Skatewave® FAQs
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1. How do we get started planning a skatepark?
The first step is to contact us. Find your local representative or, call us toll free at 1.866.SK8.WAVE.
Your Skatewave specialist will work with you to:
- Provide an expert needs assessment.
- Help you communicate with riders and members of the community.
- Collaborate with pro athletes and expert skatepark designers to create your own unique skatepark.
- Address any questions you may have about the skatepark industry, skateboarding or other action sports.
- Assist you throughout the process as a partner in developing new, exciting fun for the youth in your community.
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2. Why has Landscape Structures chosen to design, engineer and manufacture skatepark equipment?
We believe that a skatepark is a natural extension of your community’s commitment to recreation. Skateboarding alone has an annual activity rating of nearly 13 million youth riders in North America, which exceeds that of baseball and most other major sports. Landscape Structures, the premier provider of playground equipment, has worked with community officials and park and recreation departments for over 35 years to enhance the lives of children through play. Now, we leverage our engineering, manufacturing and endorsed team of professional athletes to produce the most durable and functional modular skatepark equipment on the planet.
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3. Why choose Skatewave?
Skatewave offers your riders the challenging and creative skatepark designs they want. With the durable, safe, low-maintenance and cost-effective equipment you need. Skatewave 3.0 was created by a team of top engineers and professional athletes, in consultation with recreation professionals and kids who love to ride. Every skatepark is individually and uniquely designed by our top-notch design team to meet your specific needs, site and budget.
Only Skatewave offers you the choice of two different riding surfaces to accommodate your needs. And a completely modular system for maximum creativity. The result? A challenging, long-lasting skatepark that holds up to whatever abuse your riders can dish out. And then some.
Want to compare skatepark vendors, head-to-head? Use our handy skatepark vendor comparison worksheet. Just click here to download.
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4. How durable is Skatewave 3.0 skatepark equipment?
Each ramp, rail, bank, launch box and grind box is constructed with the finest grade materials and designed with innovations you won't find on other obstacles. What others call "unnecessary," we call mandatory – and typically, these are the details that make our equipment safer and last longer. And we've got the warranty to back it up.
Every Skatewave® 3.0 obstacle features 7-gauge steel frame supports and attachment plates, as well as 11-gauge cross supports. Choose from two different riding surfaces that each provide superior durability: TekTrak™ or Stainless Steel. Plus, we use stainless steel top-down fasteners and foot levelers for added safety and flexibility. Your riders deserve the best. That's why we engineer and build Skatewave skatepark systems with painstaking attention to detail and rider safety.
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5. What kind of materials do you use to manufacture your products?
See individual product pages for more materials information.
STEEL SURFACE WITH TEKTRAK™ FINISH
Super-durable, sound-dampened, corrosion-resistant TekTrak offers a low-maintenance 13-gauge steel surface; it's ideal for long-term durability. It features a two-step process that starts with a zinc-rich primer. Then we add a factory-applied powdercoat textured finish that hugs wheels for the perfect balance of slip and grip.
STAINLESS STEEL SURFACE
Ramp up the ride to a whole new level. Our top-of-the-line stainless steel surface is ultra-tough, rust-proof and virtually maintenance-free. Available by special order.
POWDERCOAT PAINT
Super-durable, TGIC polyester powdercoat protects steel finishes, even in the harshest climates, up to three times longer than standard "powdercoats."
PERMALENE®
A 9/16" compression-molded, high-density polyethylene used under the transition and on back panels to dampen sound. This material is virtually maintenance-free.
BACK AND SIDE PANELS
These panels feature a 9/16" Permalene® enclosure that eliminates hiding places, significantly cuts down on noise and prevents objects and debris from entering or collecting under the ramps. We also offer custom-designed panels that can be added to serve as billboards.
GUARDRAILS
PVC-coated steel rebar back frames provide great visibility and are designed to keep riders and spectators safe. Constructed of a durable steel plate and 5/8" steel rebar, our guardrails provide riders a high, sturdy place to lean while waiting their turn. PVC coating keeps the surface cooler in the summer and doesn't freeze in the winter.
