Re-surfacing an Outdoor - options???

luckilotti

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 January 2006
Messages
2,176
Location
Lancashire
hillhousestables.co.uk
Hi
My plans for this year is to maybe resurface our outdoor school. Now this school doesnt get much use, as we have an indoor also and if its slightly breezy, overcast, too sunny etc everyone uses the indoor lol!
The surface is currently woodchip and has been down since late 2003. I know we could 'top it up' but i am thinking it may be aswell to redo it. For what it cost to install - i dont think its worth using wood again but dont want to go crazy on the surface as it is rarely used plus at the top of a hill - so will over time blow away! plus we only rent the premises.
my assumption is - that we should be able to take up the woodchippings and hopefully not distrurb the membrane etc???? I think we will have a few repairs to the membrane to do but have some spare membrane left over so shouldnt be too bad.
I'm guessing our cheapest option may be plain sand?? which should also be easy to top up as it blows away!
Any suggestions on my idea or improvements anyone can suggest??

re our wood surface, the top part i am thinking i can use elsewhere to make another little turnout area and the lower level stuff i guess will be mulch and maybe can be just put around the edge of a field???
 
I would go for a sand and rubber surface. As long as your drainage has been fine then I'm sure it will be fine just to replace the surface.

I've gone for 5 inches of silica sand and 3 inches of Spring-Tek rubber on top. It's £18,000 but thats for a 60 x 40m.

http://spring-tek.co.uk/default.aspx

This is the same surface a EC down the road has where they have around 40 horses and dressage and jump comps on 3-4 days a week, so it must be good.
 
thanks,
i know looking at some of the other threads, some of the rubber etc compaines arent that expensive. i know when we 1st put it in, we got loads of prices of them and they were much more expensive - maybe its our location??
i forgot to mention in my 1st post - its 25 x 40m.
 
We have two woodchip menages and I acctually really like them. For a menage that isn't often used, if the drainage and membrane are all fine, is it worth the expensive of totally redoing it?
 
[ QUOTE ]
We have two woodchip menages and I acctually really like them. For a menage that isn't often used, if the drainage and membrane are all fine, is it worth the expensive of totally redoing it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm unsure of it all, i just imagine that in the long term, there are only so many times it can be topped up? I'm pretty sure the lower level of woodchip now is just mulch
frown.gif
we could take it up, get rid of the lower level, put the top layers back and then top up?? but i guess we may need to do this again in a few years?
How long have yours been down CrazyMare??
 
We have just had our outdoor (25x 45m) levelled out (had low and high pockets caused by the inept constructor who first built it before we took over the yard) had new silica sand and rubber surface laid and with materials, labour etc the cost was £5000 - worth every penny its now a fab surface to school and jump on - it hasnt frozen or puddled well pleased!!
 
There was a guy at the Festival of Champions show at Valients that was selling a kind of bits of cut up carpet surface. Grey Gates Stud in Stalmine have it in their round pen and it works very well, but I can't remember the name of the company!
 
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