10 reasons to prefer maintenance free playgrounds

The next time you happen to reach a playground, have a look and try to guess how long children have been using some of the attractions. What will you base your decision on? On the appearance and the condition of the playground, of course. You take in the signs of wear, the scratches, the peeling paint and the fading tones. But it also might happen that you come across a playground that looks completely new, even though you know that it was erected a long time ago. So why do some products wear out and others don’t? The answer is very simple – there is an increasing preference towards maintenance free products when choosing a playground. Why? There are several reasons for this, so we wrote them down based on our experience so far:

Beautiful appearance for many years
All the amazing design that probably helped you make your decision stays intact. The colours won’t fade and the playground will look like new for years to come.

Protected from weather and vandals
We are not kidding. the sun, wind and water can do as much damage as a human hand whose owner is thinking of vandalizing a playground. With a maintenance free product, the weather or the hooligan may be in the mood, but that will not change the look of the playground.

Longer life span
Depending on the product’s frequency of use and on the regularity of maintenance of its moving parts, the service life of maintenance free products is 2-4 times longer than that of conventional products. If one is careful (e.g. inspecting moving parts and fasteners once a year), the maintenance free product will last 15-25 years!

Modern materials
It is the materials and fastenings of our maintenance free playgrounds that are responsible for giving the products their long life, durability and their fresh look. Instead of wooden posts, there are aluminum posts and HDPE panels. And the surfaces where children tread are covered with abrasion-proof, hot sprayed plastic.

Durability compensates for price
A higher quality and a more durable product also means a higher price. However, the significantly longer service life of maintenance free products actually leads to cost savings. A maintenance free product that is 30-50% more expensive than a regular product (depending on the specific product) is a more practical choice especially for public playgrounds with a high user frequency.

Convenience comes at a cost
We mean this literally because there are customers who dare to admit that they are lazy. A standard playground wants more frequent and attentive care. A maintenance free product does not need to have its posts overpainted or its surfaces repaired because sand has ended up scraping off the paint. Enjoying that convenience later outweighs a slightly higher product price in the beginning.

Thought-through solutions
A maintenance free product will not make a fool of the customer by attracting them with a wear-resistant staircase but still giving them a platform made of wood. If you aim to do better, do as best as possible. Therefore, maintenance free products are wear-resistant down to the last detail. Posts, platforms, panels, climbing walls, roofs, stairs, you name it. You don´t even have to worry if the playground is erected into sand and has many everyday users.

Nordic preference
By now, we have reached the point where Nordic countries only order maintenance free playgrounds from our product range. Is it the moody and occasionally harsh weather? The love for the design? We don´t know. All we know is that we tend to get the most positive feedback from the northern countries. In Estonia, we also have our four seasons that are changeable and sometimes volatile. This is why we believe that maintenance free products are a growing trend in our home country as well.

Flexible solutions
We certainly do not want standard product buyers to feel that they have missed out on something. Therefore, maintenance free platforms and stairs can also be ordered separately for standard products, since these are the first elements that tend to wear out. Together, we will definitely find a solution to using maintenance free details to make your current standard product live and look prettier for longer.

Growing product selection
From the selection of Tiptiptap’s maintenance free products, the OCTO series definitely belongs among the aforementioned Nordic favourites. OCTO is followed by Zodiac and WaterWorld series. We highly value customer feedback because we base our new products on it. Today, the trendiest colours of maintenance free products are blue, grey and pistachio green.

To conclude: Familiar, safe and conventional products will not disappear. The selection of cheaper products will be constantly expanding. However, maintenance free products are also here to stay and will take up their place among people and projects where the abovelisted details count as important benefits.