Playground Surface—Safety Rubber in High Foot Traffic Areas
Whether it’s in the hectic hallways of high schools, or on top of the ever-busy and ever-chaotic playground surface of an elementary school—safety is always a major concern when kids are involved. With a high but compact population, and the centralized movement of hundreds of feet (both big and small), safety rubber can offer a wide variety of locations with added security against slip and fall accidents. But no matter how many precautions are taken, sometimes accidents are just unavoidable. Apart from being tough and helping to avert accidents, playground rubber flooring and safety mats can actually lessen the potential for serious injuries when a fall does happen. But perhaps the most compelling reason to utilize rubber matting for your playground surface is the fact that this is a resilient and durable material. This is a surfacing product that will need very little maintenance while providing amazing protection.
Consider these 5 reasons why safety rubber is a great choice for any and all school yards and hallway surfaces!
- Affordability
Public schools hardly ever have a surplus of money—and when they do; administrators should do everything in their power to apply those funds toward the benefit of their students. That means that indoor and outdoor flooring options cannot be too expensive. With rubberized safety mats, you don’t have to miss out on quality because of price! Many playground rubber flooring options are actually made from recycled and reclaimed tires, which cut the cost in acquiring brand new raw materials. Not only is this a great eco-friendly alternative to less sustainable materials, but it’s also going to be very affordable. This becomes another important point when you consider the cost of having to replace any areas that get especially worn or damaged over the years. It will be a lot less expensive to replace one rubber tile than a whole slab of concrete.
- Long-Lasting Durability
School administrators need to be very careful and wise about picking equipment and flooring structures. Whatever they pick needs to be long-lasting because a school just cannot afford to buy things on a whim. Playground rubber flooring is an amazing safety solution for all children’s recreational areas, because while it offers great protect it will also be a durable solution. As previously stated, many outdoor flooring options are made from recycled tires and this is a true testament to the material’s resilience. Consider that that tires are made to stand up against very abrasive environments, such as extreme heat, rain, and snow.
- Protection From Falls
Kids and adults are susceptible to falls, regardless of how much anyone tries to prevent it. When it happens, it is preferable to have a softer and more forgiving surface to land upon than something hard like asphalt, concrete, or stone tile. Safety rubber is supple and elastic and will provide more give under the sudden weight of a falling body, unlike concrete or tile. So while an injury may be unavoidable, the degree of that injury can be somewhat controlled through the material of the flooring. This is a useful quality in places like the swing sets, monkey-bars, and at the bottom of a slide.
- Upkeep and Care
A playground surface should be, to an extent, pretty self-sufficient. Unlike the floors located inside of class rooms, this surface is out in the open and constantly exposed to the elements—so constant upkeep should not be a main concern. For this reason, playground rubber flooring is designed to be tough, and to require very little individualized attention. Your safety mats will only require a broom to remove excess debris, and in the case that a more thorough cleaning is ever required, a hose can be used to wash it off.
- Ease of Installation
Finally, as we briefly touched on, ease of installation is another great reason to employing a rubberized playground surface. Available in a variety of styles, safety rubber can come as interlocking tiles, runners, and of course as individual safety mats. These items are very easy to set-up, requiring very little technical knowledge, which can again save a school quite a bit of money on installation costs. Rolled flooring can be custom cut to a variety of lengths, while tiles can be used to cover larger or smaller areas. And should a more permanent fixture be required there are double-sided adhesives available that will help secure your matting to your sub-surface.
The particulars of your applications are important, with a number of styles, materials, sizes, and colors, we’re certain that rubber flooring will provide you with everything and anything you need.
