Believe it or not, we have pebble rock. Yes, it's a nightmare and the PTO wants to change it. Begain discussion very casual--
* recycle tire wasn't used because it can become moldy--lots of allergy issues
* a foamy surface too expensive
* wood chips....no
*etc
somehow pebble rock became the surface of choice and towards the end the playground equipment cost a little more than budgeted. I should tell you ALL this was done by hte school as part of our new building but now the PTO would like to make some improvements/changes.

SO the million dollar questoin...what's on your playground surface???

We have pea stones. At the park down by the beach is all sand. Either way the kids have it in their shoes. I don't know what else to use. I agree with no tires & wood chips. Good luck.

We have pea pebble but, here's an idea -- our State sponsors grants to purchase rubber matting made from recycled tires. The grant is 75% of the purchase price. It takes a $10/sq foot product down to $2.50/sq !!

Codee
What state are you in?
Julie

Believe it or not our school playground is a MESS! The small one is on asphalt. Yes, asphalt. My husband wrote a scathing letter to the principal about it and they finally just attached the slide to the concrete. That tells you about surfacing here. Last year they sent a kid to the hospital after hitting his head on the asphalt falling off the merry go round. Still no improvements. Not only that we have a transformer not fenced in on the small playground, swings up near a fence, holes in the asphalt for trip hazards, and curbs with pointed edges for fall hazards. Oh I must say they did finally cap the exposed screws on the equipment after my husbands complaints.

The big playground is over grass. Not much better. There is some beaten down gravel but that is it. But at least there aren't as many hazards as on the small one.

Finally, this year our PTO is looking at adding some equipment. We are purchasing (hopefully) this awesome slide and after much arguing over the importance of safety, I got them to consider surfacing at least under the new slide. We are doing pea gravel at a depth of 12 inches to meet critical fall guidelines. The salesman told me the problem with gravel is it doesn't meet ADA requirements. But, in our case it will work because we send physically challenged kids to a different school and if we had a wheelchair student we could do a mulch path for it to go over (they did this at another school in the district).

We have major wind here so mulch is not a good option. We looked at the rubber surfacing, but it is SOOOO expensive that we aren't pursuing it. They barely want to spend the money on gravel can you imagine rubber surfacing! I think since our slide is coming in under budget, I am going to suggest we get extra gravel and fill in some of our other equipment as well.

Our first building didn't even have a playground so this is like going from your beater car in high school to a brand new shiny car you buy for the first time!!

I think we are going to have to look at two to three different surface solutions since there is enough space to toss a foot ball, lots of equipment (no merry-go-rounds) and a great spaces for those little girl conversations. Wind, sun, snow and we are exposed to the North, East and South. Would love to see sod, grass but waering costs are an issue. Also we are in a former shopping center and what used to be the "garden center" is the waiting area for our students. Would love an awning etc but $$$$.

Sounds like we are going to need to go beyond skate parties and family nights out to raise some REAL money!!