Primary Consideration
When considering what type of hardwood, maple flooring to use in a new or renovated gymnasium, the athletes playing on the floor are the primary consideration. All other considerations come after safety, from professional athlete to 1st grade gym class.
Breaking Down a Safe Floor
Physical Factors
To ensure a safe sports floor, you should consider a floor that:
- Follows PUR standards, set by the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA).
PUR standards focus on:- Shock absorption
- Vertical deflection
- Area of deflection
- Ball bounce
- Surface friction
- Surface Friction: Provides the proper traction for the intended use, like basketball games and other athletic activities, for the life of the floor.
- Shock Absorption: For running, jumping and falling, to reduce the risk of injury.
- Vertical and Area Deflection: Ensures there is a consistent response, by the floor to the athlete’s input.
A PUR certified floor is a safe sports floor.
Economical Consideration
After safety, you will want to consider the economical factors of your new floor.
- Make sure you couple a reasonable initial investment with added life cycle/cost benefits.
- Minimize your financial risk by getting a floor with a track record for longevity and documented history of success in similar applications.
- Request your floor is manufactured by a reputable company that stands behind their product.
- Demand your new floor is installed by factory-trained, accredited professionals to ensure maximum warranty coverage.
- Confirm the floor is easy to maintain relative to competitive floors.
- Recognize that even an economical floor from Horner Sports Flooring is a safe floor.
Demanding a Horner Sports Floor will cover all these considerations and more. Horner Sports Flooring is a founding member of the MFMA and was established in 1891 – the same year basketball was invented. .
Consider Synthetic
Horner Sports Flooring has a long history in hardwood flooring, but we also have a product line of synthetic systems. All of our systems are specialized for virtually every sports activity and engineered for the very best in athlete safety, athletic performance, structural integrity, trouble-free maintenance, and long-lasting appeal.
There are some applications where wood flooring is not recommended, weight training rooms for instance. We encourage those looking into athletic, hardwood flooring to evaluate all the uses that their flooring will be experiencing:
- High moisture area
- High impact area
- High traffic area
Now determine if a wood or synthetic floor is best suited to your application.
Final Considerations
Hardwood flooring has the aesthetics and performance that is associated with traditional court competition. The downside to purchasing hardwood flooring is the cost and maintenance. Plus, there are some applications that wood is just not suited for. While hardwood flooring is ideal for the athletes playing on it, a multiple use gymnasium or multi-purpose room may warrant consideration of synthetic flooring. The most common example of this is a field house that uses wood sports flooring for the courts and a synthetic surface for the track that surrounds the courts. Known as a “Combi” floor, Horner has several proven wood-synthetic floor pairings.
We hope the above discussion has helped you better plan your meeting with your flooring professional. While the above represents some of the most important considerations you should make, there are a few more:
Consider these:
- Sport-specific, multiple sports, or multi-purpose?
- Top level competition or recreational activities?
- Number of participants and spectators
- Number of hours/day and days/year the facility will be used?
- Special equipment use (bleachers, sound stages, lifts, portable backstops, etc.)?
- Desired life expectancy of floor?
- Budgetary considerations – initial cost versus total cost of ownership?
It may seem daunting trying to decide on a new floor for your new or renovated gymnasium, but there are always friendly people here at Horner Sports Flooring to assist you, regardless of your current level of flooring knowledge.
Give us a call if you have questions.
