Playground safety surfacing options

Prefabricated Rubber Tiles

Combination of Wood Fiber and Poured-In-Place Rubber Surfaces

Poured-In-Place Rubber

ADA accessible surfaces

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Carefully choose a safety surfacing material that best suits your playground project budget, accessibility requirements and design goals.

Synthetic Turf

Combination of Wood Fiber, Turf and Poured-In Place Surfaces

playground safety surfacing material OPtions

Poured-in-place rubber safety surfacing

Poured-In-Place safety surfacing has become the safety surfacing of choice for many of our clients due to the design flexibility options, seamless installation and low maintenance requirements. The fabrication on-site provides many options, shapes and thicknesses for almost any application. The material can be applied to slopes as steep a 30 degrees, which makes it perfect for mounds, hills, and other elevation changes.

Advantages

• Accessible surface
• Seamless installation
• Design Flexibility
• Numerous colors and combinations of colors
  
• Not prone to insects
• Easy to clean
  
• Firm footing
  
• Low life cycle cost
• Low maintenance
• Drains well

Disadvantages

• High initial cost
• Must be installed by professional installers
• Weather sensitive at time of install
  
• Requires compacted stone base or hard base
  

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prefabricated rubber tile surfacing

Rubber tiles are a durable option, with densely pressed formed rubber, offering a long life. The multiple color options allow for patterns and shapes with in the playground surface. The dense rubber will require little maintenance over the product's lifetime. The firm surface is

Advantages

• Accessible surface
• Numerous colors available
• Not prone to insects
• Easy to clean
  
• Firm footing
  
• Low life cycle cost
• Low maintenance

Disadvantages

• High initial costs
• Best installed by experienced installers
• Seams can catch debris over time
• Best if installed over hard base, concrete or asphalt
  
• Tiles can shrink over time
  
• Weather sensitive installation
  

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Synthetic turf safety surfacing

Synthetic playground turf material offers a natural look without the high maintenance associated with real grass while offering various foam pad thicknesses for variable critical fall heights. This friendly surface is great for any play playground, including toddler play areas.

Advantages

• Accessible surface
• Seamless looking installation
  
• Natural looking surface
• Not prone to insects
• Low life cycle cost
• Low maintenance

Disadvantages

• High initial cost
• Best installed by experience installers
• Fibers can become matted over time requiring some periodic fluffing
  
• Material can get hot in the sun
• Requires perimeter boards for fastening

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Engineered Wood Fiber surfacing

Engineered wood fiber (EWF), the most common surfacing material installed on playgrounds, is a natural alternative to the rubber and turf materials. The much lower initial cost is a trade off for a much higher level of maintenance. EWF is considered an accessible surface when compacted and maintained level and firm.

Advantages

• Accessible surface with regular maintenance
• Low initial cost
• Easily installed
• Natural organic material
• Can't be used in daycare setting for toddlers

Disadvantages

• High maintenance
• May require containment with borders
• Material degrades quickly if it stays moist
• Good drainage required underneath
• Regular replenishment required
• Can house insects
• Full replacement of material may be required if poorly drained or not maintained
  

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Loose fill rubber mulch surfacing

Loose fill rubber mulch offers a highly resilient material. While it falls in the mid-range of prices, rarely will it be considered handicapped accessible without the use of more permanent ADA paths formed from other unitary materials.

Advantages

• Very resilient material
• Medium initial cost
• Easily installed
• Color options
  
• Dries quickly after rain
  
• Can't be used in daycare setting for toddlers

Disadvantages

• Usually not an accessible surface
• Material displaces easily
• Regular maintenance require to move displaced material
  
• Material will not degrade but that may mean that it ends up all over the play yard and will be there forever
  

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Combination of playground safety surfacing materials

Utilizing more than one surface can provide some variety in the surface materials, offering different sensory experiences. Using lower cost materials along with higher cost surfaces is a way to reduce the budget while maintaining accessibility. Careful design planning is required to achieve a truly accessible play area  if loose fill materials are included.