The difference between a 10mm and a 15mm top layer

The top layer of a rubber safety surfacing is the one that supports wear and tear and for this reason a type of materials is used that, being flexible, withstand much better the wear due to abrasion, such as EPDM or TPV granules.

These EPDM or TPV granules are pigmented during the mixing in the manufacture of the material panels that are subsequently granulated and not by coating or encapsulation of the black SBR rubber granules with polyurethane colourants.

The level of use of the facility and its dimensions are highly variable. Certain facilities can have hundreds of users throughout the day, while others are practically in disuse for most of the day, with only a few peak hours with an influx of users after leaving school or during free hours or holidays.

In any case, certain parts of the flooring, such as trampoline landing areas in playgrounds or the vicinity of goals or baskets in sports areas, suffer a much greater wear due to successive impacts or friction from normal use.

Traditionally, since the beginning of the use of rubber safety flooring in playgrounds, the top layer was made in a minimum finished thickness of 15mm.

As this safety surfacing system expanded around the world and competition among installers of these surfaces increased, cost tensions started, and some installers began to reduce the top layer thicknesses to a final 12 or even 10 mm.

In a large number of countries with a higher number of competitors or price sensitivity, the final thickness of 10 mm has become the most common.

In certain countries without a tradition of standardization and quality or with low awareness of safety in playgrounds, thicknesses of the upper layer even less than 10mm can be seen.

The consequence of the reduction from 15 mm to 10 mm is that the useful life of the surface is significantly reduced and within 1 to 2 years of installation, the flooring requires repairs in areas of more wear where the disappearance of the granules of the upper layer leaves SBR absorption layer fully visible, which should not be accessible to users.

Unfortunately, some customers only consider the initial budget of the installation and do not consider the total cost of the useful life of the area.

I know sometimes there are lost battles before we start, but I’m sorry, someone had to say so.

Translated to a famous phrase in Catalan language “Perdoneu però algú ho havía de dir”