Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor – Quality Assurance

When purchasing a hardwood athletic floor, you’ll want to make sure the performance and quality of the floor are what you expect. There are multiple sets of flooring standards and guidelines which can help you to determine if the system will meet your needs.

At Horner, we have several DIN floors known as our Performance Systems. DIN standards measure the following performance characteristics:

• shock absorption
• vertical deflection
• deflective indentation
• ball bounce
• friction
• rolling load

Horner Flooring also has a Long Life flooring option. As it’s name suggests, Long Life flooring will help to extend the life of the hardwood floor by providing a thicker hardwood surface. This will enable to floor to be sanded down and refinished more times than a regular 25/32″ floor. The life of the hardwood floor also contributes to its quality.

Horner’s Long Life flooring option

Also make sure you select a quality installer to install your new hardwood athletic floor. In order to assure quality, the floor must be properly installed. If you’re unsure about how to select an installer, see our previous blog post, Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor – Installation, or ask your flooring provider for recommendations for your geographic area.

Looking for more information on what to consider when purchasing a new hardwood athletic floor? Download Horner Flooring’s FREE eBook, 10 Questions to Ask When Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor!

Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor – Installation

When considering purchasing a hardwood athletic floor, it’s important to consider who will install the new floor. You want someone who is trustworthy and reliable and is experienced with the flooring system.

The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA) has a list of accredited installers on their webpage. Each of these installers and flooring manufacturers are evaluated every two years. These evaluation tests ensure that the installation recommendations are being followed.

Do you want to find a Horner Dealer? We have made it extremely easy, simply type in your zip code on our website and we will give you a list of Horner Dealers near you.

Maintenance Tip: When your floor is installed, make sure to ask the manufacturer or installer the best ways to maintain your floor or for a cleaning demonstration. Many will do this free of charge.

Looking for more information on what to consider when purchasing a new hardwood athletic floor? Download Horner Flooring’s FREE eBook, 10 Questions to Ask When Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor!

Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor – Sustainability

When considering purchasing a hardwood athletic floor, sustainability should be a question to ask yourself or your company. First, consider which LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements you need fulfilled. Then, look at the LEED credits of the company to manufacture your new floor.

For example, Horner Flooring has several LEED credits. To give an example of what LEED credits look like:

• EQ Credit 4.4 – Low-Emitting Materials – Composite Wood
  • (Horner’s manufactured-assembled subfloors are made with urea-formaldehyde-free plywood)
• MR Credit 4.2 – MR Credit 4.3 Recycled Content
  • (Horner ECO PAD Options are made of 90.5% post-consumer recycled rubber)

Subfloors in particular can be made in part with post-consumer recycled materials, combined with sustainable harvested wood. Check out the following table to see where the sustainable wood is typically used:

If you or your company decides post-consumer recycled materials are necessary for your new floor, make sure the gym floor contractor is aware. Many times you can get a quality sustainable product and make eco-friendly choices even without a LEED certified floor, so check out all your options when considering purchasing a hardwood athletic floor.

Also when considering green choices, consider a water based finish for your hardwood athletic floor instead of an oil-based finish. This will help reduce the BOC content. Some state and local laws actually limit BOC amounts, so make sure to check your laws before deciding on a finish.

Building green with a sustainable design is great for the environment, so when considering purchasing a hardwood athletic floor, consider all your options and decide what’s best for your company.

Looking for more information? Download Horner Flooring’s FREE eBook – 10 Questions to Ask When Purchasing a Hardwood Athletic Floor!

The Best Value and Wear Depth in Athletic Maple Flooring

Get the best wear depth with Horner’s Long Life™ Flooring!

Longer Wear Life. Ecologically Sound.

Horner Flooring Company has long been an ecological leader within the sports flooring industry. It was one of the first manufacturing mills to advocate the benefits of 25/32″ flooring over the previously-used industry popular of 33/32″ flooring. Now it’s the first to offer an extended wear life 25/32″ product with the introduction of its Long Life™ Flooring product.

Specify Long Life

..

.

Benefits of Long Life:

• Extended Wear Life
• Ecologically Responsible
• Increased Availability
• Cost Savings
• Ease of Application

.

Horner’s Long Life™ Flooring offers the ecological, cost savings and availability benefits of standard 25/32″ product but with the extended wear life of 33/32″ flooring. Long Life™ Flooring can be used over any Horner system utilizing at least one single layer of 15/32″ plywood or 7/16″ OSB or other manufacturer approved subfloor.

Double the wear life of the 25/32″, without the cost of 33/32″!

Horner’s Long Life™ Flooring is more ecologically sound as it minimizes wood waste when a floor has reached maximum wear depth. This is accomplished by shifting the tongue and groove assembly down, resulting in a higher proportion of flooring thickness being dedicated to wear depth. Less lumber is consumed for 25/32″ product, regardless of wear depth, than is consumed for 33/32″ product.

Horner’s Long Life™ product is an excellent candidate to be submitted for a LEED© Innovation & Design Process Credit!

Contact us to talk about using Horner Long Life™ for your new floor!

Read more on our website.