Anyone have a swingset/playground?

[Go Blue]

Does anyone have a swingset or playground in their backyard? If so, what do you type of material do you have on the ground (grass, dirt, mulch, sand, etc.)? I have a 20'x20' area of dirt that I have the playground on now. I want to fill it with rubber/fake mulch, but since it is such a large area, it is very expensive. Any ideas?

[jkwest]

I live in the country, so, what was there before I built the playground is still there...maybe a bit more leaves and stuff, though...

[Blu-Benny]

we've just got a swingset on the grass in the yard. bumps & bruises are inevitable, no matter how cautious u are. my son is crawling and climbing on everything now (8 months) and always finds a way to add a new bump to his head. i'm kinda worried his skull is gonna be mishapen!!

[camper]

We just have it on the ground, we don't have anything on the ground. We considered cedar chips, but there are a lot of wasps & yellow jackets around and they can sometimes use that cover to create ground nests. We also thought about rubber mulch. It's really not that expensive--when you compare it to other things. Home Depot had the best price.

When it was all said and done, we decided against putting anything down. Rubber won't deteriorate, which means you'll have to clear it out when the playground goes away. And it WILL end up all over your yard. Cedar only looks good for a while, and smells like pee when it's wet. Sand will kill your lawn.

We weren't worried about protecting the little ones (like blu-benny said, scrapes are inevitable) but we wanted something nice to look at and for them to enjoy. Truth is the kids don't care what it looks like, and whatever you put down spells more work for you.

camper

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by camper

We just have it on the ground, we don't have anything on the ground. We considered cedar chips, but there are a lot of wasps & yellow jackets around and they can sometimes use that cover to create ground nests. We also thought about rubber mulch. It's really not that expensive--when you compare it to other things. Home Depot had the best price.

When it was all said and done, we decided against putting anything down. Rubber won't deteriorate, which means you'll have to clear it out when the playground goes away. And it WILL end up all over your yard. Cedar only looks good for a while, and smells like pee when it's wet. Sand will kill your lawn.

We weren't worried about protecting the little ones (like blu-benny said, scrapes are inevitable) but we wanted something nice to look at and for them to enjoy. Truth is the kids don't care what it looks like, and whatever you put down spells more work for you.

camper

So you went with just dirt? I was only wanting to put something on top of the dirt to help with weed control and looks in general. What will be good for that?

[ground chuck]

we had one, but had to take it down b/c it became too unstable. the new one that i'm looking at is about $3k, for a vinyl covered set. i was also looking to use rubber mulching for my base. regular mulch needs to be re-filled every year.

rubber mulch can be a bit pricey depending on where you get it from, but it's soft and you're recycling.

[fatediesel]

Growing up we had sand under our swingset. I always liked it because you could do other things in sand like bury things and make sand castles. It is a bit dirty though.

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

Growing up we had sand under our swingset. I always liked it because you could do other things in sand like bury things and make sand castles. It is a bit dirty though.

yeah...our cats like the sand too...

[camper]

Originally Posted by schultz

So you went with just dirt? I was only wanting to put something on top of the dirt to help with weed control and looks in general. What will be good for that?

nononono...it's just set on top of the ground, nothing around it...no special prep. Just mow around it like you would anything else, and if you don't want to hit it with the weed whacker along the base or posts then spray round-up or some other weed killer where it's too hard to get the mower to. Depending on how thick your lawn is, you'll end up with wear spots from the end of the slide, under the swings, wherever the 'hot spots' are that get a lot of traffic.

camper

[phlydude]

Look at it this way:

Grass - will wear out and you will have dirt left (especially under the swings)

Sand - cats LOVE it and it will track all over (including in shoes and then in your house - nothing takes finish off of hardwood flooring like sand)

Rubber Mulch - helps the environment because it makes use of old tires - animals don't like it much

Pine Mulch - will degrade over time and won't smell as bad as cedar when wet

Cedar Mulch - will degrade over time but it does smell like urine sometimes

Dirt - makes MUD when wet and little kids like to eat it and can get worms from it

