As landscape architects and playground designers, you can turn a simple play area into a captivating world of safe fun for children. Your creativity knows no bounds – from jungle-themed playgrounds with magical tree houses, delightful fire engines, and enchanting underwater realms featuring exotic sea creatures. AdventureTURF recognizes and appreciates your vital role. That’s why we have dedicated ourselves to complementing your masterpieces with high-quality, poured rubber playground surfacing.
Rubber surfacing is increasingly becoming the go-to choice when it comes to designing safe, durable, and visually appealing playgrounds and landscapes. This innovative material enhances the aesthetic appeal of playground space and offers myriad benefits that cater specifically to the needs of playground designers and landscape architects. Here, we’ll explore everything you need to know about how rubber surfacing can enhance all types of communities.
What is Poured Rubber Surfacing?
Poured-in-place rubber surfacing is a versatile material made from rubber sourced from recycled tires. At adventureTURF, you’ll find this same quality rubber formed into prefabricated tiles and pool decks, providing a flexible and customizable solution for your community space. Its primary components include crumb rubber and polyurethane binders, creating a durable and resilient surface.
Benefits of Rubber Surfacing
Rubber surfacing offers numerous advantages over traditional materials like concrete, wood chips, or sand. These benefits make it a preferred choice for playgrounds and public spaces:
Safety
One of the most significant benefits of rubber surfacing is its shock-absorbing properties, which reduce the risk of injuries from falls. This makes it an ideal choice for playgrounds where children are prone to trips and falls. For more information, see our articles on playground safety.
Durability
Rubber surfaces are highly resilient and can withstand heavy foot traffic and harsh weather conditions, ensuring longevity and reduced maintenance costs.
Aesthetic Appeal
Our poured rubber is available in various colors and designs, which allows for creative and visually appealing playgrounds and landscapes that can be customized to fit any theme or design preference.
Applications in Landscaping and Playground Design
AdventureTURF’s rubber surfacing is incredibly versatile and can be used in various applications beyond playgrounds. It is ideal for:
Walking Paths and Trails
Providing a comfortable and slip-resistant surface for pedestrians. It especially benefits senior housing, memory care, and rehab centers.
Gyms and Fitness Centers
Offering a durable and even surface for indoor and outdoor fitness play areas.
Pool Decks
Ensuring a slip-resistant and cushioned surface around swimming pools.
Gardens and Parks
Enhancing the aesthetic appeal while providing a comfortable walking surface.
The Process of Selecting and Installing Rubber Surfacing
Landscape architects should be familiar with the ins and outs of selecting and installing poured-in-place rubber surfacing and how it fits into your overall playground or landscape design.
Safety Standards and Regulations
When selecting rubber surfacing, it’s crucial to adhere to safety standards and regulations. In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) provide guidelines for playground surfaces. At adventureTURF, we ensure compliance with these standards to guarantee the surface will offer adequate protection against injuries.
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
Our carefully chosen partner, American Recycling Center, Inc, meticulously crafts our poured rubber. With their innovative ambient grinding process, using only the finest quality raw materials to produce premium rubber granules. These raw materials are scrupulously obtained from industrial manufacturers, ensuring they are free from wire, fiber, plastic, wood, and other undesirable contaminants. The rubber granules consist solely of superior industrial scrap black rubber varieties – EPDM, SBR, and Naturals. This contributes to sustainability efforts and helps reduce your project’s carbon footprint.
Installation Process
The installation process for rubber surfacing varies depending on the type of product chosen:
- Rubber Tiles: These are easy to install and can be laid over a prepared base. They interlock to create a seamless surface.
- Poured-in-Place Rubber: This involves mixing rubber granules with a binder and then pouring the mixture onto the prepared base. It is then troweled to smoothen the surface and allowed to cure.
- Rubber Mulch: This is spread over a prepared base, similar to wood mulch, and provides a loose-fill surface that can be easily maintained.
Supporting Accessible Playground Equipment
At adventureTurf, we envision a world where playgrounds are hubs of joy for every child — regardless of ability. To transform this vision into reality, we design playgrounds that meet the highest standards of safety, accessibility, and inclusivity.
What is an Accessible Playground?
Before designing an accessible playground, it’s imperative to understand what ‘accessibility’ in this context means. As laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an accessible playground refers to an inclusive play space that meets specific guidelines to ensure ease of use and enjoyment for individuals with disabilities.
These playgrounds focus on eliminating obstructions that might prevent a child with a mobility device from accessing and enjoying the play equipment alongside their peers. In a nutshell, accessibility is all about providing equal play opportunities for all children.
Key Components of Accessible Playgrounds
A successful accessible playground design requires a comprehensive approach that spans from the initial planning phase to diligent safety inspections post-construction. Here are some essential components of an accessible playground:
Site Selection and Planning
A thoughtful design process is the foundation of an inclusive playground. The layout should offer an accessible route to all users, ensuring equal access.
It’s crucial to understand and implement the ADA standards to achieve an accessible playground. Some guidelines include an accessible path for wheelchairs, the accessibility of at least half of elevated play equipment, and compliant surfacing.
Safety Standards
Safety is a priority. Understanding and adhering to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) guidelines ensure that your playground is safe for all.
Beyond these, other design elements like selecting the right surfacing material, having guardrails to prevent falls, creating adequate spacing between play structures, and eliminating potential tripping hazards play a vital role in making an accessible playground.
Design Your Next Playground Project With adventureTURF!
Consider incorporating rubber surfacing into your designs if you’re a playground designer or landscape architect looking to take your projects to new heights. Rubber surfacing revolutionizes playground design and landscaping by offering a safe, durable, and aesthetically pleasing solution for outdoor spaces. Its numerous benefits, including enhanced safety, durability, and environmental sustainability, make it an excellent choice for any project.
At adventureTURF, we appreciate the importance of safety and design in equal measure. When it comes to playground equipment, the foundation is just as crucial as the structure. A well-designed and installed playground surface offers safety, durability, and aesthetic appeal. Our poured rubber surface ensures a safe landing for children and acts as a beautiful canvas that can enhance your playground theme. Incorporating patterns, shapes, and even animal designs into the rubber surface makes the possibilities for creativity virtually limitless.
Our commitment to safety is unwavering. We work closely with you at every stage of the project, ensuring that all fall heights and safety requirements are in strict compliance with federal regulations. Our experienced installation crews are skilled in both poured and tile surface installation, and their expertise ensures that your designs come to life just as you envision them.
When you collaborate with adventureTURF, you are not just getting a service provider; you are gaining a dedicated partner. Whether you are bidding on a new project or need to install a surface around existing or new play equipment, we are committed to delivering stellar results that meet your deadlines and budget. And if you need to replace an old surface, we’re also happy to provide a competitive quote.
Explore the exciting fusion of creativity and safety that poured rubber playground surfacing can offer. Contact AdventureTURF today to discuss your project, or fill out our ‘Get a Quote’ form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Let’s create extraordinary play spaces together!
