When winter is ending and springtime is burning off the snow and rain, we start to receive calls from families who are working on play areas and wanting to make the area safe for playground equipment for their children. Since playground surfacing is not a common purchase made everyday, we often get a lot of questions regarding the products. There are many valuable questions we are consistently asked and would like to share a few along with some answers regarding outdoor safety matting.
The most often asked questions are regarding installation. "How do I install the tiles?"
Customers are surprised when we tell them that most of our products are easy to install. Many safety tiles for playgrounds that we offer are really easy to handle and can be installed by any novice. Most tiles use some mechanism to adjoin the neighboring floors together. But whether it is a jigsaw type edge built on the mat or interlocking pins that connect the tiles, it is really easy to do! Installing the tiles yourself also cuts down on costs as installation of playground flooring is usually a large expense. There are no hidden costs with our safety floors.
Another question is, "How do I cut the tiles if need be?"
Sometimes tiles need to be cut, which is also easily done with minimal skill required. Using a sharp utility knife with a metal straight edge, such as a ruler or carpenter’s square, a nice clean cut can be achieved without professional tools. Unless the area requires excessive excavating or an intricate installation, anyone who has handled simple home renovations could install our safety surfacing for playgrounds.
Another question that is often is asked is, “How thick of a rubber floor do I need for my child and her playground?”
This question is a little trickier to answer, as it would depend on the needs of the area. The thicker products, (generally around 2.5 inches thick) offer the highest protection as safety surfacing for playgrounds. These products generally have a safety rating that they have been tested for, which is indicated as a “safety fall height”. These types of products would be for the tall playgrounds 4 to 5 feet or even taller! For playgrounds that are designed for younger children and lack fall heights, a thinner product might save some money but still provide an excellent surface.
We often get asked why our product would work better than materials such as wood chips or mulch.
There are a number of benefits rubber tiles have over these products, the biggest reason probably being cleanliness. Wood chips and mulch are often moved around, whether it’s caused by wind or from children playing, which means a lot of raking to maintain the area. Movement of loose-fill material also means that you are never sure if the floor space which is suppose to protect from a fall has enough padding.
"How about cleaning and maintenance?"
Cats, dogs and other animals can use this area as their litter box, which is not healthy for children! Loose-fill material will not be so easy to clean. Spiders and other pests can also make their homes in wood chips, which can lead to some unfortunate problems! Using a rubber tile product as an outdoor safety mat offers easy maintenance, simply hose the tiles down and you won’t have to worry about unwanted surprises. Since our tiles are made with recycled tire crumb they are not affected by water, moisture or the outdoors. Just like tires these rubber tiles last for years and thankfully we can turn some of passenger car tires into consumer products and get them out of landfills.
These are just some of the questions that come up with this product, but it is really an easy product to handle. Installation can be done by practically anyone, and they give peace of mind whether it is for a school playground or a backyard, that children playing on it will be safe.