Playground Surfacing

Playground Surfacing for Schools and Local Authorities

Harrington Brothers Contractors install high quality playground surfacing across Chelmsford, Epping and Brentwood along with the surrounding areas, and throughout Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and London. We’ve worked with local authorities across the region, including the councils of Barnet, Hertsmere, Tower Hamlets and Brentwood, providing high quality groundwork and playground surfacing for schools, parks and many public areas.

Playgrounds are home to all sorts of bumps and scrapes.

To protect the children using your facilities from becoming badly injured, you need to take the right measures to make the area as child friendly as possible, and the surface is the biggest single factor.

Opting for a rubber crumb soft play surface cushions falls, prevents serious injuries and makes your playground a safer place to play, while standing up to years of daily use and British weather.

Tarmac Playground Surfacing

Most of the playgrounds we surface are tarmac, and for good reason.

For school yards, general play areas and multi use spaces, a properly laid tarmac surface is hard wearing, quick to install and easy to look after, and it stands up to years of running feet, bikes and scooters.

We lay it the same way we lay roads and car parks: excavation and a properly compacted sub-base first, then machine laid tarmacadam from our own paver, for a smooth, even finish with the right falls, so rainwater runs off rather than sitting where children play.

Tarmac is also the ideal canvas for playground markings. Hopscotch grids, number tracks, running lanes and ball court lines are applied in durable thermoplastic through our thermoplastic line marking service, so the surface and the games are delivered as one job.

Where play equipment needs a softer landing, under climbing frames or swings, we can combine tarmac with rubber crumb or wet pour safety surfacing in those zones, giving you durability where children run and cushioning where they might fall.

Tired, cracked or potholed playground tarmac can often be resurfaced over a sound base, and we will tell you honestly whether an overlay will last or the area needs rebuilding.

Soft Play Area Surfacing and Rubber Mulch

We install soft, durable playground mulch designed to soften the blow and keep the children using your facilities safe.

That might mean digging out tired old rubber mulch and resurfacing the area, or it might mean building a brand new play surface from scratch; either way, you can rely on us for a proficient service and a high quality end result.

The groundwork underneath is done properly, excavation, drainage and a sound, level base, so the surface above stays cushioned, even and free draining for years rather than seasons.

There’s plenty of scope for creativity too.

We have lots of fun colours available, from blues and greens to full multi coloured designs, letting schools zone play areas, brighten tired corners or match school colours.

Colour also does practical work in a playground: separating ball game zones from quiet areas, marking safe running routes and helping younger children read the space at a glance.

Painted games and court markings can be added through our thermoplastic line marking service for a complete playground package.

Playground Surfacing Planned Around Term Times, Not Around Us

We know a playground can’t simply shut for weeks.

That’s why we schedule installations around term dates, holidays and site access requirements, and phase works where play areas must stay partly open, with work always scheduled to fit your timescales.

Because we run our own plant and machinery, we control the programme from excavation to finished surface: one contractor, one timetable, no surprises.

Playground work often sits within a wider project.

Many of our council contracts combine play surfacing with road and footpath repairs, car park surfacing and bay marking, delivered as a single programme over a school holiday so the site is disturbed once rather than three times.

See our contracting for local authorities page for the full picture of what we deliver for the public sector.

The Credentials Behind the Colour

When children’s safety is involved, due diligence matters.

Harrington Brothers hold SafeContractor, CHAS and Constructionline accreditations, plus RISQS and CIRAS, and carry £10 million public liability insurance.

All our surfaces are fully guaranteed, and 90% of our work comes from recommendations and referrals, much of it from the schools and councils we’ve worked with before.

For budget holders spreading the cost, finance options including 0% APR are available on eligible works.

We’re a family run Essex firm with over 50 years in surfacing, catering for a wide variety of surfacing requirements and listening to your individual needs to create the right finish for your project.

We cover Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and London.

Contact us for more information about our playground surfacing services or to arrange a free site survey, we’re always happy to help.

Wet Pour & Rubber Crumb Cost

Rubber crumb and wet pour surfacing starts from £60 per m².

That is a starting price, the final cost depends on the area, access, ground preparation and the specification you choose, so we give you a fixed quote after a free, no-obligation site survey.

Call 01277 546016.

You can spread the cost with our finance options, and our guide to driveway surfacing costs explains what moves the price.