Playground designers have a ton of options. If you are creating a play area for a public or private space, you know that a safe, kid-friendly environment means thinking about the pros and cons of every protective surface option on the market.
For example: There are inexpensive, but high-labor options such as loose-fill wood fiber. These options are easily displaced and less accessible for children with physical disabilities, but they won’t break the bank.
Here’s another example: There are options such as poured-in-place rubber surface and rubber tiles that have a higher cost initially, but the savings show over time thanks to less maintenance and longer performance. You can trust us at No Fault to give you a fair, honest assessment of the surfacing products we provide, and those we don’t provide.
If you’re planning a playground, today’s article is going to give you a little bit more information about an option you could consider: No Fault Safety Tiles.
The playground designers and architects we work with love rubber safety tiles for their outdoor playgrounds or indoor facilities for many reasons. Here are the ones we hear about the most.
Safety: Safety is the top concern when choosing a playground surfacing, so we’ve put it at the top of our list. Rubber tiles provide excellent fall protection to help prevent critical injuries. They also have a non-slip surface to help prevent against slips and falls, even when the tiles are wet! Broken glass, bugs and other hazardous materials can hide in loose-fill surfacing.
Appearance: Rubber safety tiles come in vivid colors that invite children to play. No Fault technicians can even install them in patterns and branded themes. Even if you go with a single color, they lie flat and smooth, bringing a clean-cut charm to your installation.
Accessibility: The stability of a rubber surface makes for easier mobility device navigation, whereas using a wheelchair, scooter, or other device on loose-fill surfacing is much more difficult and potentially dangerous.
Affordability: Rubber safety tiles aren’t the least expensive option, but they provide a long-term economic advantage. High-quality rubber lasts longer than other flooring options. Also, since they offer a “green” option (more about the environmental benefits of our tiles in a minute), grants and government funding are sometimes available to help you offset the expense.
Cleanliness: Rubber safety tiles do require some work. Maintenance includes sweeping, rinsing, and blowing off leaves from time to time. However, tiles do not harbor bacteria and mold, nor do they attract insects. So keeping them clean is a walk in the park!
Easy to Install: Not using our professional installation services? Our tiles can also be shipped to your site, at your convenience and according to your schedule, so you can quickly and easily install them yourself.
Easy to Use: While loose-fill surfacing may be plentiful and easy to spread, loose material must be raked again and again week after week. Wood fiber and other loose-fill materials are easily scattered, and some of it may sink into the ground. As the result, it needs to be replaced regularly as well as raked into place often. Playground tiles, on the other hand, are installed with full glue down or a 4-corner lock system, so they don’t budge. Let the kids do the moving around, not your safety surfacing!
Environmentally Friendly: Rubber safety tiles are made from recycled tires. The more pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled rubber we use, the more we help keep existing materials in a continuous cycle of use and reuse – without compromising quality, durability, and performance.
Versatility: Safety tiles can be used in residential areas, schools, parks, museums, churches … Even on rooftops. Are you creating an indoor space? Our tiles are perfect for weight rooms, gymnastics training, dance studios and more! The list truly goes on and on.
Comfort: Rubber tiles are great shock absorbers! Their pliability ensures longer play and happier feet! Your knees and joints will love that.
Durability: Rubber safety tiles last quite a long time. No Fault’s warranty speaks for the resilience of the product. In fact, No Fault Safety Tiles are available in traditional colors with a 10-year warranty, or the increasingly popular “Ultra” color choices with the industry’s only 15-year warranty.
Sound Resistance: Are you planning an indoor space? You may be surprised to learn that rubber tiles reduce noise by up to 18 decibels. This makes tile a great option for courtyards and indoor play areas. Even an indoor recording studio!
The benefits of rubber tile include aesthetics, durability, safety, and more. Loose-fill surfacing is easy to dump and spread around, and is less expensive than rubber playground tiles. But we encourage you to think of the “other” costs associated with using a loose-fill surfacing product. The cost of maintenance and replacement can be very high. Although rubber tiles have a higher initial cost, their longevity and easy maintenance usually make it worth considering. When you factor in improved safety and accessibility, and choosing recycled rubber over a loose-fill material like wood fiber, the choice becomes a no-brainer.
Contact No Fault to discuss your project and surfacing options. If loose-fill surfacing or anything else is a better choice for you, we’ll tell you! Call today for friendly advice, in addition to pricing and availability of the No Fault products we’ve been selling for over 4 decades.
