Children’s Climbing Frame Safety Surfacing

 

Safety flooring is the perfect way to ensure your children can play happily and safely on any garden play equipment including climbing frames and kids playsets. There are a number of different safety flooring materials available on the market including:

  • Wet pour rubber
  • Rubber bark
  • Sandpits
  • Artificial grass

 

Is Safety Flooring a Necessity?

If the play equipment is to be used on commercial premises such as pub playgrounds for example then it will more than likely require a safety surface. The same goes for if the play equipment is to be used in educational premises such as schools, nurseries and so on. These will require safety flooring which conforms with critical fall height regulations etc.

If the playset you are purchasing is only to be used in a residential premise ie. Your own back garden then it is not something you need to get but it is strongly recommended that you do take safety precautions with any children’s play equipment. Safety flooring used with kids playsets and so on can mean the difference between a serious injury and a bruise if a child were to fall so it is something worth thinking about.

 

What Amount of Safety Surfacing Will I Need?

The recommended safety surfacing area needed with any particular climbing frame or playset is calculated using the critical fall height of the play equipment.

Critical Fall Height Surface Distance From Equipment
Under 1.5m 1.5m
1.51m to 1.8m 1.7m
1.81m to 2.0m 1.83m
2.1m to 2.2m 1.96m

 

What Safety Flooring Do I Choose?

Personal preference as with anything will certainly come into it when deciding what safety flooring you will use. Also friends and family may recommend a material to you and so on. The type of safety surfacing you choose will also depend on what play equipment you have and its critical fall height. The safety flooring you decide to use will of course also depend upon your budget and how much you wish to spend. Smaller playsets with a low critical fall height say under 1m can be installed on grass without the need for safety flooring.

The estimated maximum CFH for different safety surfaces are outlined below.

  • Grass – up to 1.5m
  • Natural Bark – up to 3m
  • Rubber Bark – up to 3m
  • Sand, depending on thickness – up to 3m
  • Wet Pour – up to 2.2m
  • Lawnmat – up to 2.1m

 

How Much Will My Safety Flooring Cost?

Sandpits and loose materials including rubber bark and natural bark will often be priced up by square metres. The cost of wet pour surfacing tends to rely on a number of factors which can affect the price such as the play area needing to be covered, whether preparation ground work is required and which colour you choose.

The Benefits of Loose Material Safety Surfacing eg. Bark and Sand

  1. Lower cost than other safety flooring
  2. If you wish for your safety surface to look natural and blend into its landscape
  3. If you need to make an uneven area of ground level
  4. If the play area you wish to use is muddy or boggy

The worst thing about loose material safety surfacing is that it will need to be topped up and can be more messy than other safety flooring materials.

 

Is Lawnmat a Good Choice?

  1. Low price, generally does not require preparatory ground work
  2. Lawnmat has a CFH value of up to 3m
  3. For areas you wish to blend into the landscape
  4. Lawnmat is environmentally friendly
  5. Great for muddy or uneven play areas

 

Why Choose Wet Pour Safety Flooring?

Wet pour is made up of rubber granules which are held together with resin. The rubber granules brilliantly absorbent and therefore take most of the impact from a fall to prevent serious injuries. Wet pour safety flooring offers a fantastic spongy play surface which comes in a range of different colours to make play time more exciting.

  1. Wet pour is perfect for any play equipment with a CFH of up to 3m.
  2. Wet pour can be laid to suit any floor pattern
  3. Wet pour comes in a wide range of different colours
  4. Requires very little maintenance

 

Wet Pour Application

Any hard surface such as tarmac or concrete make the perfect base for wet pour to be installed on top of. Installing wet pour on grass will require preparatory ground work which can increase the cost of installation.

For assistance with the installation of your climbing frame or safety surface, do not hesitate to contact climbing frame installers. Our professional, experienced team of climbing frame builders and safety flooring installers are here to help.