In almost all my posts in this blog I talk about safety flooring solutions for playgrounds and leisure applications in which the top layer is made of EPDM or TPV granules. In only a few occasions have I mentioned other alternatives based on recycled products or derived from organic or natural products.
Last week I had a question from one of our customers, so I decided today I would talk about an alternative that meets budget constraints and provides a quite natural finish, which fits well with some natural looking play equipment such as Robinia wood play equipment and structures. I will talk today about the Colour coated Rubber Mulch solutions.
These are shredded fibres recycled from end of life tyres and coated with a coloured moisture curing polyurethane, with an appearance like the natural bark mulch. Although some projects may use it in loose fill format, I prefer the bonded solutions that are more comfortable for the users, reduce the maintenance cost and improve accessibility.
There are several manufacturers that supply this product worldwide, but at our CONICA manufacturing plant in UK, we mix it with coloured granules, which allows an easier and more consistent visual finish of the flooring and significantly improves tensile properties compared to solutions based on shredded fibres only.
This product can be installed in a single layer, and even without an engineered sub-base foundation, which facilitates and reduces the total cost of installation, but it can also be used as a 20 mm top layer installed on a traditional cushioning base of SBR granules of the required thickness for the targeted Critical Fall Height.
The suppliers of these products can provide you with certificates of fall height according to EN-1177: 2018 or to other international fall height safety standards and all of them usually have a wide range of colours or mixtures of colours.
Due to the lower density of rubber mulch, its usual presentation is in 10 kg bags and the most common binder percentages are 18-22%. The material can be applied with traditional tools and common smoothing agents. It can be levelled to the required thickness by rake, screeds or trowel and then smoothed and lightly compacted with a roller or trowel.
If installed directly on the soil, please always use a geotextile membrane to protect it and protect the flooring.
Obviously as a colour coated, originally black rubber, the colour will fade if subjected to high levels of foot traffic, the top surface is less smooth than granulated top layers, and the levels of PAH / PBDE chemicals will be higher than those of granulated EPDM / TPV solutions, but the low cost of this solution makes it a very attractive alternative for some projects and applications with budget restrictions in playgrounds, pathways, tree pits and decorative landscaping.
Thanks for reading and I look forward for your comments about this post or suggestions about the topics you would like me to cover on this blog.
Take care
Rubberman Blog 