required the substitution of ACQ for traditional Pressure Treated lumber in retail stores.
Our favorite recent innovation in the building industry is composite lumber. Composite lumber fuses wood pulp with synthetic materials such as recycled soda bottles. It’s splinter-free, often available in multiple colors, and can be stained with traditional lumber. Nearly all of our toddler playgrounds and a growing percentage of our residential structures utilize composite lumber for decks, railing caps, ladder steps and climbing walls.
We also follow structural and playground regulations concerning hardware and design, from proper bolts and joist placement to entrapment spacing and safety clearance. Our playground components are commercial grade: Swings, Chain, Handles, Rings, Trapeze Bars, Slides, Firefighter Poles, S-hooks, Swing Hangers, etc. Finally, we go the extra mile and install plenty of handles and grab bars for safe, easy climbing and we bevel, miter, route and/or sand exposed corners and edges.
Visit our Photo Gallery to view photos of our work, visit our FAQ page to see frequently asked questions, or feel free to contact us to ask questions, to request a quote, or to see more samples of our work.
Our History
Go Out and Play is the brainchild of Art Scherer, who came to his current work in a rather roundabout way. Originally from Indiana, Art graduated from Harvard. A fifth year of study in Paris, France, thanks to a Rotary Fellowship, gave him the opportunity to reconsider his plans for law school.
He subsequently took a teaching position at the Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC, where he taught at the preschool, elementary, and high school level. In 1984 he and his wife, Marion O’Malley, left teaching to start the Center for Peace Education, a not-for-profit group based in Carrboro, NC.
To support their peace education habit, Art took up carpentry, then commercial cabinetry. After five years working for others, Art Scherer Woodworking was founded in 1989. A request by parents of one of Art’s former students to build a treehouse, then a second similar request from Art’s son, tilted the business decidedly towards outdoor play structures. The company changed its name in the late ’90s.
Hundreds of treehouses, playhouses, and playgrounds later, Go-Out-And-Play will consider any custom outdoor building project. A lot of recent requests include much more than just playground work: we’ve been working on art studios, handicap ramps, barns, carports, decks, gazebos, fences and garden structures, to name a few.
Art and Marion live in a deeply wooded lot in an environmental community in Orange County, and are the parents of three grown children.
What a Crew!
