Schools, universities, and workout facilities feature gymnasium floors. As the floors support various activities, from sports tournaments to events, they undergo wear and tear. Since wood gym floors are heavily utilized, facility managers should have a timeframe for when to refinish, resurface, or replace them.
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Many different sports are played on wood gym floors: volleyball, floor hockey, basketball, and gymnastics. Athletic teams practice on the floors and tournaments are held on them. When teams compete, increased foot traffic is introduced—accelerating the rate of wear and tear on the floors.
Similarly, gym floors undergo significant wear when social events and classes are held. Setting up the bleachers impacts the gym floor and abuses from students or visitors can cause chips, stains, and other forms of damage. A wood gym floor ages, too, and becomes worn over time.
The abovementioned scenarios affect the lifespan of the gym floor. Proper maintenance impacts the floor’s longevity. In fact, a well-maintained wood gym floor can endure for 50 to 60 years. When a facility manager comes across a floor that is close to the end of its lifecycle, decisions must be made.
Replacing, refinishing, or resurfacing a wood gym floor is dependent on the facility’s budget and the extent of the floor’s wear and tear. Safety is paramount for athletes and visitors who use the gym floor, so addressing the condition of the floor is a necessity, not a luxury.
Refinishing the wood gym floor reinvigorates it, breathing new life onto a surface that has become dull over time. The process simply involves adding a new topcoat. The uppermost layer of the floor is sanded, and fresh coats of stain and lacquer are applied.
Facility managers are advised to refinish the wood gym floor when the current finish begins to wear thin. Likewise, when signs of damage, from chips to scratches, appear on the floor, it’s time to refinish it. Being a quick project, refinishing the floor is least disruptive to gym schedules and is affordable.
Refinishing the gym floor can be done every 5 to 10 years, with the amount of foot traffic and maintenance program being taken into consideration. If the floor requires refinishing sooner than the recommended timeframe, the floor maintenance schedule should be evaluated.
Resurfacing also adds a new topcoat to the existing floor—but additionally involves replacing worn floorboards. Only the damaged boards are replaced, which saves the facility manager on costs, especially in comparison to replacing the entire gym floor. This is a more expensive route than refinishing.
Signs that a wood gym floor would benefit from resurfacing include numerous scratches and boards that appear gray or black. Also, when the current finish wears exceedingly thin, it’s time to resurface the gym floor. In terms of overall improvement, resurfacing falls short of a complete replacement.
The general recommended timeframe for resurfacing a wood gym floor is between 10 and 15 years. Wood boards do not become damaged easily, so performing this step is done at greater intervals. Keep in mind that resurfacing is done less often than refinishing.
A gym floor replacement is a major investment in time and money. Plus, the gym will need to remain closed for the duration of the project. Replacing the wood gym floor is only necessary when the floorboards are severely warped or otherwise damaged or have been refinished and resurfaced numerous times.
Water damage is a good reason to replace the gym floor, as are boards that have turned black and visible signs of warping or uneven areas appear. Sports flooring contractors who replace the floor entirely will remove both the damaged, warped floor boards and the subfloor beneath it.
Since the estimated lifespan of a wood gym floor is 50 to 60 years, a complete replacement can occur after this period. This step is usually a last resort and is recommended when the floorboards are so worn that refinishing or resurfacing would have little benefit.
Gym floor sanding is the removal of the top layer of a wood gym floor using specialized sanding equipment. This is done by professional sports flooring companies and removes the finish, paint, and seal.
Gym floor screening is the removal of the finish so that a new finish can be applied. A new coat of finish can refresh the appearance of a wood gym floor and screening is a less expensive and less invasive process than sanding. However, screening and refinishing the floor may not be enough to fix deep scratches or stains.
The sealing of a wood gym floor is the application of a clear, protective sealant to a floor that has been sanded. The porous wood floor absorbs the sealant which helps protect against moisture and other types of damage to the wood.
The finish of a wood gym floor, also referred to as the coating, is the top layer that helps protect the floor from wear and tear and gives it a shiny appearance. The most common wood floor finishes used are oil based, polyurethane finishes.
