Rubber Curbs vs Plastic Curbs

There always seems to be some debate as to what is the best material to use for a parking curb. While concrete has been the standard for decades, new products such as plastic and rubber are surfacing as new alternatives. While neither product is necessarily “better” than the other, there are some benefits and some disadvantages to using both. Here are some examples:

Appearance: While rubber parking curbs do offer various colors in the striping, plastic curbs are typically offered in a much wider array of options. Plus, plastic curbs are normally available in solid color, whereas the rubber usually only offer a colored stripe.

Solid color, however is not always an advantage. Plastic curbs can tend to fade over time and what once may have been a vibrant yellow curb, may look more like a pale hue of what it once was. With rubber however, the black will never fade. And the stripes offer a warranty to ensure they’ll stay vibrant.

Material: Rubber parking curbs are manufactured of recycled tires. This is a durable, firm material that is just flexible enough to withstand some heavy abuse. In fact, a vehicle could actually drive over the curb with no damage to the curb or the car.

Plastic typically doesn’t fare so well. Many times plastic curbs are made hollow to reduce the weight. That means that if a vehicle does actually run over it, corners will dent and sometimes the curb could even crack. This makes, not only for a poor appearance, but also allows water into the curb causing more trouble when winter weather freezes the moisture.

Longevity: Based on the points above, it’s easy to determine that the rubber curbs will probably outlast, and outperform the plastic. Since rubber is not affected by the weather, and can stand up to abuse from cars, they can remain in tact and functional for years. In fact, some have been installed for over 10 years and still perform the same as they did on the day of installation.

Depending on circumstances, each material could be deemed the “perfect” item for a specific situation. Each has their own advantages. However, rubber seems to take the lead as the “better” material overall.