New playset for kids.

[edcantu9]

Bought a play set for kids. Can't wait to get the first project of spring started!!


I am thinking since there is already river rock laid down I will just fill in the gaps and set the play set on top of the river rock and anchor it.

My wife thinks that the play set should be built on dirt then the river rock laid down.

I am thinking drainage would be better if rock is laid down first.

Experience and wisdom is being sought. Please provide yours!

 

[brycez28]

Take the rock out, playing in the mud as a kid is more fun

 

[Thumper68]

What kind of playset, if it has swings, slides, towers you will want a fall friendly surface, wood or rubber chips.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Ian currently in process of setting up and area. I intend to clear, put some gravel for drainage , fabric, then playground grade wood chips. Surrounded by landscape timbers. Gravel part, or layering part is still being debated.

 

[PassnThru]

You really shouldn't have rock around a play set. Accidents will happen - like when one of my kids at 2 years old fell off the stairs to the tower backwards
Some type of mulch - rubber would be great but if you go for wood mulch (much cheaper initially) ask for 'playground' mulch. Regular mulch compacts too much - playground mulch is designed to not compact. That's what we use around ours.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

What kind of playset, if it has swings, slides, towers you will want a fall friendly surface, wood or rubber chips.

You really shouldn't have rock around a play set. Accidents will happen - like when one of my kids at 2 years old fell off the stairs to the tower backwards
Some type of mulch - rubber would be great but if you go for wood mulch (much cheaper initially) ask for 'playground' mulch. Regular mulch compacts too much - playground mulch is designed to not compact. That's what we use around ours.

X2. No rock allowed on any of my playgrounds. Playground mulch is just "double ground" standard mulch. It compacts FASTER. The Feds require 1' minimum. Many places around here charge more for playground mulch and they only have 1 mulch pile. There's no difference in material, just cost.

Tommy

 

[JimR1998]

Maybe he means pea gravel? That's fine. River rock, as in 1"+ round rock, shouldn't be anywhere near the set. Kids will be twisting ankles not to mention hitting their head on ROCK if they fall.

For my set I'm hoping to use tree chippings but I'm not sure how large/sharp the chips will be. I'm pretty sure this is what our township is using, possibly passed through the chipper twice.

 

[crerus75]

Slightly OT: I was driving through Pennsylvania once and saw a kid's playscape made out of an old helicopter fuselage-- maybe a Bell 206. I went from not knowing it existed to instantly wanting it in microseconds.

 

[Arps]

I just built mine on the grass. The kids will grow out of it before you know it.

 

[PassnThru]

X2. No rock allowed on any of my playgrounds. Playground mulch is just "double ground" standard mulch. It compacts FASTER. The Feds require 1' minimum. Many places around here charge more for playground mulch and they only have 1 mulch pile. There's no difference in material, just cost.

Tommy

Interesting about the playground mulch available there. Here the playground mulch is more rectangular and has more uniform sizes between pieces. It seems to be sifted or screened also to eliminate smaller pieces. We use regular mulch in other places and it compacts quickly. This mulch does not compact even with heavy traffic

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Interesting about the playground mulch available there. Here the playground mulch is more rectangular and has more uniform sizes between pieces. It seems to be sifted or screened also to eliminate smaller pieces. We use regular mulch in other places and it compacts quickly. This mulch does not compact even with heavy traffic

That sounds like what they term "wood chips", not "mulch"... That stuff lasts much longer and it also drains better.

Tommy

 

[nafterclifen]

Slightly OT: I was driving through Pennsylvania once and saw a kid's playscape made out of an old helicopter fuselage-- maybe a Bell 206. I went from not knowing it existed to instantly wanting it in microseconds.

Was in on RT611 at an ice cream shop?

 

[edcantu9]

I looked at some prices for rubber mulch. $10/bag that would be almost $800 for the 20ftx20ft I nee to cover at 3 inches. Any ways to get this stuff cheaper or does it go on sale?

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Slightly OT: I was driving through Pennsylvania once and saw a kid's playscape made out of an old helicopter fuselage-- maybe a Bell 206. I went from not knowing it existed to instantly wanting it in microseconds.

Was in on RT611 at an ice cream shop?

I think that may be "Eats & Sweets" in Scotrun...

Tommy

 

[PoorOwner]

The playgrounds I grew up with has the large bark nuggets as ground cover, seems to work well.
I am just not that keen on having mulch (splinters?)
or rubber mulch (cancer causing)?

best is probably lawn but you have to water it which shortens the life of the structure.

We see playsets in people's backyards here, but I never seen any kids playing on them... EVER. How quick do kids grow tired of their new novelty; they seem prefer to go outside with a scooter or bicycle instead?

