rubber chippings for play areas
rubber chippings for play areas
Author
Discussion

A.C.E

Original Poster:

478 posts

270 months

Tuesday 30th August 2011
quotequote all
hi,
anyone here have any experience of the rubber chippings/bark for play areas?

i'm landscaping my garden and we are having a play area for junior and i am considering these instead of play bark. i've looked on tinterweb for prices and they seem to vary in price b a large amount. the area that will be covered will (roughly) 30m2. how do they hold up to wear, colourchange and most importantly, do they do what they're supposed to? (protect the little loved ones from falls etc....

cheers for the replies in advance.

Al.

M400 NBL

3,547 posts

236 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
I wish I could help with regards to rubber chips!

Have you considered rubber matting, as used in gyms. Not sure how it weathers but it's getting cheaper....

anonymous-user

78 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
A.C.E said:
hi,
anyone here have any experience of the rubber chippings/bark for play areas?

i'm landscaping my garden and we are having a play area for junior and i am considering these instead of play bark. i've looked on tinterweb for prices and they seem to vary in price b a large amount. the area that will be covered will (roughly) 30m2. how do they hold up to wear, colourchange and most importantly, do they do what they're supposed to? (protect the little loved ones from falls etc....

cheers for the replies in advance.

Al.
Hi, you could try giving www.tyrerenewals.co.uk a ring. I have done some business with them in the past and remember him saying that they make rubber pellets for playgrounds like you're talking about.

Might be a bit of an industrial scale but worth a go. The owner is a nice chap.

Tiggsy

10,261 posts

276 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
Waiting for the PH response of "concert the lot, didn't do me any harm"

Gnits

1,088 posts

225 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
Where in the country are you and how much do you need?

Johnnytheboy

24,499 posts

210 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
My Mrs will know - will ask her later.

thecopster

244 posts

190 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
Thread Hijack!!

I too am in the market for some rubber chippings.

After 1x500kg bag delivered to Bristol

Anybody know a good source?

Thanks

Johnnytheboy

24,499 posts

210 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
Mrstheboy used to work for a playground installer, she says go with bark.

It's cheaper & easier to source.

-Pete-

2,914 posts

200 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
Tiggsy said:
Waiting for the PH response of "concert the lot, didn't do me any harm"
Just worked out what you meant smile

Bark is a lot cheaper than rubber, but has a shorter life. We used coarse bark chippings, much cheaper than play bark, 6" deep initially but has compacted to 4" over 3 years. We'll top it up every few years, but it's still going to work out cheaper over the years.

Gnits

1,088 posts

225 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
You should be able to get 800-1000kg of rubber for horse menage for about £40 not sure how that compares to bark though.
Comes in large full height farm size fertilizer bags.

freecar

4,249 posts

211 months

Wednesday 31st August 2011
quotequote all
30m2?!!

Just rubber the kids, it'll be more cost effective!

matts4

2,083 posts

215 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
Did exactly this a year ago. Looked at bark, but it went against it due to the fact it holds moisture, will blow around and also that cats like taking a dump in it.
I bought a 500kg bag of rubber chippings off a eBay retailer in the end. I went for rubber as they were non toxic, don't blow around, don't need to be topped up, quick to dry and don't attract cats.

Having lived with them for a year, I'm sure I made the right choice.

The only downside would be the fact that young kids (as in any age between 1 and 6) do like to throw them about. Drives me nuts getting them off the grass, but wood chip would have been no different.

If you need the eBay retailer details, I can dig it up when back in the country later this week.

They were well priced from memory as I researched them quite heavily at the time. 250 quid springs to mind but can confirm if that helps?

Cheers
Matt

matts4

2,083 posts

215 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
Double post.

Edited by matts4 on Thursday 1st September 03:16

hidetheelephants

34,211 posts

217 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
matts4 said:
Did exactly this a year ago. Looked at bark, but it went against it due to the fact it holds moisture, will blow around and also that cats like taking a dump in it.
hehe The law of unintended consequences; perhaps there's a market for a chemical which can be sprayed on bark chips that will make them smell like rubber? scratchchinidea

Sixpackpert

5,105 posts

238 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
Just used rubber chippings in our garden. We have a friend that works for http://www.ecoscapemulch.co.uk/looserubbermulch.ht... so we got a load of quarantined stock for free!

Looks good but smells a bit funky for a week or so!

thecopster

244 posts

190 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
Sixpackpert said:
Just used rubber chippings in our garden. We have a friend that works for http://www.ecoscapemulch.co.uk/looserubbermulch.ht... so we got a load of quarantined stock for free!

Looks good but smells a bit funky for a week or so!
Thats the sort of deal i'm after - is that offer repeatable :-)

sharpfocus

13,816 posts

215 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
Tiggsy said:
Waiting for the PH response of "concert the lot, didn't do me any harm"
Could be painful landing on the string section.

Concrete?

Chrisgr31

14,234 posts

279 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
I used bark around ours, no problem with the cats dumping in it, and installed a land drain under it which has dealt with water issues. It doesn't blow around either maybe because I am using a woodland bark which has larger pieces?

For the "I didn't have a soft landing when I was a kid brigade" when we first installed the play equipment it sat straight on the lawn, the problem was that underneath the swings and at the stepping points on to the rest of it became a sea of mud, and all the grass was worn away.

To try and install some element of danger the bark is set down into the lawn with a wooden trim easily if falling distance

Tiggsy

10,261 posts

276 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
sharpfocus said:
Tiggsy said:
Waiting for the PH response of "concert the lot, didn't do me any harm"
Could be painful landing on the string section.

Concrete?
Fell on hard ground a lot as a kid, hence cant spell. If only I'd had a rubber play area!

shakotan

10,861 posts

220 months

Thursday 1st September 2011
quotequote all
freecar said:
30m2?!!

Just rubber the kids, it'll be more cost effective!