Summer Projects – Backyard DIY Water Slides
In our previous Summer Projects article we looked at building a backyard roller coasters.
Roller coasters aren’t for everybody. They can also be rather costly and require a great deal of resources and knowledge to actually build one. Building a safe one, that is.
Today we’re taking a look at another backyard thrill ride — the homemade water slide.
Water slides are fun, they’re a great way to cool off in the heat of the summer, and when channeling your inner redneck, the backyard water slides can be pretty wild and crazy. Throw in some beers and it gets even crazier.
A water slide with a massive jump and the rider landing in a pool of water. Unfortunately, this video is a fake.
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A clip from “MythBusters” proving that the previous video is a fake.
Backyard water slides can be classified into three categories.
The first category of water slides are those that are true water slides. These slides are elevated off the ground, they normally have a steep drop, and they finish in a pool of water. Like the modified slip and slides, many of these DIY water slides also have some sort of jump at the end to further the amusement of the rider and everybody watching from the sides. People will pull out all stops and build massive water slides, some of them going so far as using the roof of a house as a starting point.
Your second category of water slide is basically a gigantic slip and slide. These slides use sheets of plastic and a naturally hilly terrain to provide the thrills. All you need is a nice hill, lots of plastic sheets and equipment to hold it in place, running water, and some sort of water at the end of the slide. Some people take this concept a step further and add a jump at the end, giving the rider some airtime before making a splash landing in the water.
The third category of a water slide is also the smallest. These slides are built for toddlers and grade school kids. You can take existing playground equipment or inflatable slides and make a quick and easy slide for the kiddies. All you have to do is have a hose at the top running water down the slide, and then have a tiny pool of water at the bottom that catches the equally small rider.
Now that we have a better understanding of homemade water slides, let’s take a look at several examples found on the Internet.
Category 1 water slides
Let’s start our journey with one of the coolest homemade water slides on the Internet. Actually, these are two water slides that when timed right, it creates an awesome experience. One rider slides down a hill and through a vertical loop with the second rider slides down a hill and over a jump, taking them through that same loop. Kudos to the people who engineered and made a slide of this magnitude work flawlessly.
Here’s another angle and two different riders for that same water slide.
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This one is an oldie in the Internet age, but it’s still one of the coolest backyard water slides ever made. These people used a house as the base support for the slide. After starting at a height of what looks to be about thirty feet above the ground, the riders slide down a sixty foot slide, hit a ramp, and jump a whopping sixteen feet into an inflatable pool. It’s a combination of awesome and crazy. One could only wonder what the first rider was thinking when the slide was tested.
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Speaking of planning a water slide’s jump, be very careful if larger (a.k.a. fatter) people want to take a ride. Assuming there’s enough water and soap along the slide, the larger riders will hit a faster speed and may overshoot the landing pool during the jump. Make sure there’s a soft landing spot should somebody either fall short or overshoot the target.
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Here’s another video of a steep drop and a slide with a jump. This time around you start high up in a tree and fly seventeen feet after the jump.
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This DIY water slide doesn’t have a terrifying height or steep drop, but it sure looks like fun.
The same backyard water slide the next year.
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Here we have construction shots as well as test runs of a water slide that finishes in a river. They claim that the height is about forty feet above the water. The jump, however, lacks any major airtime.
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This water slide is pretty neat. It starts with a short, sixteen foot drop, but it continues sliding a total of 135 feet into a pond. It looks like some people could reach some pretty fast speeds on this slide.
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In this video we see the transformation of a small water slide with a jump turning into, well, a slightly larger water slide with a jump. Keep watching to the end and you’ll see a guy holding a bottle of beer and landing on his head in the small pool of water.
Category 2 water slides
This water slide is a steep slip and slide that uses a large hill and finishes with a jump and splash landing into a river.
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Next is a video claiming to be the longest homemade water slide. Shot in Australia, this video shows the construction progress and finally people enjoying the finished slide. As you can see, this person spared no expense and built himself a very large slip and slide-style of water slide.
Redneck water slides (many are Category 2 slides)
Up first we have a backyard water slide that begins on some large bales of hay. After a short drop, the riders continue sliding down a slip and slide until splashing into a pond.
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Starting with a nice <burp>, this redneck water slide shows you how to have some fun, redneck style. The slide looks like fun, and as you can see, the people even dug a hole and built a small splash pond at the end of the slide, proving that you don’t need a large body of water at the end of your backyard water slide.
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This backyard water slide is from the great state of Mississippi. The slide is simple and takes riders down a nice hill. The splash pool though, looks a bit muddy at times. Some shots show a tarp holding clean water at the base of the slide, while other shots show the pool without the tarp and the water looks, well, muddy. But the kids and parents love it, and that’s what counts. Look for one of the adults to smack into a little kid halfway down the slide.
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You know it’s a redneck video when . . . the beginning of the video has six rednecks competing in a Coors Light beer chugging contest.
After the chugging contest we see said rednecks having fun on their water slide, a creation nicknamed the Plastic Mountain of Doom. Notice how this slide features a curve to the left before hitting a small jump and finishing in a lake. The curve takes away the riders’ overall speed and lessens the effects of the jump, but it also adds to the challenge of staying on the slide. I like the concept of this slide, and the music is fitting.
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This redneck backyard water slide kicks things up a notch by using what looks like a long drainage tube as the slide. It’s a dark journey down the long tube and into the pool at the end. These people obviously put a lot of work into this structure and slide, and it looks somewhat scary, but fun.
Check out that custom-built landing pool at the end of the slide.
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Here’s another drainage tube converted into a redneck water slide. This time around the tube is open and the riders make a high-speed splash landing into a lake. I can picture some of my friends building a similar water slide up at Lake Burton.
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Now this redneck-built backyard water slide was built for serious airtime! Watch as the riders climb onto the roof, slide down the ramp, and then do flips and twist before making a splash landing into the pool. This water slide has “personal injury lawsuit” written all over it, but nobody cares. It’s all about having fun. This is exactly the kind of attitude we need more of in this great country of ours.
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God, I love rednecks. These people are innovative, crafty and fearless in the face of certain death (or a horrific leg injury, such as what can very likely happen on this final water slide).
This final redneck water slide is perhaps the pinnacle of the redneck videos. This is a slide so simple in concept yet horrifying when you actually look at it, and that “splashdown” practically screams “CHILD ABUSE!”
In this video, watch in amusement as grandpa constructs a water slide for the kiddies. Don’t worry about needing an actual slide (like a drainage pipe), or even a sheet of plastic. As long as you have a house with a roof, and a plastic wading pool with some water, then you’re practically finished. All grandpa really has to do is build a small wooden ramp to connect the roof with the knee-deep water.
Yes, they’re really going to slide down a WOODEN ROOF, down a very steep WOODEN SLIDE, and then land at a high speed and sharp angle into a tiny kiddie pool. Water from a hose and what looks like detergent provides enough lubrication to create a slippery surface.
It’s all fun and games as grandpa sends the kids down his water slide again and again. Even mom doesn’t seem to care about the incredibly high probability that the kids can get seriously injured. It’s summertime! Go have some fun, dammit!
One thing is for sure — those kids are a lot tougher than your kids.
Are you inspired yet to start building your own backyard water slide?