I accidentally damaged my playground rubber surface

We get theses types of email a few times a month. "I accidentally damaged my playground rubber safety surfacing" please help me fix it. The more specific emails read like the following: "I walked with Stiletto heels on my playground rubber surface and now there are holes all over  it." "I placed metal chairs on my poured in rubber surface and the legs went right through." or "someone drove on my poured in place rubber surface, and now there are cracks all over the place."

Repairing the rubber surface is something we have addressed in many other blogs and instructional videos. The long term factors that cause poured in place rubber surfaces to granulate, crack and create holes are UV rays coupled by foot traffic.  The point of this blog is to educate the customer on things that will prematurely damage the rubberized surface. The obvious is "Vandalism". We have seen that over and over again. delinquent teenagers love to leave their mark by cutting up stuff or leaving graffiti on it or both. The other factors fall within what I would call "Not understanding how the safety surface is put together." 

The poured in rubber surface is often comprised of two layers: A base layer that acts as the impact attenuation layer and wear layer, which is the finish layer. Both layers are made up of rubber mixed with binders and troweled on site, hence the term: Poured in place rubber. The system is troweled in a way to make it porous. Depending on how tightly it's troweled, which is a function of the installer, it is going to be at the mercy of sharp and thin objects such as stiletto heals and stair legs that are pointy enough to go through. We have also seen damage from ladder legs and various other penetrating objects. 

Do not drive over playground rubber surfaces. While rubber tiles might take the weight of the vehicle, poured in place rubber surfaces, especially those with thicker base layers, might not. 

Do not use xylene or any lacquer thinner on or near your surface. These compounds will dissolve the glues used to bind the EPDM granules.

Do not use metal shovels to clear the snow off your poured in rubber surface. Use plastic shovels.

Do  not use snow blowers. Those might damage the rubber surface.

Do not place a grill on top of your poured in surface. The excessive heat and the binders won't get along.