EDGE PROTECTOR
To protect the outer edge on ramps from abrasion from skateboard decks, trucks and bike pegs, we added an edge protector. Constructed of 7-gauge steel plate, hot-dipped galvanized for added corrosion-resistance.
FASTENERS
100% stainless steel, top-down surface mounted, tamper-proof, rust-proof and vandal-resistant.
STEEL COPING
Skatewave coping is made from thick 2-3/8" steel tubing that creates a smooth, continuous grinding surface that attaches to all quarter pipes. The double-layer of zinc-coating with powdercoating finish keeps this steel tubing durable, safe and rideable.
ADJUSTABLE FOOT LEVERS
Designed to make leveling ramps on uneven surfaces easy. Constructed from low-maintenance stainless steel complete with a 4-inch plastic bottom foot.
TRANSITION PLATES
Our new transition plates are constructed from 10-gauge steel that is hot dip galvanized for corrosion resistance. It also has a strip of Permalene® on the underside to reduce noise.
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6. How much of an issue is noise?
There is always some noise with any skatepark obstacle. We have engineered and manufactured Skatewave 3.0 to minimize noise.
We use a dual-layer surface construction with a Permalene® substrate underneath the TekTrak™-coated steel to significantly dampen sound.
Most of the sound from a ramp comes from the initial contact which happens at the transition plate, where the ramp meets the ground. We have added a strip of Permalene® underneath for further sound dampening. The loudest sound you'll hear will be from the excited riders.
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7. What should I know about maintenance?
Skatewave's products are designed and manufactured with only the highest quality materials, resulting in very low maintenance costs to you. However, you should establish and follow a good routine maintenance and inspection program, to ensure safety and minimize liability. This can be done by performing regular walk-through inspections and looking for any safety hazards. Be sure to document and record inspections and any maintenance performed. Also, keep the park clean and free from debris.
Skatewave provides a maintenance kit with each order, which includes complete maintenance guidelines for the general maintenance of the skate park equipment. You'll also get graffiti remover, emery paper, tamperproof tools, PVC patching materials, and touch-up paint to match the powdercoated materials.
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8. What are my installation options?
You can work with our professional installation team or, to stretch your budget and build a sense of community, you can work with a crew of volunteers to make your skatepark a Community Build project . Skatewave 3.0 skateparks are easier than others to install. All parts arrive logically packaged, complete with step-by-step instructions. Many parts are interchangeable, so you can assemble many obstacles using similar techniques. Once you've put together one component, you will know how to do several more. Installation time will depend on the park size and amount of manpower available.
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9. Is Skatewave customizable?
Absolutely. With Skatewave, there's no such thing as a standard, off-the-shelf design. Our ultra-modular system lets you create a huge array of custom-configured obstacles, multi-leveled platforms and expansive skate plazas. And you can reconfigure your 3.0 components for a whole new ride.
You can add to or rearrange your obstacles as often as you like, keeping the layout challenging and interesting for the riders for years to come.
With a design plan and a few willing volunteers, your skatepark can be reconfigured into a new layout. You are never locked into just one design or one location for that matter. This guarantees long-term community interest and continuous rider excitement. Note: you may need to purchase some additional parts to reconfigure a new layout.
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10. What sales support services do you offer?
Skatewave will be there to provide superior service before, during and after your purchase of your skatepark. We can help you engage the riders and the community in creating a skatepark they'll enjoy for years and years. We also can provide you with site furnishings and much more.
Here are some ways we support you during the process.
ARRIVAL
Your purchase will be strapped to special pallets, stacked and shipped via truck. When the truck drives up, a forklift and some volunteers are needed to unload your equipment. The excitement grows. Your shipment will include a hardware box containing:
• Installation instructions
• 3D perspective drawing
• Top view drawing with dimensions and spacing
• All fasteners
• Installation warning sign
• Maintenance kit with wrenches, sandpaper and touch-up paint
Some of the materials you will need include: ratchets, strapping cutters and utility knives. For a full list of tools and time estimates for completion, please see the installation instructions.
