Flooring for outdoors

[AnonyMouse_35585]

Hi All

 

We are looking at moving to different premises. We have been given an area outside to use but the ground at the moment is very uneven and not safe for the children. We have been told we can do anything we like to the area for the children to use.

 

We are just wondering if anyone has any ideas on the best sort of flooring to use?

 

We have looked online but have seen artificial grass, tarmac, safety surface, bark etc. so we are a bit unsure!

 

We don't have a lot of money to spend on the area unfortunately but we are holding a fun day in June which will hopefully bring in some more!

 

Thanks in advance

[AnonyMouse_39602]

What surface is there already , ours is grass and uneven but provides challenge which the children have overcome , saying that we are reloads aping the garden as a whole and creating a footpath We did think about astro turf but have not factored this in the quotes but some levelling is taking place , we managed via a parent to get some large drainage pipe which we are going to cover with excess earth and create a tunnel and hill.

[AnonyMouse_35585]

At the moment it is a mix of concrete, bricks and slabs.

[AnonyMouse_35605]

We have a third artificial grass, a third Tarmac and a third soft play surface.

I think of the three the artificial grass is the best. Not slippy when wet and soft to land on.

They can ride bikes on it as well.

[AnonyMouse_7120]

We also have an area of artificial grass which has been brilliant, drains really quickly, and works really well as an extension to outdoor sheltered area, only word of warning don't put anything like outdoor mirrors where the sun will reflect off them,it can melt it ( also real grass area - well mud really)

[AnonyMouse_11396]

We have a soft play surface to one of our areas. Non slippery so children can use it all year.

Can ride bikes etc on it too.

Other area is real grass.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Fredbear

[AnonyMouse_5970]

We used to have grass, which was just a mud bath in winter and more or less unusable. We used Safagrass matting and sowed grass seed so the grass would grow through the mats. But unfortunately, the mud came through with it!

 

In the end we gave up on grass and have a large area of bark chip. We still have a smaller area of grass but don't use it in very wet weather so it doesn't turn to mud. We also have decking. This all works well. The only trouble with the bark is that it 'travels' and we end up with bald patches and bark where it shouldn't be, but it doesn't take long to put it right.

[AnonyMouse_43256]

We have 3 areas, bark, real grass and artificial grass. The artificial grass has been fab. Needs redoing now (been down 9 years), we brought it wholesale and had it laid by a gardener (reduced the cost from 5k to 1.5k but....they ground work was not done as good as it could have been so we have had to do some more maintenance than we would have needed to (such as filling dips), we also had some issues with mud coming through (but only in the later years) and we had a very wet season.

[Guest]

^{My local tree-surgeon gives wood chip to playgrounds locally, and to schools too, as it is a waste product for him and otherwise he has to store it or pay to tip it - just in case you also know someone local to you, it may be worth asking.}

[AnonyMouse_25678]

Artificial grass was our best investment ever, we have been out in all weathers, the garden is 2/3rds 'lawn' and the last 1/3rd is our 'mud kitchen' and growing area, the surface is the remnants of the artificial turf with bark on top which the children love digging up!

[Guest]

beware of safety surface. we have blue surface and when it has even a thin cover of frost it's really slippy. apart from under the canopy, which is fine. we also have tarmac which is much better.

[AnonyMouse_35585]

Thanks all, I think we are going with artificial grass all over :1b