We just taught a poured in place rubber class last Tuesday and we were humbled by the response. We had folks coming in from California, Texas, North Carolina, Nevada...etc. We were very impressed at the turnout and were honored to teach basic as well as more advanced components of poured in place rubber installs.
The students leant the following:
- ASTM and CPSC Safety codes that govern poured in place rubber installations. They leaned about fall heights, critical fall heights and use zones as well as the ADA laws that govern accessible routes and ramps were they to be made out of poured in place material.
- The different synthetic rubbers that make up wear land base layers: SBR, EPDM, TPV and others.
- The different types of binders available and how they work. How aromatic ambers and Aliphatic doesn't. The mixing ratios to rubber and how to mix them properly.
- How to work with different temperatures in the install. How to work with the different types of binders that are formulated to cure differently.
- The different types of substrates needed for a poured in place rubber install. Advantages and disadvantages of each one; Asphalt, concrete, compacted aggregate and existing PIP.
- What types of mixers are best to mix the rubber with binder, and the mixers to avoid.
- How to properly mix base layer and EPDM to avoid waves in the wear layer. How to deal with excess dust in EPDM and SBR.
- How to dump the mix in a way to save time.
- How screeding is one of the most important steps in the install process.
- How to properly close EPDM granules for a smooth and durable finish.
- The different types of edgings
- How to do inlays, cut outs and designs in the surface.
- How to secure the site during and after install while the product is curing. We talked about curing times and how to speed them up by misting.
- How to repair cracks and holes in playground rubber surfaces. Repairing hairline cracks vs repairing large cracks. How to cut and prime the edge of holes before repairing.
- How to repair running tracks.
- How to rebind poured in surfaces and how to decide when to rebind.
- How to install bonded rubber, and how it's different from poured in place rubber.
- How to estimate jobs and pick quality material together with the logistics of receiving material and storing it correctly.
- The types of mistakes that are typically made in installs.
- What causes cracking, bubbling, waves and rubber separation
- What causes micro foaming and how to deal with it.
- How to deal with gaps in poured in place rubber surfaces that appear over time.
- How to deal with seams.
We had a great time answering specific case scenarios that the students brought with me. All in all, fun was had. I want to thank every one that came. We'll see you next class.
Hal.
