Currently I have a project where there is an outdoor covered play area. This area used to be parking under a gymnasium building. We are renovating the middle school and the owner wants to use this area for recess when it is raining outside.
The floor is concrete slab on grade and it is open on three sides with a concrete deck above. This surface will get some direct sunlight but mostly indirect. It will also get a little bit of rain and mud that kids track in.
Seattle does not get serious heat or cold but that will be a consideration since it is expose to outdoor temperatures.
What do you recommend as a good flooring?
Thanks!
In the Houston area, these are usually just left concrete with striping for basketball keys, volleyball, 4-square, etc.
You could use one of the athletic resilient tile floors, but I think it would probably require more maintenance to prevent it from uglying-out fairly quickly.
David,
What is the anticipation for the type of usage?
It appears that you wouldn’t have the height to play basketball, but what about other types of games? I recently saw a play area that had games permanently painted on the concrete surface - there was a geography type of game (because there was a map of the US, color coded with stars where the capitols are, but no names), and there was a maze of some sort…but this was an elementary school.
Middle school kids don’t play those sort of games, do they?
Carlisle has a line of rubber playground and athletic products that might work. http://snipurl.com/fbph
The play area will be used for soccer, four square, and general running around. The area will not be used for basketball, floor hockey, baseball/softball, etc.
I am leaning towards tennis court surfacing or just bare concrete.
PS - Anybody heard of “pickleball”? It is hugely popular out here in the Northwest.
One of the oddities of living in Cincinnati is a popular game called “cornhole.” I always thought that term meant something entirely different…
Used a product called, “Mondo” for indoor game surfaces, but think they have exterior material also-- particulary since you will have a sheltered area.
Try www.mondousa.com
Saw an interlocking tile system made from recycled tires at the CSI Show: www.surfacingsystems.com
David:
At two different outdoor playgrounds that we designed for urban daycare centers, we specified a poured-in-place rubber type surfacing that was resilient and colorful. Intricate patterns (like clouds, trees, spirals or other similar designs) and multi-colored checkerboard squares are easy to do with this system. The two companies that we’ve specified for this type of system are SpectraTurf (www.spectraturf.com) and Surface America (www.surfam.com). Both companies are linked to the 4specs website under Section 02792.
The value of the interlocking tiles is the ability to relocate tiles to aviod holes or dips in places of high use like the ends of slides, entries, and swings.
The poured in place has the advantage of less cost and if there is no play equipment installed it could be the better value. Additionaly the poured surface can be sloped to drain.