1. Ensure full Slip Resistance
In rainy weather, it is important to provide slip-resistant safety surfacing to reduce risks to children on your school playground. Play safety is a priority in any playground project so your outdoor play area flooring ideas need to account for unexpected hazards such as heavy rainfall and the risks that come from it.
Our playground rubber mulch surfacing solutions offer excellent slip resistance with bonded rubber mulch for any playground surface options. JungleMulch is the premier playground mulch with vibrant and durable rubber chips for playground surfacing that lasts.
JungleMulch is popular for use on pathways, mounds, embankments, specialist sports areas, and erosion control sites. The top-quality weathering resistance can, with minimal rubber mulch maintenance, maintain the full vibrancy of a wide range of rubber mulch colours and slip-resistance over time, avoiding the water erosion issues other surfacing options face!
The innovative design and quality recycled rubber materials provide many benefits which you can find in our handy JungleMulch brochure [pdf]. Its amazing slip-resistance is provided by its smart design, the flat but slightly textured surface of the rubber chipping giving you extra grip no matter the weather!
2. Make sure your surfacing has SUDS Credentials
Choosing the best ground cover for a playground requires consideration of the amount of rainfall and quality of ground in the surrounding area. A Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) has certain requirements for porous surfacing and the quality of the aggregates used to reduce pollution.
Our SmartPave black rubber recycled granule aggregate surfacing option has been designed with drainage in mind. The moisture-curing polyurethane binder keeps the surface porous while still providing slip resistance and long-term resilience to stress.
This playground surface option is a great eco-friendly outdoor play area flooring idea with our recycled rubber ‘eco chippings’ helping to reduce risks of flooding in urban areas while being a sustainable flooring solution with non-toxic bindings.
3. Know your Ground Quality
When looking at any surface, you much consider carefully the ground quality of your site. For example, although our SmartPave rubber surfacing does not require sub-base installation, it may not be as effective at promoting drainage on looser surfaces.
Our expert installation team with over 20 years of playground installation experience aims to provide assessments and playground inspections to find which surface is right for your soil type, the surrounding drainage systems, and other elements of the geography of your playground. We are dedicated to ensuring you get the correct and most effective surfacing solution for the needs of your playground design.
Ensuring specific ground quality needs are met is Step 5 of our unparalleled No Quibble Guarantee that we provide to all installation projects. Our experts give you all of the information you need to make a considered choice, including advice on the long-term impacts your chosen surfacing solution will have on your ground quality, and how the final result will work at your unique site.
To find out how our experts can adapt our playground installation process and types of surfacing to your site, you can request a call back or fill in a quick quote form on our handy contact page.
4. Incorporate nature
As well as being an amazing playground design idea that children love, adding nature to your play area benefits drainage to a high degree. Root systems of trees, grass, and other plants take in groundwater to reduce saturation, preventing flooding in times of heavy rainfall!
Therefore, many of our playground surface options work alongside nature to enhance the play value of your outdoor area.
Our playground grass mats, including our recycled rubber EcoSmart sustainable flooring option, use their grid-like structure to allow for grass growth and high-quality drainage as part of a natural playground design.
Rubber play bark chippings are popular for use surrounding trees and vegetation. This means that the roots are protected from weathering and erosion while creating an attractive playground design that can be incorporated alongside other types of playground flooring such as wet-pour rubber.
Hybrid grass is an alternative to typical Astroturf surfacing which avoid many of the durability and drainage problems with artificial grass. As Hybrid Grass UK distributor, we have helped many of our clients to contribute to their sustainable surfacing goals with the biodegradable materials of hybrid grass and the incorporation of natural grass into the mats themselves as it grows.
5. Safety
Even in the rain, children still need a safe space to play. It can be hard to keep them off the climbing frames and trim trails even if the surfaces become slippery and hazardous to use. To ensure full child safety, playground flooring must provide protection to the required critical fall heights as part of British Standards EN 1177 safety surfacing certifications.
In rainy weather, safety becomes even more of an important consideration due to reduced visibility for supervision, and changing ground saturation which may impact surfacing quality due to sinking. PlaySmart’s SmartPlay shock pad underlay is an option that reduces the sinking of your rubber playground mats to maintain a higher standard of fall protection.
Is your School Playground Prepared for Rainy Weather?
Are you unsure if you can provide the best and most safe space to play for the infamously rainy British Summertime?
If you want expert advice don’t hesitate to fill in our contact form for your Free Quote or give us a call at 01564 742811.