New playground surfacing isn’t inexpensive (here’s how much poured rubber playground surfaces cost). But there are several ways to save time and especially cost when having a new playground surface installed.
3 Ways to Get The Most from Your Playground Surfacing Budget
One of the most frequent questions we hear when people contact us to ask about a new playground surface is “What can we do to get the poured rubber playground surface to fit within our budget?” We love to help our customers save money on their project and get the most out of their budget. Believe it or not, there are a few simple things that can be done to help with cost savings.
1. Use the right mix.
The first thing we recommend is utilizing a 50/50 black/color mix for the surface installation. (It’s the colored rubber that is the most expensive product used in poured in place surfacing.) By reducing the percentage of the colored rubber by half, thousands of dollars can be saved on a playground surfacing project. This causes some concern initially as customers sometimes worry that their poured in place surface will not have the vibrant color they are looking for. In fact, even with a 50/50 mix, the color is very pronounced. Visit our project gallery for examples (most of them were a 50/50 mix).
2. A little elbow grease in prep work.
Another way to realize some cost savings is to do the prep work yourself. Typically, before we can install a new playground surface, an existing play surface of some sort needs to be removed. While we’re happy to include these labor charges in our project costs, we encourage property owners and community volunteers to put their own sweat equity in to the project and save the budget for a fabulous looking play surface. Especially for local parks and recreation areas, we suggest:
- Getting the community involved
- Organizing a day for everyone to help out
- Having volunteers remove existing mulch
Using volunteers can help you save substantially on the labor cost of a playground surfacing project.
3. Take out the trash.
Are there any waste removal or trash collection companies in the area? Contracting for your own trash receptacle can provide additional cost savings.
Conclusion
We’re here to help install a cost-efficient playground surface. Contact us.
We take pride in being able to accommodate everyone’s budget. We’ll work with you to design a playground surface to fit your budget, even if that means using rubber playground tiles.
Do you have suggestions for additional ways to help save costs during a playground installation project? We’d love to hear from you! Contact Us with your ideas.