Please see our full listing for comprehensive specifications, benefits and uses for Hardwood Play Grade Chips — as well as links to inspirational garden ideas and do-it-yourself guides. Please see ‘Additional information’ for product safety data. Full report available upon request.
Our hardwood play grade chips are tested to BS EN 1177:2018, offering critical fall height safety at greater than 3m at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm laid depth. Offering excellent impact protection while draining freely to stay clean and dry. Longer lasting than the softwood chips, they are an eco-friendly alternative made from sustainable British hardwoods.
Perfect for:
- children’s adventure playgrounds
- under play equipment like swings and slides
Low-maintenance and hard-wearing, these 10-30mm play chips are good for a minimum of 4 years, allowing you to create a comfortable, springy surface that’s both safe and stylish. Goodbye muddy footprints!
Hardwood Play Grade Chips
Price range: £139.00 through £339.00 inc. VAT
Play Bark Calculator
Tap a depth to fill it in, or type your own.
Play bark loses 10 to 15% of its depth to settling in the first few weeks.
| Standard | BS EN 1177:2018 |
|---|---|
| Tested by | Labosport Ltd |
| Test report | LSUK.21-0107-G1 |
| Material tested | 10-30mm hardwood chips (mixed hardwood chips) |
| Critical fall height | >3.00m at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm |
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Specifications, Inspirational Ideas & DIY Guides
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Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose, Applications, DIY Guides & Inspirational Ideas, Maintenance, Purchasing Tips, FAQs, Related Products
Overview
Hardwood Play Grade Chips are mixed British hardwood, sized 10-30mm. They arrive light to mid brown, some pieces paler than others because more than one type of timber goes into them, and go a shade darker after rain. Denser than pine, they break down more slowly, so one surface lasts four to six years with topping up.
Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose Hardwood Play Grade Chips
The certificate is where it starts, although it is not the only reason.
- Hardwood Play Grade Chips passed the BS EN 1177:2018 impact test at the independent lab Labosport, and are rated safe under play equipment up to 3m high from just 100mm deep.
- At 10-30mm it shares the finest certified grade we sell (along with our softwood play chip), smaller than both our play barks, so it packs into a closer layer and is the one I would put down where toddlers play.
- Hardwood breaks down more slowly than softwood pine chip.
- Outdoor Aggregates sells it in 70 litre bags as well as bulk bags which carry through a house with no side access.
- Colour is the weakness: this is wood rather than bark, so it loses its fresh shade in the first year and weathers paler.
Hardwood Play Grade Chips Applications
This chip belongs under and around the equipment, and is the wrong buy for an accessible route or a flower bed.
- Under swings, slides and climbing frames with a free height of fall up to 3m (the highest the equipment standard permits).
- Across the landing ground around a frame, which BS EN 1176 puts at 1.5m out on every side and 1.75m beyond each end of a swing's arc.
- Topping up an existing hardwood play chip surface where it’s worn thin under the swing or slide exit.
DIY Guides & Inspirational Ideas
How to avoid the common pitfalls and get great results first time
Ben Parrot
Compare the specifications, price and optimal applications for our play chip product range.
Ben Parrot
Hardwood Play Grade Chips Maintenance
Hardwood play chip is kept safe by raking it back where it has been kicked away, then topping up to the depth it was laid at (measured, not by eye). The thin spots are nearly always the bottom of the swing's arc, the slide exit and the base of the climbing frame, and most "missing" chip will be sitting against the border. One 70 litre bag lifts a square metre by 70mm, so a worn patch under a swing seat takes one or two. Check at the start and end of the summer holidays, when it thins fastest.
Purchasing Tips
Coverage is worked at 200mm, the depth I lay in a family garden, and 300mm for a frame in constant use, with 15% added for settling. For an odd shape, the play bark calculator does the sum. The timber mix shifts the shade slightly between loads so order the whole area at once. A bulk bag weighs roughly 270 to 340kg and is left at the kerb; with no side gate, the 70 litre bags at around 19 to 24kg each are easier. Order heavy duty membrane with it, since the chip goes on top of one. The play chip range sets it against pine.
If you would rather talk your hardwood play grade chips order through with a person, ring Outdoor Aggregates on 0330 043 7585. The office is open 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.
| Bag | Area at 200mm | Area at 300mm |
|---|---|---|
| 70L bag | 0.3m² | 0.2m² |
| Builders Bag (approx. 700L) | 3.0m² | 2.0m² |
| Bulk Bag (approx. 1000L) | 4.3m² | 2.9m² |
| XL Bag (approx. 1200L) | 5.2m² | 3.5m² |
Hardwood Play Grade Chips FAQs
What are hardwood play grade chips made from?
Hardwood play grade chips are graded to 10-30mm and chipped from a mix of British hardwood timbers which is why the colour varies from piece to piece.
Are hardwood play chips safe for toddlers?
Hardwood play chips are safe for toddlers. They passed the BS EN 1177 safety test for play surfaces, and at 10-30mm they are the finest play grade we sell, which suits little ones best. As with any loose surface, keep an eye out for chips going in mouths.
Do hardwood play chips go grey?
Hardwood play chips lose their fresh brown in the first year and weather paler because wood fades faster than bark. A rake turns up darker chip from underneath.
Can hardwood play chips go on top of old play bark?
Hardwood play chips can go over an old surface only while it is still loose. Where it has packed hard or rotted to soil it needs to be lifted first.
What does the BS EN 1177 test on hardwood play chips actually show?
The BS EN 1177 test on hardwood play chips drops a head-shaped weight fitted with a sensor onto the chip from heights of up to 3m, and measures how hard it lands. The chip is laid loose at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm deep over concrete, so the ground underneath gives no help, and each depth is dropped on at nine different points. Our hardwood chip passed from the full 3m at all three depths, and 3m is the highest fall that play equipment is allowed to have.
Can hardwood play chips be used as a border mulch?
Hardwood play chips work as a border mulch, but in a flower bed the certification is wasted money. Ordinary hardwood chippings mulch a bed just as well for less.
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