Refinishing playground equipment properly

Play structures are the one thing we work on where a coating failure is a safety question rather than an appearance one.

Why they fail

• Constant handling. Hands and shoes wear coatings off high-contact areas fast.
• Impact damage that breaks the film and lets water underneath.
• Full UV exposure, year round, on every surface.
• Freeze-thaw working at every existing chip.

Why scuff-and-recoat is not enough

Painting over a failing film means the new coating is only as attached as the old one. On a structure that gets handled daily, it will start shedding within a season — and now you have two layers coming off instead of one.

Preparation on public equipment

Complete removal of failed coating, corrosion addressed at every chip and weld, and a consistent profile so the new system bonds. Silica-free media matters here more than anywhere — this is a public space, often adjacent to schools and housing.

Site considerations

Containment, staged access, and scheduling around when the space is used. These are rarely jobs you can just turn up and start.

Municipal play equipment across Medicine Hat, Redcliff, Dunmore and Cypress County takes UV all summer and blowing grit the rest of the year, which is a harder combination than most manufacturers' warranties assume.