Bark for play area.

Tinders

Tinders

Tinders

Soldato
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There's a voice that keeps on calling me.
Hi Peeps,

Now that my little monkies are growing, its time i sorted the garden for them!

Ive earmarked 25m2 portion of the garden for a fancy swing and slide set. Problem is that currently the flooring is crappy concrete, so i was thinking to put some bark or wood chippings.

Anybody know of a reasonable place to source bark/chippings, and how much depth should it be, the land slopes a bit, so drainage shouldnt be an issue?

What are my alternatives for play areas?
 
Nope, its fairly deep and the last owner buried God knows how much crap under it to save on skips!!!
 
expect all that bark to be brought into the house!... little ones just love digging stuff up and bringing it in to show you! :)

I just put down some fake grass in the play area and it works really well. I think you could buy sand to go over the concrete for and lay the fake grass over the top.
 
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nIckEl101 said:
expect all that bark to be brought into the house!... little ones just love digging stuff up and bringing it in to show you! :)

I just put down some fake grass in the play area and it works really well. I think you could buy sand to go over the concrete for and lay the fake grass over the top.
Click to expand...

Ninja edit :)
 
Now thats an idea, how much is fake grass per sq m?

What 'thickness' of sand would I need?
 
I'd go with Rubber tiles as well, no mess involved and can go straight down on the concrete.

Sand or bark is going to get dragged into the house, fake grass wouldn't provide protection enough if one of them fell and its not cheap either.
 
I put a load of rubber chips in last year from here:- http://www.re-bound.co.uk/for-Play-Areas-Re-Bound-Play-Safe-Rubber-Chippings_p17.aspx

Have been very pleased with the results,
  • Nice and soft
  • As its rubber animals don't use it as a toilet
  • Doesn't absorb moisture and rot/smell like normal bark clippings
  • Due to the above it drys very quickly after rain
Throughly recommend the stuff.

Edit, here is the pic from when it went in, still looks just the same even after winter:-

AtlanticFrameDone.jpg
 
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Can I ask how you made the wooden surround for the play area? It looks superb.

I'd love to do something similar for our boys - they have a massive trampoline (12ft jumping area) and when we leave it on the grass it just kills it. A nice segregated area would be just the ticket.
 
And if you put that fence up yourself as well, could you indicate how much that was? We have three panels between wooden posts the wind keeps blowing out. I have repaired it twice now but the wooden posts are wobbly and I'd like to replace with something more substantial.

TIA.
 
I don't think the floor is a concern if you are thinking of putting those sharp edges solid wooden things around the edge ?
 
George Hincapie said:
Can I ask how you made the wooden surround for the play area? It looks superb.

I'd love to do something similar for our boys - they have a massive trampoline (12ft jumping area) and when we leave it on the grass it just kills it. A nice segregated area would be just the ticket.
Click to expand...
The surround is just new timber sleepers (200x100mm), a variety of lengths to build up what I needed and then secured together with timberlock screws driven in with an impact driver.

Fencing I think I paid £620, 13 panels and concrete gravel boards, and 14 posts including the post mix. Then just a couple of days hard graft getting the holes dug and everything put in.
 
That rubber option looks great in that setup.

If you were going down the chippings route I would suggest bark over wood chippings, it won't last as long but it's a much softer landing as wood chippings can be quite sharp and if your children are like mine, they love walking everywhere in summer with no shoes on.
 
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