The following can cause damage to wood gym floors:
Refinishing, resurfacing, or replacing a wood gym floor are investments in the people who use them, from athletes to students and visitors. It’s important ensure the gym floor is free of hazards and is safe to use. These projects not only serve cosmetic purposes but enhance safety.
Consult professional contractors, even when performing a simple refinishing project. While cost savings may be attractive at first with a DIY project, flooring experts utilize the latest technologies and ensure finishes are safe, compliant with industry standards, environmentally friendly, and durable.
When rebranding the school or organization with new colors, refinishing the floor is advantageous. Resurfacing is a cost-effective option for dealing with damaged floor boards. When opting to replace the entire floor to address major flaws, consult an experienced sports flooring contractor, like Kiefer USA.
We are among the nation’s leading sports flooring experts, providing solutions for every level of athleticism, including elementary schools, high schools, universities, the NBA, and the NCAA. You are in experienced hands when you work with our knowledgeable hardwood flooring specialists.
Our experts guide you through the entire process, from concept to design and installation. The resulting wood gym floor is guaranteed to meet or exceed your expectations. Our satisfied customers, from Purdue University to the University of Notre Dame, are a testament to our commitment to excellence.
If a rubber gym floor is your preference, Kiefer USA is also your number one flooring resource. Our skilled team will meet your demands for a sports floor that supports any type of athletic activity. We offer rubber flooring options from Mondo to ensure you receive premium quality products.
Your new flooring just came in and you’re ready to start installing. You open one box and lay the planks side by side, clicking them in or using the glue-down method. You open another box and start doing the same except...wait....
These planks are a whole shade darker!
If you keep installing one box at a time, your new floor will look less like the trendy, high-variation style you were going for and more like a leopard-print eye sore displayed across your entire room.
In other words, a complete fail.
High-variation flooring is a popular style, but this installation mishap is all too common. This is why it’s important with high-variation flooring - and any flooring, really - to take all of the planks or tiles out of the boxes first and lay them out. Lay different colors next to each other to achieve that high-variation look instead of a splotchy floor.
Keep reading to learn more about high-variation trends, the best options for high-variation flooring and how to install it the right away.
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High-variation flooring means that your floor will have more variety in colors and shades. It’s a unique design among wood, wood-look and tile flooring. Those types of floors typically come in a similar color pattern, but high variation creates more of a statement with its design.
When you order traditional vinyl, laminate or tile flooring, all of your boxes will contain planks or tiles with the same hue and dye shade. But high variation includes light and dark shades or multiple color mixes in the same box.
You’ll see high color variation between planks and even within each plank. This gives your floor a look of dimension and beauty, a design that’s modern and traditional at the same time.
It’s important to know that even with traditional flooring you’ll see some variation in shades, but nothing as starkly contrasting as with high variation.
With competitive price and timely delivery, Lanshuo sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
The aesthetic appeal in high color variation flooring is that it provides a natural, rustic look, similar to the inconsistencies of real wood and stone. The large contrast in coloring shows the detailed graining and knots, providing visual interest in your floor. A high-variation floor is more of a statement piece and tends to pair best with simple but contemporary decor.
It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, though. If you’re particularly OCD or like things plain and simple, there’s nothing wrong with traditional gray flooring. But know that even single-color floors will have some variation to them.
High variation, however, is for the free spirit. The person who’s looking to make a statement with their design. People who want their flooring to be a work of art rather than something to walk all over.
These visually stunning floors work better in large, open spaces, like a living room, kitchen or dining room. This style can appear to have too much going on for a smaller bedroom or office, making the room look busy. Plus, high variation floors are meant to be seen, so it’s best to keep them out in the open.
What are the advantages of high variation flooring?
What are the disadvantages of high variation flooring?
The most important thing to do before installing high variation flooring is to open all of the boxes. Nay, the most important thing to do before installing any type of flooring is to open all of the boxes.
Why?
With high variation flooring, you’re going to have different shades and colors across your boxes. To truly make the right statement with your flooring, open all of the boxes first and look at what you have.
Lay out the planks temporarily to see how the colors will line up. This is where you can get creative. With high variation flooring, you want to avoid having two similar-looking planks installed next to each other.
