The Chad Experience: DIY Gaga Ball Pit Design

There are quite a few variants of DIY Gaga Ball Pits out there. I wanted to share my version which looks great, has rock solid wall bounces and will last for years.

It's created using three 2x10's that are 8 feet long on each of the octagon. I found that the 2x10 was the ideal board size for creating just the right sized gaps between the boards that you can get your feet in to use as steps to climb over, but not a gap so big that it causes the ball to have weird bounces.

The 8' sides are probably overkill, but we have a pretty large group of kids in the neighborhood, and it gets plenty of use as you can see. Our biggest game has probably been 4 adults and 8 kids, and it never felt crowded. We had the space to make it this large, but I could definitely see making a 6' version if cost or space were an issue.

I chose to mount the hinges externally and miter the corners for a more finished look and a little more stability/locking. Some people choose to mount the hinges internally and leave square ends on the lumber which I think looks a little unfinished.

There are no ground anchors with this design, which simplifies installation, and our gaga ball pit walls have never shifted in the two summers of use. With this design, we could move or disassemble it if needed. The weight of the lumber and the locking miters hold it firmly in place.

Here is a breakdown of the lumber costs when the gaga ball pit was originally constructed in the spring of 2023. This doesn't include about $30 in 4" black hinge hardware from a big box store.

Quantity	Lumber	Curtis Lumber		Home Depot
Quantity	Lumber	Per Board	Per Foot	Per Board	Per Foot
24	2x10x8 Treated	$15.69	$1.96	$13.88	$1.74
6	2x4x12 Treated	$11.19	$0.93	$8.88	$0.74
	Total	$443.70		$386.40

Here is a CAD drawing of my version:

Originally, I only had the end vertical members to save a little on lumber, but the 2x10's would shake and absorb a lot of the ball's energy with a hit in the middle of the span.