 

[jimindm]

X2. No rock allowed on any of my playgrounds. Playground mulch is just "double ground" standard mulch. It compacts FASTER. The Feds require 1' minimum. Many places around here charge more for playground mulch and they only have 1 mulch pile. There's no difference in material, just cost.

Tommy

I would bet there is more to it than double ground.

I was part of a playground committee from the small private school my kids went to. We purchased $25-30k worth of playground equipment. I think there fall standards were like almost 3 feet deep, for mulch, on a new install. I also want to say that it was a timeline of 5-6 years needed to change it out or add to it.

I know that structure has been there going on 10 years, and the mulch is still like walking on a mattress.

The the equipment manufacture recommended that if using mulch that it met a playground standard mulch. We used a company that does wood chips. He said to actually have the standard of playground mulch was very costly, due to the inspections required to be certified. I think the certification was essentially a guaranteed certain size and a limit of shrapnel in the mulch.

He had the playground mulch that was not certified. Made exactly like the certified stuff, just no official playground certification.

It was delivered by tractor trailer. The trailer had what they call a moving floor. The floor just kind of walked it out into a pile.

I am thinking our playground was like 30x50 and we had like 2.5 semi loads.

 

[srmofo]

Rubber chips are awful. They smell bad, get as hot as the surface of the sun on the long summer days, and leave marks all over the kids and their clothes.

Id go with mulch chips

 

[crerus75]

Was in on RT611 at an ice cream shop?

I think that may be "Eats & Sweets" in Scotrun...

Tommy

I think you're both right. It sure looks like the place on Google Street View.

Back to the OT, I had great success laying down thick plastic (I think it was 6 mil) with pea gravel over. We have weeds around here that will go through landscape cloth, and no weed killer that we tried (including Ground Clear) worked for more than a couple of weeks. They won't go through the plastic. I made a border out of landscape timbers and stapled the plastic to the inside edge, then poured pea gravel over and smoothed it out with the back of a rake.

 

[mmb617]

When our son was little we set a swingset up for him on the grass. For all the more he and his friends ever used it I'm glad we didn't do something more permanent. I'd guess with all the electronic diversions kids have now they would use a playset even less now.

All I'm saying is give some thought to what will be involved in dismantling it when the time comes, probably sooner than you think.

 

[srmofo]

When our son was little we set a swingset up for him on the grass. For all the more he and his friends ever used it I'm glad we didn't do something more permanent. I'd guess with all the electronic diversions kids have now they would use a playset even less now.

All I'm saying is give some thought to what will be involved in dismantling it when the time comes, probably sooner than you think.

My buddies dad built him a second story playhouse with a sandbox on the bottom. When he and his siblings out grew it, his dad boxed the bottom in, hung a bench swing from the swings set. Now he has a nice place to store lawn equipment as well as some upper storage for random things and a comfy place for his porch swing

 

[pablo94sc]

Growing up I had pea gravel and just grass under the equipment on the playgrounds I frequented. Personally, I like the ground up rubber on the newer ones and hate mulch. Mulch gets dirty and sticks to clothes, and we all know how fun it is to get a kid to stay still long enough to clean them off. Pea gravel isn't fun to fall flat on from height and a can shift a little too much for an ankle's liking. My $.02 is grass or rubber.

 

[racin72charger]

We just picked up a playground kit yesterday for our little girl and I've been debating on what to do. I know for a fact that 6 months out f the year the playground will not be used because of winter weather. She is starting school in the fall and I'm sure she won't be home a lot. I'm thinking of building it on top of the lawn and not having to worry about what to do when she out grows it. If we had a park closer buy I wouldn't have bought the thing at all.

 

[Captain America]

We put a playset together around this time last year, and debated on what ground cover to use under the set. We went with wood mulch from the city that they mulch up from the branches and trees picked up on bulk trash day. It is CHEAP and is very similar to the mulch you buy in bag or bulk from a landscape company.

We thought about pea gravel but decided against it because no matter what some mulch or pea gravel with end up in the yard. Didn't want to mow over pea gravel and throw some through a window. Mulch gets chopped up by the mower and dispersed over the yard.

I used railroad ties as a border to keep the mulch around the set. I'm not worried about the cresol on the ties because they are used and much of the cresol has rubbed off. Plus, we told the kids not to play on or lick the ties, and the don't.

I sat the playset on concrete pads so there is no ground to wood contact.

 

[ovilla]

Such a timely post. Just getting ready to take my play set apart to give it to a friend (another member on this site). Anyway, please do put down some mulch or just install it on grass. It's really not that bad having to mow around it. Also, if you haven't already, do compliment it by installing a trampoline near it, and make sure you anchor it down - despite how heavy it might be (ask me how I know about this).

 

[HAY YOU]

My Wife & I built this years ago for our son’s everything is cedar. We can hardly wait till we’re called upon to build one hopefully for our grand kids.