Cement - somewhat permanent, no pest problems, no weed problems - can c over it with a 4-5 inches of mulch and when it comes time to remove the play set after the kiddies outgrow it, you have a base for a patio or grill

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by phlydude

Look at it this way:

Grass - will wear out and you will have dirt left (especially under the swings)

Sand - cats LOVE it and it will track all over (including in shoes and then in your house - nothing takes finish off of hardwood flooring like sand)

Rubber Mulch - helps the environment because it makes use of old tires - animals don't like it much

Pine Mulch - will degrade over time and won't smell as bad as cedar when wet

Cedar Mulch - will degrade over time but it does smell like urine sometimes

Dirt - makes MUD when wet and little kids like to eat it and can get worms from it

Cement - somewhat permanent, no pest problems, no weed problems - can c over it with a 4-5 inches of mulch and when it comes time to remove the play set after the kiddies outgrow it, you have a base for a patio or grill

Good post. I don't want dirt due to the mud and tracking dirt factor. I want rubber mulch, but since I have a 20'x20' area (400sq ft), it is very expensive to fill it with 2 tons of material. I am just trying to find the least expensive way to fill this area for the kids. Also, grass is not really an option because I live in AZ.

[phlydude]

yeah, if you can find it the cost is up to $700 a ton for colored mulch...ouch!

if you go wood mulch, have tweezers on hand for the splinters!

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by phlydude

yeah, if you can find it the cost is up to $700 a ton for colored mulch...ouch!

if you go wood mulch, have tweezers on hand for the splinters!

and if you live in a humid, hot area mulch has been known to spontaneously combust due to the gases and heat being released by the fermenting wood chips...jus' sayin'...

[Go Blue]

Originally Posted by phlydude

yeah, if you can find it the cost is up to $700 a ton for colored mulch...ouch!

if you go wood mulch, have tweezers on hand for the splinters!

No wood mulch for me! Unfortunatley, I don't think I can afford the rubber mulch. I think that leaves me with sand or pea gravel.

I am afraid of sand tracking into the house, which is inevitable.

[My_Two_Cents]

Ground glass is pretty cheap!

Seriously, though, when mine were young and I built the required play set, I had the area covered in shredded hardwood mulch. It's a cheap and "giving" base, and I never had splinter problems. Why not mulch?

Anyway, if you don't want mulch, I'd go with pea gravel. It's clean, "giving" and won't be tracked into the house in kids' underwear, socks, shoes, hair, etc...

[Beta Man]

You're in Arizona.... just turn off the sprinkler for a couple of hours and it'll all be dirt


Seriously though..... I'd do this....

http://www.astrolawn.com/


little bit more expensive "one-time-cost" but worth it.... I'd box it all in with old rail-road timbers

[jkwest]

Originally Posted by schultz

No wood mulch for me! Unfortunatley, I don't think I can afford the rubber mulch. I think that leaves me with sand or pea gravel.

I am afraid of sand tracking into the house, which is inevitable.

pish....peagravel...

get the chiprock gravel...make your kids have strong feet!

[phlydude]

How about cocoa hulls?

I don't remember if you mentioned having dogs so be warned, it is toxic to pets
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

[Marquoz]

Me and the ex-wife got one for our son when we were together. It's just dirt on it, and he hasn't had a problem in the 3 years he's had it. When I was a child schools and playgrounds didn't have the foammy stuff they have now and I was fine. I also climbed trees a couple stories high and jumped out of them with no broken bones.

The biggest reason I think those places have these "protective" things now is to prevent lawsuits when a kid injures themselves playing normally. It can and will happen no matter what you have down and it's a fact of life. Kids play hard and kids will get injured.

Don't worry too much about it and let the kid be a kid while providing safety the best you can but don't go too overboard, otherwise they will grow up coddled.

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

You're in Arizona.... just turn off the sprinkler for a couple of hours and it'll all be dirt


Seriously though..... I'd do this....

http://www.astrolawn.com/


little bit more expensive "one-time-cost" but worth it.... I'd box it all in with old rail-road timbers

Be careful with rail-road timbers, a lot of them have hidden termite colonies from being exposed so long. The ones that don't, have tons of chemicals in them for extra long term exposure.