Sure it’s easy to source wooden playground equipment quite cheap these days, but what is it that you’re buying when you order from Amazon, or a company that imports cheap outdoor equipment? Outdoor toys are subject to the elements, as well as heavy use, so it’s vital that you choose equipment which is up to the job.

Here at Discovering Days we build, treat, supply and install our own products, ensuring that we have complete control over the finished product, and can cut out the middle man.

As most of our customers are in the education sector, we focus on providing safe, excellent quality outdoor play equipment, which meets high UK safety standards.  The children in your care can enjoy our toys, and fuel their imaginations, all whilst you are assured that their play time is completely safe.

 

Safe For Children of All Ages

You should be cautious when buying  cheap outdoor playground equipment, as these models can often be made outside of the EU, or by people who don’t have professional experience when it comes to treating and using wood intended for heavy, outdoor use.

It’s common for people to purchase wooden products for children, thinking that as wood is a natural product, it will be safe from any unscrupulous manufacturing processes, but this isn’t so. Take care when purchasing anything made from MDF or ply-wood, as these can be bonded using toxic glues, which may even contain Formaldehyde.  Add to that, cheap coats of paint or lacquer, which could possibly contain lead. Scary!

At Discovering Days, we take care to ensure that our raw materials are of the highest quality and that the preservatives used, are the correct, safe ones specified by DEFRA. The rest of the treatment is done in-house, by our experienced craftsmen.

Not only are our timbers safe for children to be in close contact with them, but we comply with stringent and relevant regulations, principally outlined in EN1176-1 playground equipment.

 

Playground Equipment That Will Last  

Another issue with cheap products is the longevity, as the old saying goes; buy cheap, buy twice!

DIY treatment of wooden play equipment isn’t suitable for a long lasting product. When treated properly and cared for, outdoor softwood pieces should last up to 15 years. Here in our workshop, we vacuum treat our products with a deep penetrating preservative which ensures that the timber isn’t just ‘surface treated’. The safe preservatives keep your equipment looking great for many years to come.

Junctions between components and holes for fastenings are positioned so that water can be easily shed when it rains. End grains are protected so that they are not vulnerable to exposure, and all of our products are designed in a way to ensure water runs off and away from the product.  

 

Sustainable Eco-friendly Wooden Playground Equipment

The majority of the timber we use is Scandinavian redwood, this is used because of its suitability for outdoor equipment, its hardiness and because we can source from good certified suppliers. It’s not the cheapest option, but it ensures an excellent finished product, and we also like to know we are doing our bit for the environment, as you probably do too.

The timber all comes from well managed environmentally certified sources. Whilst this is not the cheapest option you can feel comfortable that it’s not costing you the Earth. Because of excellent forest management, and the fast growing properties of Redwood trees, there is more Redwood available as lumber, and more Redwood trees in the forest, than existed 50 years ago.

Redwood is also one of the fastest growing of all softwoods. With thousands of acres protected, that is safe from being used. Instead, tree farms reward us with an abundance of timber which means we will have more of this wonderful building material for years to come.

 

Prices That Can’t Be Beaten

When you buy products directly from Discovering Days, you essentially cut out the retailer, which would normally push the cost up. By buying directly from us, the manufacturers, you save money as there is no middle man.

We don’t want people to take the credit for selling our products, that’s why we design, build and retail our own pieces. We also understand that budgets can be tight for schools, nurseries and local authorities – hence why we want to provide our customers with brilliant products at affordable prices.

Speaking of budget, a lot of our customers think our online shop is a really great way to use up any remaining money from their annual budgets.

 

One Stop Shop For Playground Equipment in Lancashire

In addition to selling products that are ready for shipping in our online shop, we can also work with you on your very own bespoke playground equipment, which we then build for you here in our Burnley workshop.

All of our large play equipment is installed at your property by ourselves; we don’t employ sub-contractors, so it’s our friendly team who make the products, that will also come and install it and make sure everything is safely set up.

 

Get in Touch With Discovering Days

We really do cut out the middle man, as we design supply and install our own products at your convenience.  If you want to speak to a member of the team about any of our products, or a project you need help with, then please call us on 01282 416755 or email sales@discoveringdays.co.uk.