Playground wood chips vs. playground mulch

[lmintzer]

Does anyone know if there is a safety difference? We need some more soft product around our playset. I THINK we had playground woodchips last year, but I'm not sure. The places I've been calling have playground mulch.

Is mulch softer? Messier?

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[aguinn]

I don't know about any safety differences, but we've been considering shredded rubber as an alternative: http://www.permalife.com/. Mulch is just too messy for my liking!

Good luck!

amy
momma to DS#1 "Big Brother" (BB) and, finally, DS#2 "Little Brother" (LB)

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"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." ~ Neil Postman

[alexsmommy]

I have no basis of comparison - but the Rainbow people are putting in our set as we speak on top of mulch. Walking around on the area, it really does feel much more "cushiony" than grass would have. I'm a little nervous about how much it will get moved around as Alex plays, but I'm happy that we decided to go ahead and prep the area prior to installation with something. As you know, the majority of people around here just put their sets on grass, but even only 3 inches of mulch seems better than that (I know the CPSC rec is 6 in - we're hoping to install more this weekend.)
When you get a chance - update your painting thread - I've been wondering how it went and what you decided to do!
Alaina
Alex Feb '03

[lmintzer]

I THINK we have woodchips under their now (from the landscaper). I don't know if we should add mulch on top or stick with the woodchips. I'm thinking the mulch would be softer but would get everywhere (like in their clothes, back in the house). Alaina, you'll have to tell me how yours works out. Cool: re getting a Rainbow set. Alex is going to love it. How are you doing? E-mail me when you get a chance.

[HoneymoonBaby]

We have woodchips and I like it because it doesn't track into the house (we don't have any grass at all in our tiny townhouse backyard, it's all woodchips and potted plants and a playset). We did have to put an all-weather mat at the base of the slide, though, because Ian didn't like landing on the woodchips very much. Mulch would probably be a little bit nicer for him to play on, but it is WAY messy and weeds grow in it really well, so we went with the woodchips and don't regret it so far.

[alexsmommy]

Just wanted to say, if someone is going to use the mulch, be sure to put the weed cover fabric under it - works great to stop any foliage growth. We know it works because DH forgot to put the scraps away when we were cutting strips for the playarea prep and when he got back to it a week later, he had killed the grass under it. So far, no problems at all with weeds, and in all honesty, no problems with him tracking it in. We'll see as summer progresses.
Alaina
Alex Feb '03

[QNP]

We just had DD's playscape installed and we decided on #5 sized pea gravel to use on the fall zones.

Pea gravel is surprisingly forgiving. Like sand, it spreads out/gives when you put a load on it, thus, absorbing/breaking a fall . DD fell several times on this surface. One time falling from 4 feet, she landed smack on her face...scared the heck out of Dh and me. She was startled to say the least but otherwise fine. She didn't even get a scratch or a bruise! Imagine if she had fallen on her face on mulch...eek! I'd be so worried about sharp splinters injuring her eyes.

Pea gravel is relatively inexpensive. Just to give you an idea. We had two truckloads = 19 tons of gravel to fill an area of 35'x 30' to the depth of 8" and the cost was about $350 with the delivery fees included. The playscape builder recommended 6" but Dh wanted 8". This particular builder/manufacturer does commercial sets, also. When building and installing commercial playscapes, he has to follow a stringent governmental guideline and gravel is what he uses.
Just a side note, building a playset for private use does not require a manufacturer to follow the same governmental guideline. He pointed this out to us that many well known national brands have safety flaws in their playscape designs. Sorry, for being OT.

We play-tested mulch and it's tooooo messy! Dd always leaves the playground with mulch sticking to her clothes and socks, requiring a few minutes to remove. Worse yet, it's not the safest material for children tender skin. When DD fell and broke the fall with her hands, she had splinters embedded in her palms! Imagine the pain for an 18 mo. In the long run, mulch is more expensive since it's biodegradable, you'd have to refill it more often (just like your flower beds).

When we went to Cali, we had a chance to play on rubber mulch/chips. First of all, it's too expensive. Secondly, it has an odor when it gets heated up in the sun. We live in the south where it's common to have temps in the upper 90's and low 100's, it's not a recommneded material. The rubber gets too hot in the summer and retains heat much longer making the material very uncomfortable for tender skin.

We don't have playgrounds with wood chips in our area so I can't commnent on that.

I know you didn't mention pea gravel, just want to share our experiences, HTH.