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We supply and install engineered wood fiber or certified playground mulch in most of the North East. Please call 203 659 0456 or email info@trassig.com to check if we cover your area.
Our playground mulch is IPEMA certified and comes from virgin wood. It is free from pallet grinds, nails, bark, and is consistent in size. Our certified playground inspectors are very particular about the playground mulch we source.
- Meets the impact attenuation test as outlined in ASTM F-1292.13
- Meets the Sieve analysis test as outlined ASTM F-2075.10a
- Passes the heavy metals test outlined in ASTM F-2075.10a
- Passes the Tramp Metals test outlined in ASTM F-2075.10a
- Meets ADA Accessibility outlined in ASTM F1951-09b
Make sure the Engineered wood fiber you install in your playground is not landscaping mulch. It should like the chips in the video below:
Choosing the site for playground mulch is key to its longevity and to reduce maintenance. Choose a site that is fairly flat but that also has a little pitch so water can drain. If the site is too slanted, the mulch will try to migrated down forcing you to rake it up all the time. If the site is flat or dug out, we recommend installing a layer of crushed stone and some type of drainage system and overlaying it with filter fabric before you install the mulch.
Figuring out how much mulch you need is easy. You will need a minimum of nine inches material. That thickness will increase as the fall height of your equipment does. Most initial installations will call for 10 to 11 inches, because most if not all available plastic borders on the market are 12″ high. It is important that an initial installation of 10 to 11 inches will compact to 9 inches in no time. Playground mulch is sold in cubic yards. To translate the square foot area of your playground into cubic yards, you multiply the total square footage by the number of inches constituting the thickness you desire. Let’s say your playground is 1000 sf and you want 10” of material. You multiply 1000×10, which is 10,000, which you would then divide by 324. In this case 10,000 divided by 324 is: 30.86 or to round up is: 31 cubic yards of material.
Engineered Wood Fiber must meet ADA accessibility standards. In order to do so, we recommend Installing the first 6 inches of playground mulch and compacting it down before installing the next layer and compacting it again. Special care should be taken at the entry points of the playground. These should be ramped in a way that they meet the ADA standards. Playground mulch can be installed either manually after it’s delivered to the site, or blown with special blower trucks. For areas that have access issues, or where the playground is too far from where the truck can dump the playground mulch, blower truck with long hoses can come very handy.
Among all surfacing materials, playground mulch is the one that needs the most maintenance. Like all organic materials, it will decompose with time. It will also compact with use. This means that you have to replenish it over time. A good practice is to have marked borders or playground posts with a line that shows the “fill level” of the mulch as a reminder to replenish it. The decomposition rate is highly affected by how well the site drains. The more the wood fibers stay wet, the faster the break down. If the area doesn’t drain well, expect frozen mulch in the winter as well.
You also have to rake the playground mulch constantly to make sure the impact attenuation is uniform throughout the site and also to keep compliant with ADA laws. This can be very challenging in areas with high traffic, such as entry points, slide exits and under swings. We recommend using wear mats in those areas to minimize the displacement of playground mulch.
