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It is not so difficult to decide which swings to put on the playground. How to decide what kind of coverage should be there? Too many requirements. One option is rubber flooring for playgrounds. Recently, it has become more and more popular, since the knees and elbows on it do not suffer so severely. But in order for the coating to be safe, you need to know what to choose.
Requirements for coatings for playgrounds
Choosing a flooring for a playground is not easy at all. It must meet a number of requirements:
- Non-traumatic. It is desirable that when falling, there is a low probability of injury.
- High strength and reliability. Not all materials are able to withstand the onslaught of children. So the tensile strength and resistance to mechanical stress must be high.
This is what rubber flooring for playgrounds might look like - Waterproof. In order for the water to drain quickly, it is necessary either to make a slope, or the material must be permeable.
- Ease of cleaning. Everything is clear here – you will have to clean often. The easier the process of removing contaminants, the better. Ideally, if you can wash with a jet of water from a hose.
- Maintainability. Even very durable material can be torn, broken if desired. The ability to repair is very important.
- Non-slip when wet.
In general, choosing the right coating for the playground, to put it mildly, is not easy. And I also want it to be beautiful and inexpensive. Most of the requirements are met by a rubber coating. For playgrounds, this is perhaps the best option.
Types of rubber coatings
Rubber covers are made from synthetic rubber (virgin material) or recycled rubber (recycled). If this is a rubber crumb coating, a dye is added for color. Polyurethane adhesive is used as a binder. All components are non-natural. The polyurethane-based binder is harmless and harmless (when dry).
But the crumbs must be chosen. It is impossible to say that crumb rubber from recycled tires is safe. It has a characteristic odor. It intensifies as the temperature rises. And on the sites in the summer with such a coating there is a distinct smell of rubber. It’s hardly useful.
Synthetic EPDM rubber is definitely harmless and does not smell even at high temperature. It can be heated up to 150°C without damage. It is even used in the food industry. Another thing is that such materials are more expensive. But safety on the playground is important and it is better not to save. If you want your playground rubber to be both beautiful and safe, look for materials that are 100% EPDM chips, not recycled materials.
There are three types of rubber coatings:
- rubber tiles;
- roll;
- seamless (crumb with glue is placed on the prepared base).
We are now talking about coatings for outdoor playgrounds for children. And we consider the coating for year-round use on the street. So they have frost resistance and resistance to the sun. Moreover, all types of coatings are made on the basis of crumb rubber. They just have different forms of release, with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Rubber crumb tile
Rubber tiles are separate fragments. Most often these are squares with a side of 500 mm. There are with smooth edges, there are with formed cutouts / locks. The thickness of the material can be from 20 mm to 50 mm. With a tile thickness of 20-30 mm, the coating is hard, with low shock-absorbing ability. If you want a playground rubber flooring to give a springy effect when dropped, you need plates from 35 mm to 50 mm thick.
Which is better to choose
In terms of reliability, options with locks are more attractive. But in any case, everything is laid on a platform limited by curbs (curbs), the tiles are laid close – even if you want to take out one fragment with smooth edges, it is very difficult. So you don’t have to worry about this, and laying even tiles is easier.
It is better to take care of the quality of the tiles. It is made from compressed rubber crumb. Color, usually, is made multi-layered. Below – a cheaper black crumb, above – a layer of color. In any case, it is better to feel and crush it. Literally. It is clear that a plate with a thickness of 35 mm or more cannot be bent into a donut, but some kind of elasticity must be present. By bending it in different directions, you should not see any changes. No cracks or creases should appear on the front or on the inside. Edges and edges should not crumble. They must be strong, not succumb to mechanical stress.
In tiles with smooth edges, some manufacturers make chamfers – this is such a small bevel along the edge of the tile. Perhaps this way the tile itself looks better. But it is better to have a rubber coating for a playground that is absolutely even. So that nothing is poured into these grooves and falls asleep. Cleaning up will definitely be easier. In general, you have to choose, but a flat surface seems to be more preferable precisely from the point of view of practicality.
Styling Features
Lay crumb rubber tiles on a flat base. It can be concrete, dry screed, asphalt. There is a special type for laying on a compacted gravel bed, on top of which a layer of sand has been laid and leveled. Special tiles are thicker, with a layer of a denser substrate. The laying technology itself is similar to the procedure for laying paving slabs – level the sand to a level, lay out the tiles, besiege with a rubber mallet. To make the coating more stable and the seams do not rise, screeds are driven into the ends of the tile (into the already laid tile, then the next one is placed on it).