As homeowners embrace this trend head-on, you will begin to see stores with entire sections dedicated to high variation wood colors.
Oftentimes when purchasing flooring, people like to get samples to test out the colors in their room. But if you order just one sample of flooring, you’re likely to get one color showing through the sample. This doesn’t help you see how a high variation floor is going to look in your home.
When deciding on high variation flooring to purchase, be sure to order multiple samples of the product. You may even want to choose different colors of samples to test them out side by side in your room.
Whether you’re installing your flooring yourself or hiring a contractor, the most important thing to do is open all of your boxes before installing. Pull the planks or tiles from the boxes and lay them out, ensuring that you have no two same colors next to each other.
What often happens is that the installer doesn’t know the homeowner purchased a high variation floor. The installer may begin to install the floor by opening one box at a time and end up with that complete fail of a floor we talked about earlier. It’s important to communicate to your installer ahead of time and let them know that your floor is high variation.
With the flooring technology soaring, it is now easier than ever to make your floors look more natural, truer to their original state. In nature, no two pieces of wood look alike. Now, manufacturers are able to replicate this in their floors.
High color variation is trending in wood (and wood looks) as well as tile. Wood looks typically feature color variation between planks, whereas high variation in tile typically refers to the amount of color variation in each individual plank.
Here are the different options of high variation wood flooring available.
Wood flooring is a classic choice, and even with the influx of wood-look flooring options, there will always be a market for solid hardwood and engineered wood flooring.
As homeowners increasingly use flooring to set the tone or feel of their home, manufacturers are responding with more beautiful wood flooring colors than ever before.
Usually, these variations occur in the same color family. As you can see above, those wood planks all look like they relate to each other; no 17th cousins sticking out like a sore thumb.
However, you will see some floors that incorporate bright colors in with their neutrals. It’s less common, but if done correctly, it can instantly elevate the look and feel of your home. Plus, it’s a great conversation starter!
Over the last decade or so, tile has totally taken off, beautifully replicating the hottest wood looks and even expanding into new textures to offer the most convincing look and feel.
High color variation is trending in both wood and stone looks among tile flooring. Homeowners love the natural, rustic look that higher color variation provides. In nature, stone and wood aren’t so uniform; there are all kinds of inconsistencies.
Wood looks typically feature color variation between tiles, whereas high variation in stone-look tile typically refers to the amount of color variation in each individual floor tile.
High color variation vinyl can feature variation between planks, in each plank or both. This gives you a look with lots of dimension and excitement that is, let’s be honest, less basic. And no one wants to be basic these days.
Now, with modern technology, you can achieve these more random, natural looks that were previously only available in specialty wood flooring with vinyl! Vinyl manufacturers now have the ability to develop shockingly realistic tiles and planks mimicking natural looks, such as wood and stone. With vinyl, you’ll see unique, decorative looks that are currently unavailable in any other style of flooring.
Laminate flooring has maintained its status as the staple go-to wood flooring alternative for residential use. Tremendous advancements in flooring technology are allowing the best laminate flooring to resemble solid hardwood more closely than ever before. High variation laminate especially helps elevate the look and feel of your floors.
Laminate flooring offers homeowners an affordable way to achieve their dream wood look. This wood flooring alternative is going stronger than ever with exceptionally realistic looks mimicking the current flooring trends in solid hardwood.
Product
TritonCORE Pier Park USFloors Atlas Naturals Shaw Islander 3”x6” Wall Tile Shaw Marlow 4”x8” Wall Tile Flooring Type Vinyl Laminate Laminate Engineered Wood Ceramic TilePorcelain Tile
Price $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$$$ $$$$$$$
If you want to make a statement with your home design, high variation flooring is a bold style choice that can improve the look and feel of your home.
When deciding on whether high variation flooring is for you, be sure to order several color samples and test them out side by side in your room. Remember that high variation flooring works best for larger spaces and high-traffic areas.
Prevent the common installation mishaps by communicating with your contractor or opening all of the boxes yourself if you’re going DIY. High variation flooring is fun to install when done the right way, but it can be a complete nightmare if you go box by box.
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