Common Rubber Surfacing Questions

In this region, rubber surfacing poured onto an existing garage floor, walkway, patio or pool deck commonly runs eight to sixteen dollars a square foot. Playgrounds run fifteen to thirty dollars a square foot or more because of the depth. Thickness, colour and prep move the number, and the smallest jobs are priced at a minimum. The real price is whatever the written quote says after the visit.

Rubber surfacing handles Milton's inland freeze-thaw better than the concrete under it. Water passes through the surface instead of freezing on it, salt leaves it alone, and a plastic-edged shovel clears it. The slab underneath stops flaking because it is no longer wet at the surface every night.

EPDM granules carry the colour, and they are produced in tans, greys, blues, greens, reds, browns and off-whites that can be blended. Black SBR is recycled tire rubber and costs less, which is why it goes into garages, gyms and the playground cushion. Light colours in full sun get an aliphatic binder so they do not amber.

On a pool deck, patio, walkway or set of steps, rubber surfacing usually goes down three-eighths of an inch, and sometimes as much as half. Garage and gym floors get three-eighths up to three-quarters. Going thinner than that to save money is one of the main reasons a pour fails early.

Rubber surfacing is ready for feet the morning after it goes down. Cars, furniture, racks and horses wait about 48 to 72 hours, longer if the nights are cool. Rain during the cure is the one thing we schedule around.

Rubber surfacing bonds to concrete, to asphalt, to interlock or pavers, to stamped concrete, to wood decks, to a compacted stone base and to worn-out rubber. The base must be sound and dry, with no sealer, paint or oil sitting on it. The old surface is not removed, because it is the base the rubber bonds to.

Rubber surfacing covers hairline and static cracks for good, since the material flexes with the slab. A crack that keeps widening, which is common on Milton's clay, has to be repaired first or it shows through later. That is one of the things we look for on the visit.

Cleaning takes a hose or a broom, plus mild detergent on the rare day it needs one. Harsh solvents are the one thing to avoid. A new coat of binder some years down the road tightens the surface back up, and the prep on day one decides how long it lasts.

Playground rubber surfacing starts around an inch and a half and can pass four inches, with the fall from the highest deck or bar deciding the number. The cushion is black SBR and the coloured top is EPDM. Your quote lists the depth for each zone.

Rubber surfacing needs a dry surface and about 10 degrees and rising, so the Milton season runs from late April to the middle of October. Most residential jobs take one to two days, playgrounds three to five. Spring and September dates book first.