For those of you who have just done new playgrounds, what ground coverings did you use. I am looking at the shredded rubber, but don't know what kind of luck I will have in persuading PTO to take on the investment. I was just wondering what your costs looked like just on the surfacing. Also, what size area did that cover.

Thanks,
Julie

I was wondering the same thing! It is very expensive, but to me, the safety benefits seem to outweigh the costs. I am having a hard time figuring out how much of this stuff we will need, so I really can't help you out. I would love to hear what anyone else has paid.

Here's a company that gives descriptionas of each type of surface

NuPlay

American School Board Journal - Playground info


Older article but has some other playground links


Its a PDF with lots of Manufacturuers

[ 11-02-2005, 01:46 AM: Message edited by: Shawn ]

Funny you should ask....we just had a playground meeting as this is our next item we want to complete. We discussed different ground coverings as well. Wood fiber is the cheapest option (a step up from traditional mulch)...but you have to have 4" of pea gravel and then add 8" of wood fiber on top. It is approx. $0.90 a square foot...BUT it requires maintenance. Every 3-4 years it has to have approx. 3" of top dress because it breaks down. You have to rake it twice yearly. Now the option we are going for is the chunked shredded rubber. It requires 3-4" of pea gravel and then 6" deep of the rubber. It is approx. $3.00 per sq ft but there is no maintenance other than pushing it back into the playground with a broom if it gets on the sidewalk. You never have to top dress it like the wood fiber. So although it is more of an expensive upfront, you won't have to worry about adding to it every 3-4 years.
Hope that helps!
Amy

We opened our new playground at the start of school. We used a specific palyground mulch. 240 cubic yards cost us approx. $6,000 plus you have to excavate to (I think) 12 inches. We did not use shredded rubbers as those of us who have kids who playindoor soccer reminded everyone that the shredded rubber gets in the shoes and then will get tracked into the scool building and your homes. It is a pain. Also, pea gravel will get in the kids shoes too. The mulch has worked well and is suprisingly very soft, especially with a 12 inch depth.