Sports flooring maintenance

Preventive maintenance is the key to longevity on any sport floor.  Let’s  break your maintenance into 3 basic categories: 1. Daily Cleaning 2. Weekly Cleaning 3. Deep Clean and Reseal.

In this article, we will focus on the 5 steps of WEEKLY maintenance.

Prevention

It is recommended that access to the gym from an outside entrance be avoided. This reduces the risk of dirt and debris entering and prematurely wearing the sports surface. Also barrier matting at all external doors is a proactive approach to prolonging that mirror like look that is sought after by all.

Sweeping

A simple but effective method of controlling the debris that has settled on the surface is to sweep the floor. Collect and remove all surface dust and debris by using a non- treated v mop     (synthetic dust mop) prior to any wet cleaning .

Cleaning Solution  

If wet cleaning is necessary, use a cleaning solution with a neutral PH. This will avoid having a cleaning solution that will soften the surface of the finish diminishing the shine and its ability to resist abrasion. Often Neutral cleaner comes in a concentrate. Please follow the manufactures recommended dilution rate to ensure success.

Cleaning

You might find that you can effectively clean your floor by misting the solution on your mop or spray directly on a tough stain and remove the debris with a clean microfiber cloth. If you have access to an auto scrubber or swing arm, mechanical cleaning will enable you to keep ahead of the tough to remove stains.

Plan an annual maintenance

To complete your maintenance program it is important to adopt a schedule to Scrub and Reseal your sport floors as you see fit.

This routine will allow you to extend the lifetime of your flooring ensuring that every time you walk out on your sports floor you get that same feeling of pride and satisfaction as you see your floor glisten and hear the squeak of your shoes.

What Makes Sports Flooring Different?

A lot of thought goes into designing sports floors, and we must consider player safety, performance requirements, use cases, durability, and budget.

Pitches

3G and 4G pitches are used for football. The artificial grass is normally made from polyethylene (PE) and it has become very convincing in recent years, offering similar play to real grass. It’s available in a thickness range of 8mm to 20mm.

Hockey pitches

Like football, outdoor hockey pitches use artificial grass. The difference between them is hockey pitches have a shorter and denser surface so the ball skips across it. They can be 2G or 3G and are considered multi-use game areas.

Tennis courts

Tennis courts can be made from artificial grass, polyurethane or concrete. The traditional surfaces are clay, concrete and grass. The correct surface depends on where the court is. An indoor court should have a hard playing surface.

Vinyl floors

Vinyl floors are used indoors to create multi-use game areas. The hard surface provides support underfoot, making it suitable for basketball and netball courts. Schools and leisure centres can use vinyl sports flooring to cover large areas.

Vinyl is the cheapest option for sports hall flooring, offering good all-around performance and durability. Vinyl floors last around ten years, although the top surface is more susceptible to abrasion damage than PU or timber.

You should choose vinyl if you have a small budget and don’t mind replacing your sports hall floor after a decade. Vinyl does a fine job over a shorter period and is suitable for all sports, including basketball and indoor hockey.

Vinyl is also a good option if you want specific elastic performance because the vinyl can be manufactured to attain all point elastic and mixed elastic performance characteristics.

Polyurethane floors

Polyurethane floors are perhaps the most versatile of all indoor sports surfaces, with maximum slip resistance and outstanding wear resistance. These surfaces last a lifetime and provide optimal ball bounce for ball games.

Polyurethane is the most durable material for sports hall floors. PU floors last as long as timber floors but require no upkeep. Additionally, they are cheaper and available in various colours, although they lack a classic appearance.

Our polyurethane floors are EN14904 and DIN 18032-2 certified. They also have factory quality assurance to ISO 9001 and factory environmental care assurance to ISO 14001.