Some Sport Court® gym flooring projects come with their own unique challenges and solutions. Replacing the warped and worn hardwood flooring at the Jewish Community Center in San Antonio was one of those gym projects which required some creative thinking to overcome some unusual obstacles.
In the Spring of 2016, a hail storm passed through San Antonio. The falling frozen chucks of ice, sometime as large as a soft ball, damaged and often penetrated windshields, roofs, and pretty much anything else in their path, including the roof at the Jewish Community Center. With hundreds of holes in the roof, water easily infiltrated the interior of the building and soaked the hardwood gym floor.
The gymnasium at the JCC consisted of two side by side basketball courts with a total area just above 10,000 square feet. The 17 year old hardwood floor had been patched up a few times in an effort to eliminate dead spots. Unfortunately, as the wood naturally decays, patching dead spots as well as trying to maintain the high gloss finish is an endless and costly activity.
About at the end of its lifespan, the hardwood was in need of replacement. The hailstorm and resulting water damage was simply the final blow that rendered the hardwood “Down for the Count”.
South Texas Sport Court presented Response High Gloss Maple Select gym flooring as a viable upgrade option for this gym project.
The fact is that hardwood is simply unable to compete. Sport Court® provides:
- Lower Install Price
- Increased Shock Absorption due to Patented “Lateral Forgiveness” Design
- Documents Injury Reduction
- Less Maintenance
- Lower Life Cycle Costs
- Longer Lasting
- Greater Durability
- Long Term Resale Value
Within a couple of weeks of receiving a signed contract, Sport Court® delivered the materials and we began work.
Always striving for perfection, we recognized that the concrete floor slab had a few areas which needed to be flattened. The was especially true where various concrete slabs met one another at cold joints. Along these joints, the concrete seemed to curl slightly upward. To correct this problem, we brought in a specialty contractor who was able to dustlessly grind down high areas with a diamond polishing wheel that was ported to a special multi-stage HEPA filtration system.
Upon laying out the Sport Court® gym flooring, it was easy to see that the pre-existing volleyball sleeves, were not lined up properly. They were not even close to being in a straight line. To correct this issue, we used a diamond core rig to cleanly cut through the concrete floor slab to remove the metal sleeves. We then re-anchored the sleeves in their correct position, using high strength anchor cement.
The gym was designed with two sets of doors leading in from adjacent hallways. The old hard wood floor was a couple of inches thicker than the new Sport Court® High Gloss Maple Select flooring. Removing the hardwood left a small step down into the gym. To create durable ramps at these doors, we brought in a specialty contractor to pour a high strength polymer material which mixed and finished like concrete while providing greater crack resistance and higher strength.
Throughout the installation of the Sport Court® gym flooring, roofing crews were working to repair all of the hail damage. Every time it rained, water continued to drip into the gym, even while we were installing the new flooring. It was not unusual for our crew to arrive in the morning to find buckets and trashcans scattered throughout the gym, hoping to catch most of the dripping rain water. Fortunately, a little water isn’t going to hurt Sport Court® gym flooring. In fact, the leaky roof did not delay our work for even a minute.
We completed the installation of the new floor, a month or so before the roof was fully repaired. Had the staff at the JCC chosen to install old fashioned hardwood flooring, they would have had to wait an additional month or more before putting any hardwood in the gym, lest they risk water damage all over again. Installing Sport Court® gym flooring allowed the JCC to return to normal gym activities in record time, which was quite pleasing to coaches, trainers, and members who use the gym every day excluding holidays.
At South Texas Sport Court we strive for perfection on every gym project. It’s this mindset that helps us identify and find solutions to the unique challenges that come with some of our projects. It’s this mindset, that you can trust to make your project the absolute best that it can be.
To learn more about the benefits of Sport Court® gym flooring or to have us take a look at your gym project, please contact South Texas Sport Court for a free design consultation.
Gym Project Solutions
