The Neighborhood Place, a campus for one of San Antonio’s oldest charitable organizations, underwent several site upgrades in 2017 and 2018. New gym flooring was among these upgrades.
The campus was originally an elementary school in the Edgewood ISD. As with other elementary gyms in Edgewood, the flooring was old Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT), a flooring product most commonly used in large commercial spaces such as retail centers. VCT provides ease of maintenance and can have a very long lifespan, but it is certainly not a suitable gym floor. Due to it’s complete inability to absorb energy and due to it’s somewhat slippery surface, VCT has proven to be nearly as dangerous as playing on concrete.
Sport Court® – The VCT Coverup Option
To help reduce costs, the VCT at The Neighborhood Place was not removed. VCT does fine as a subfloor for Sport Court® flooring provided all of the VCT tiles are well adhered to the concrete floor slab. In cases where the VCT is coming loose, then it is best to remove all of the VCT and grind away any glue residue which may lessen the flatness of the finished floor.
Removing VCT can be a costly and hazardous process. VCT floors installed decades ago were likely adhered with a mastic glue which contained asbestos. Removing this glue requires special training and equipment and may take longer than removing non-asbestos glues. VCT installed after the mid 1980’s should have a glue without asbestos. Costs for removing VCT and dustlessly grinding away the glue typically start at around $2.00 per square foot.
Sport Court® gym flooring is a great option for facility owners and managers who have a gym with VCT and do not want to incur the costs of removing the VCT. Of course, covering up the VCT, rather than removing it, also saves time. And, if your gym is generating rental revenue, then shutting down to remove VCT creates an added expense and a loss of revenue.
