School gym flooring withstands a lot of traffic; between basketball games, regular classes, and rallies. With time, even the most carefully maintained gym floors will start showing signs of wear and tear, creating a safety hazard for your students.
Students’ growing feet require a stable, resilient, and durable surface to keep them growing no matter how physically active they are. Hence, it’s essential to keep school gym floors safe and well maintained.
So how can you tell that you need new school gym flooring? Below are some key signs to look for:
- High Relative Humidity and Water Damage
Humidity and water damage can leave gym floors permanently damaged. If you notice any water leaking from the gym flooring, it could be time for new floors. Even after a flooding incident at the gym, the floors need to be adequately dried to prevent any further damage or deterioration.
Roofs are a major cause of flooding in homes, businesses, and schools. If you’re dealing with a leaky roof, it’s advisable to handle it immediately. If your floor is damaged due to flooding, you will notice dark, bulging stains and molds on specific areas.
Water-damaged flooring may also feel soft, and you will notice signs of cupping, especially at the edges. If this is the case, the only action you should take is to call a floor replacement company. Even if you’re not sure if the floor is completely damaged, ensure you contact your flooring expert for advice.
- Physical Damage
School gym flooring endures a lot of physical activities, with hundreds of students playing sports and moving around the gym. Therefore, schools need to use high-quality flooring materials. When children are doing any form of physical activity, the floors need to be in perfect condition.
If there is visible physical damage on the floor surface, it will be dangerous for the children to use the gym. Damaged floors are also unstable and unattractive, making the area look unsightly. This is a major sign that you need to replace your floors.
Attempting to maintain or repair your damaged floors could result in water infiltration, making the flooring state even worse. If there are any physical signs that your floor is damaged, contact an expert immediately. They will determine whether your floor needs replacing or a simple repair.
- Inaccurately Drawn Game Lines
Different matches have different game lines. Unfortunately, some game federations often make changes to the design of the game lines that schools need to draw on the court. School administrators should always apply these changes to school gymnasium floors.
Therefore, it’s advisable to update the nonconforming lines to match the new standards based on the federation requirements. Unfortunately, some gym court flooring may require a complete replacement for such types of changes. Other flooring materials such as hardwood floors can easily be sanded down to receive these new game lines and are easy to refinish.
- Old and Outdated Flooring Materials
Most school gyms only consisted of ordinary and traditional flooring in the past. Hence, the floors used in gaming and sports centers have since evolved. If your school still has traditional flooring materials, it’s time for a replacement.
Currently, manufacturers have created specialized flooring materials for gyms. These floors are designed with the student’s health, performance, and safety in mind. Some qualities of these new flooring materials include:
Non-Slippery
Jumping, running, and stopping abruptly are all essential movements in any school gymnasium. This is especially true when students practice sports and engage in other types of physical activity. With these activities, it’s easy for a student to slip and fall, leading to accidents and injuries.
Some older educational institutions may still have the traditional ordinary floors. Unfortunately, these floors could make it easy for students and teachers to slide and fall. Before getting slapped with a lawsuit, ensure you upgrade your school’s slippery floor with other non-slippery basketball court flooring options.
Resilient Flooring
Is your school gym flooring made from commercial rubber, terrazzo, VCT tiles, and other hard and dense materials? Then you need to think about a flooring replacement. These floor surfaces are too dense and hard for children’s and teenagers’ feet.
Hence, they aren’t suitable for physical activity. Growing and developing athletes require more resilient floors that act as shock absorbers. That’s because the floor will absorb most of the energy from their feet, protecting the athletes’ joints during sports and other gym-related activities.
Low Maintenance Flooring
Most flooring surfaces require regular maintenance with time. They could also be quite challenging to clean and require time-consuming and labor-intensive stripping, refinishing, and waxing to improve their lifespan.
Fortunately, today’s gym flooring options may not require all this heavy maintenance. You can simply purchase functional flooring materials created explicitly for gyms and high-traffic areas that are worth your investment. These floors have low maintenance requirements and may not be as expensive.
- Bad Odors
Have you noticed that the school’s basketball court surface has an unpleasant odor? This is a major tell-tale sign that you need flooring replacement. Once the smell gets past the sub-floor surface, there is no saving your floor. A bad odor could result from a pest infestation, rotting, and even water damage.
If you notice any bad smell coming from the floor, ensure you call a commercial gym flooring expert immediately. You could also be dealing with mold and mildew infestation. They will check the floor and advise you on the best steps to take.
Before replacing your floor, the expert will likely start by thoroughly cleaning the subfloor to eliminate the odor. They will also advise you on how to avoid such a problem in the future.
It’s Time for Your School Gym Flooring Replacement
Nothing will last forever, not even your school gym flooring. Even with today’s advancement in flooring options, high school gym flooring also experiences normal wear and tear. However, most people don’t know the tell-tale signs that thor floors need replacement.
Fortunately, our comprehensive guide above will help you pinpoint these signs. If you notice any of the above signs, ensure you contact a flooring expert immediately.
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