Please plan to recycle the shipping materials.
ASSEMBLY
The amount of manpower and time you’ll need depends on park size. We recommend a minimum of three people. More can be helpful. Installation is straight forward, requiring attention to detail, your time and energy.
Once you’ve completed construction, per the specifications and put the obstacles in place, you’re pretty well finished.
FOLLOW-UP
Your Skatewave representative will follow up with you after your skatepark is up and running. At that point, we can determine if there's anything else we can do to improve your new skatepark.
WARRANTY
Skatewave 3.0 comes with a 15-year limited warranty on the steel frame TekTrak™ Coated Steel Surface. This covers structural failure due to corrosion, natural deterioration or manufacturing defects. The warranty does not include cosmetic issues or wear and tear from normal use.
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11. What are the liability risks of having a skatepark?
With any community facility – be it sidewalks, ball fields or skateparks – insurance is always a question. Coverage for a skatepark is dependent on how your state views this recreational activity. The injury rate among riders is lower than that of other sports activities at your facility, including hockey, football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Check with your insurance carrier for details.
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12. What insurance costs can we expect?
Costs are specific to the state you live in. Work with your insurance company to answer specific questions.
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13. Is stainless steel slippery? Does the surface get hot?
Stainless steel would be slippery and hot if it did not have a shot-blast finish. This technique is used to apply a super-durable finish and insures the perfect balance between grip and slip.
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14. Does your company carry liability insurance? We carry $10,000,000 in product liability insurance with two of the highest-rated insurance companies in the industry.
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15. What are flow lines and why are they important in a skatepark design? Flow lines are the major directional paths of a rider from one obstacle to the next and one section of the skatepark to the next. Proper flow lines allow the skatepark to operate at maximum capacity, without compressing safety or fun. Our experienced Skatewave design team understands how to design skateparks that are safe and challenging, while maintaining proper flow between obstacles.
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16. Why does Skatewave provide the best modular riding experience? Skatewave 3.0 is really the only truly modular skatepark system on the market. Others may claim modularity, but what they really mean is mobile or moveable. Not only can our obstacles be moved around on the course, we can also disassemble our obstacles down to their " building blocks," and reconfigure the same pieces to create a different riding experience.
This modularity coupled with Skatewave's consistent, tight-tolerance manufacturing means that every part is exact and will fit together every time, whether purchased at the same time or years down the road. Being able to change up the course periodically offers benefits to both the riders and the city. The riders will always have something new to keep them challenged and coming back for more, and the city will not have to spend as much money on new obstacles because the current obstacles can be changed up or others added at very little extra cost. Note: you may need to purchase some additional parts to reconfigure a new layout.
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17. Why are Skatewave's Design Services better? Skatewave offers the customer a complete design advantage and guides our customer every step of the way, from concept to design to installation and beyond. Landscape Structures and Skatewave have assembled a unique collaboration of leading skatepark designers, industry experts and professional athletes. All offer years of experience designing hundreds of skateparks. You will find that this experience makes a real difference in our ability to translate the needs of the riders and the customer into a skatepark that is perfectly matched to your site, budget, riders and community. Combine that with LSI's track record of rigorous engineering and state-of-the-art manufacturing, and you have a powerhouse team that cannot be matched in the industry. Others may consult with professional athletes or experts as Skatewave does. Look for the professional Athlete Design Approved stamp on your skatepark design; this means that this unique design has been personally reviewed and approved by an industry-recognized professional athlete.
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18. What value do Skatewave's expert skatepark designers and athletes offer? Not only do our expert skatepark designers and professional athletes design our skateparks, they are also deeply involved in the product development and testing of new obstacles. This gives them intimate knowledge about the structural aspects of the obstacles, which allows them to create not only the most innovative skatepark design, but they also incorporate many other crucial aspects such as types and skill levels of the riders, styles of riding, site limitations, budget constraints and weather and climate of the area. They are able to optimize flow lines for maximum occupancy without compromising safety, and follow ASTM skatepark guidelines. Working with our talented professionals, you'll get the best value for your money.
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