One community in Pennsylvania came together to give their community park a facelift that has been years overdue. The residents of Bloomfield hosted bake sales, car washes and other forms of fundraising for three years to give Friendship Play Park a new play surface.

“The park originally had poured-in place rubber surfacing which had expanded and cracked over the years due to the weather in Pennsylvania,” said Steve Cianflone, owner of Sunshine Surfacing, a local artificial grass installation company. “Artificial grass is a great alternative because it looks great and stays in place no matter the weather, all 365 days a year.” Cianflone used Everlast Tacoma Light found exclusively through Synthetic Grass Warehouse (SGW) because of its durability and plush appearance. The 4200 sq. ft. artificial grass conversion with was installed over the span of four days with three different teams. “We had a glue team, an install team and a cut and seaming team,” Cianflone said. “There were 130 inserts that needed to be cut around on the 10-yr-old play structure.”

Sunshine Surfacing has been installing artificial turf for over 10 years, with nearly 85 percent of their business being playgrounds. Cianflone said that he has encountered parents that have voiced safety concerns when it comes to artificial grass installation. “I explain that it isn’t the turf – it’s the infill, in particular rubber infill that is made from used tires which contain petroleum,” he said. “We have never used that type of infill – it’s just common sense.” He says there are many infill alternatives including the silica sand they use. He also suggests that parents ask to see the lead free certificates before an artificial grass installation provided by companies like Synthetic Grass Warehouse and to find an experienced installer. “We’ve done over three thousand installs in Pennsylvania alone,” he said. “Our jobs come from word of mouth and we are very proud of that.” Visit sunshinesurfacing.com or like their page on Facebook for additional project information.