Hole in Trampoline - can it be repaired?

[Fontella]

I'm so pissed off - next door's 17 year old goes out in his back garden to smoke, usually with a bunch of mates in tow, and one of them has lobbed a fag butt over a 6ft high fence then over a 12ft high safety net to land smack bang in the middle of my daughter's trampoline. Didn't even bother to stub it out first!

The smouldering fag has laid there and burned a long thin 'ciggie shaped' hole in the fabric of the trampoline - about 1cm wide by 4cm long.

I've had a word with my neighbour and she is very apologetic. She had a go at her son (who denied it, and I can't prove it was him - but we don't smoke the folks on the other side don't smoke and there's thick woodland at the back of the house, no one walks past the back). As we didn't actually see it happen - just found the burn yesterday, there's not a lot else I can do.

Just phoned the insurance but with the hundred quid excess it's not worth making a claim. A like for like replacement for the whole tramp (minus safety next which is undamaged) would cost about £150 quid and I'd have pay 2/3rds of that.

Does anyone know if they can be patched/repaired? I thought maybe of trying a bike puncture repair kit? Have you successfully repaired a hole/tear in a trampoline?

All help appreciated.

its small and TBH i wouldnt worry. our tramp has quite a few little holes now and the kids still go on it!! we are moving and will bin it when we go but i dont think it can be repaired, it sounds small enough, maybe just put some gaffer tape over it to stop it ripping more?

Could you darn it?
Sorry if this sounds like a silly suggestion.

Or, could you talk to the manufacturer for their advice?

You can buy just the bouncing mat on a number of sites.

Thanks for the responses folks. I'm going to have a go at patching it - but interested to hear you can buy just the mat part. If the hole does get bigger, I can think about that. Still mad at the kid next door though!!!

Thanks again.

Ours (14') has several small holes from a neighbours bonfire ash! We phoned the maker, and we can replace the bed alone, but they said it woukd be fine - and 3 years later the holes have not grown/spread at all.

Thanks Milliways. I'm going to go and have a jump around on it meself (when no-one's around that is) to test it out. I'm no lightweight - so if it takes my weight then it should be fine for DD. It's not a very big hole so from what you've said it should be fine.

Fingers crossed!

Ours has a hole in it too - courtesy of dh's and ds's bonfire antics last November. The dc have been bouncing on it since the weather got better in the past few months and the hole has not got any bigger at all. Dh reckons the mat part is made out of 'rip stop' fabric and thus a small hole should stay small.

Honestly, I would not dare to jump on mat with holes... please read about possible dangers and trampoline safety here

Just buy replacement mat and be on the safe side.

I have recently noticed a few small holes appearing in our trampoline about 1cm long. My two small children are upset but I had to explain as the trampoline gets older (5years) gradual wear and tear will cause holes to appear. I have looked at other forums and seen that in old age trampolines with get holes that may or may not grow depending on the type of trampoline