There is another technology that allows you to get an almost monolithic coating of rubber tiles. When laying, we coat the end face with polyurethane glue, we join tightly with the previously laid row. We fix the junction with several brackets from a construction stapler (steel bracket 10 mm long). For each seam 3-4 staples. When laying the first row, we coat only the right or only the left end, in the second and all subsequent ones – two adjoining ones. After the glue dries (about 24 hours, but you need to look at the package), we take out the staples with a clerical anti-stapler (it’s also a cleaver, unfastener, staple extractor, dragon) or prying with a screwdriver. As a result, we get an almost monolithic rubber coating for playgrounds.
Also, rubber flooring for playgrounds in the form of tiles can be laid on a concrete screed. In this case, polyurethane adhesive is required. Consumption – 1-2 kg per square meter.
First, the screed is cleaned, dried, then covered with a primer layer (60% glue + 40% white spirit). There is no need to wait for the primer to dry or soak, so you can prime in small pieces to make it easier to work. Then each tile is smeared with glue, laid on the base and pressed well. For high-quality gluing, every 1-2 square meters laid is rolled with a heavy (at least 20 kg) roller.
In both cases, when laying the playground rubber, take care not to stain the front surface with glue. He doesn’t rub off. The trail still remains. Yes, it is not so noticeable after a couple of weeks, but it still spoils the mood.
Seamless rubber crumb coating (rubber asphalt)
Another type of rubber coating for playgrounds is made from crumbs mixed with polyurethane glue. Rubber crumb is of two categories:
- From recycled tires. It’s black and cheaper. Using this crumb, it is advisable to first sift it, remove the sand, and extract (with the help of magnets) metal fragments that may be found there.
- Made of EPDM synthetic rubber. This type of crumb comes from factories, it is made specially. More expensive, but it is used even in the food industry, so it is definitely not harmful.
In order for the crumb to acquire a certain color, pigment is added to it. It wraps around every piece, so it should be of good quality. The pigment can be almost any color, but crumb rubber was originally developed for stadiums and other sports facilities, so the most common colors are red, blue, and green. They are in any company, and often several manufacturers to choose from.
Styling Features
There are no special laying secrets. If you have ever worked with concrete, then this is something very similar. Can be laid on compacted fine gravel, sand, backfill. Perfect for concrete and asphalt in any condition. What’s good is that they don’t even need to be aligned. In general, a large number of irregularities increases the consumption of crumbs, and this is costly in terms of money. Therefore, many prefer to pre-patch the intended site of application.
Before applying the composition, the base is coated with a primer (polyurethane glue diluted with white spirit). It can be primed in parts, it is difficult to walk on glue. It is not necessary to wait for the primer to dry.
The crumb is mixed in a container with glue (the percentage is indicated by the manufacturer), the finished viscous mass is laid out on the base and leveled with a large spatula or trowel. To prevent the composition from sticking to the spatula, it can be sprayed with aerosol lubricant such as WD or any other silicone oils. But not plants or animals. EPDM rubber reacts badly to them – it dissolves.
The minimum layer when applying rubber crumb to the coating is 1 cm. To avoid problems with flaking, try not to do less. The time until the glue sets may vary, but on average plasticity lasts 30-40 minutes. Therefore, do not close too large volumes. After a piece is laid out, it is desirable to compact it with a roller. To make the surface more dense, the skating rink can be dipped in turpentine.
The rubber coating for playgrounds made of crumbs is seamless. Although it is laid in parts, the transitions are almost imperceptible. Unless if you take a long break, during which the edges of the laid fragment will dry completely. But for a playground, usually small volumes are needed, so this is not common. And yes, the difference fades over time. Not literally. She just becomes invisible.
Roll coating
Rolls are also formed from crumb rubber. They are homogeneous, single-layer and can be of different sizes, depending on the manufacturer. You can find these:
- thickness from 8 mm to 40 mm;
- roll width – from 60 cm to 122 cm;
- length – from 10 meters, but depends on the thickness.
The laying process is described above, in the section on rubber flooring for playgrounds made of tiles. It differs only in that it is necessary to smear not the coating with glue, but apply it to the base, then roll the roll onto the smeared area. It must be pressed well, preventing air from entering. It is easier to achieve this if you press simultaneously across the entire width.
If you need to lay more than one roll, the joints can also be made almost invisible and monolithic. Lubricate the edge with glue, dock and secure with staples from the stapler. Remove the staples after the glue has dried.