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Wooden Swingsets, landing materials and wasps
We are putting up a wooden swingset / play structure in our yard for our boys (ages 4-11yo). I'd be interested in hearing the pros and cons of various materials to put under the structure (to soften landings in case they fall off). Also, is there any safe way to discourage wasps from nesting under the wooden platforms in the structure? Thanks, --Robyn .. |
#2
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In article ,
Robyn Kozierok wrote: We are putting up a wooden swingset / play structure in our yard for our boys (ages 4-11yo). I'd be interested in hearing the pros and cons of various materials to put under the structure (to soften landings in case they fall off). Also, is there any safe way to discourage wasps from nesting under the wooden platforms in the structure? Thanks, --Robyn In our case, we use sand since the yard consists of topsoil over top of a layer of sand, so there wasn't a lot of work involved in going this route. We do have to make sure that it is fairly loose to be softer though. We haven't had anyone fall from a height where there was any injury that couldn't be fixed with ice and a freezie though so I don't know if it is the best approach. Wasps haven't been a problem. I'm not sure if it is because we periodically restain it, or we are lucky, or we just don't have a lot of wasps around (although given the state of the school garbage cans in June, I doubt this). We did however get earwigs last summer. Giving the kids bottles of water with dish soap to squirt seemed to fix that problem though. Carol Hulls |
#3
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In article ,
Carol Hulls wrote: In our case, we use sand since the yard consists of topsoil over top of a layer of sand, so there wasn't a lot of work involved in going this route. We do have to make sure that it is fairly loose to be softer though. We haven't had anyone fall from a height where there was any injury that couldn't be fixed with ice and a freezie though so I don't know if it is the best approach. Unless we just leave it as grass, whatever we put down we'll have to buy and transport. We may be able to get free wood chips, but they seem undesirable to me in terms of splinter potential, etc. I am interested in the recycled tire rubber mulches, but I haven't priced them out yet, and suspect that will be a big downside. Wasps haven't been a problem. I'm not sure if it is because we periodically restain it, or we are lucky, or we just don't have a lot of wasps around (although given the state of the school garbage cans in June, I doubt this). They seem to nest in many of the wooden play structures at the schools around here. They are also nesting all along our roof/attic right now, but that is soon to change. So, I do think this is a legitimate concern for us. The exterminator we asked said to basically just watch for them starting and deal with it as it happens, but I was hoping someone here might have a more proactive suggestion. Thanks, --Robyn .. |
#4
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On 2005-06-30, Scott wrote:
Robyn Kozierok wrote: In article , Carol Hulls wrote: In our case, we use sand since the yard consists of topsoil over top of a layer of sand, so there wasn't a lot of work involved in going this route. We do have to make sure that it is fairly loose to be softer though. We haven't had anyone fall from a height where there was any injury that couldn't be fixed with ice and a freezie though so I don't know if it is the best approach. Unless we just leave it as grass, whatever we put down we'll have to buy and transport. We may be able to get free wood chips, but they seem undesirable to me in terms of splinter potential, etc. I am interested in the recycled tire rubber mulches, but I haven't priced them out yet, and suspect that will be a big downside. The local park near my house has that rubber mulch, and I hate hate hate it. DS comes home from playing at the park and he is absolutely filthy from the black rubber. A quick google for rubber mulch playground reveals that the stuff costs about $800 (including freight) for a pallet of 60 20-lb bags: "One pallet (60 x 20lb bags) covers approximately 300 sq. ft. 3" depth." (information from http://www.detailedplay.com/AccMulch.htm) They claim that their product does not rub off on clothes. Other suppliers of playground mulches make similar claims: Unlike black tire rubber, the coating process for NuPlay locks in the rubber. The rubber won't chalk or oxidize because of the UV protective coating. [ http://www.rubberificmulch.com/nuplay/nuplay_faq.asp ] I suspect that you can find cheaper sources of rubber mulch that do have that problem. The rubber mulch is safer than sand, since it retains the ability to absorb shock without having to be rototilled every year. (Sand tends to pack down and get very hard.) Recommended depth of rubber mulch is 4" for a 6' ladder and 6" for a 12' ladder. ------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics (Senior member, IEEE) (Board of Directors, ISCB) life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Affiliations for identification only. |
#5
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In article ,
Scott wrote: The local park near my house has that rubber mulch, and I hate hate hate it. DS comes home from playing at the park and he is absolutely filthy from the black rubber. Thanks, that is useful feedback! The ones I was looking at online come in multiple colors, but then I guess you'd just get dirty in that other color. ;-) The last time I made this decision we ended up with pea gravel, but it was quite expensive, and then we moved before we got much experience with it. I was hoping there might be a better alternative out there today, but things aren't looking too optimistic. I think we can get free wood chips, so that might be the best approach. At least if we hate it, we won't have spent and arm and a leg getting them. --Robyn .. |
#6
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In article ,
Kevin Karplus wrote: The local park near my house has that rubber mulch, and I hate hate hate it. DS comes home from playing at the park and he is absolutely filthy from the black rubber. snip They claim that their product does not rub off on clothes. Other suppliers of playground mulches make similar claims: Unlike black tire rubber, the coating process for NuPlay locks in the rubber. The rubber won't chalk or oxidize because of the UV protective coating. [ http://www.rubberificmulch.com/nuplay/nuplay_faq.asp ] I suspect that you can find cheaper sources of rubber mulch that do have that problem. So, of course the question arises as to whether the Scott's playground has is the stuff that claims not to be messy or not. The stuff is a substantial investment, so I'd hate to buy it and then find out I "hate hate hate" it (which I certainly would if it leaves color on skin and/or clothes). I guess if we decide to go that route, we would attempt to purchase a small sample first. One more question for Scott or anyone else who has experience with this: with the black rubber mulch, does it get unpleasantly hot sitting out in the sun all day? This seems like one factor to recommend getting a lighter colored version, but the colored versions are even more expensive. --Robyn .. |
#7
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On 2005-07-01, Robyn Kozierok wrote:
In article , Robyn Kozierok wrote: Also, is there any safe way to discourage wasps from nesting under the wooden platforms in the structure? Any thoughts on the wasps? This seems to be an issue with other wooden play structures in the area, which is why I asked. We spoke to an exterminator who said to just watch for nesting and deal with it if it occurs, but obviously, I'd rather discourage it if possible, so I was hoping the folks here might have some creative ideas. One thought on the wasps (and on splinters). There are new materials that consist of wood fibers and recycled plastics that do not splinter and presumably are not attractive to carpenter bees. These might be a good choice for playground equipment. They are sold primarily for decks, but I think some of the playground equipment manufacturers use them (mainly to reduce liability for splinters, I believe). ------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics (Senior member, IEEE) (Board of Directors, ISCB) life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Affiliations for identification only. |
#8
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Robyn Kozierok wrote:
One more question for Scott or anyone else who has experience with this: with the black rubber mulch, does it get unpleasantly hot sitting out in the sun all day? This seems like one factor to recommend getting a lighter colored version, but the colored versions are even more expensive. I suspect it would -- at the neighborhood park, the mulch is pretty well shaded by trees, so it never gets direct sun in the summer. So I guess I can't answer your question based on personal experience. Scott DD 11.993 and DS 9 |
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