Real Wood Flooring Maintenance for Gyms & Schools
Are you responsible for the maintenance of the wooden gym floor in your school or sports facility?
There are really only two ways to ensure your real wood floor receives the maintenance it deserves. This blog shares the associated costs, considerations and tips for wood flooring care and maintenance.
Full restoration or maintenance clean and coat?
A large sports hall of up to 300m2 can take up to five days or more to complete.
A full restoration is a significant investment and you will want to do all you can to avoid the associated costs.
Let’s say your solid wood floor isn’t too badly damaged and actually only needs a deep-clean and a re-coat. Let’s talk about maintenance first…
Quick Wood Floor Care and Maintenance
Depending on the size of your sports hall, a maintenance coat can be completed in less than a day. This is beneficial if your establishment has a high foot fall and little downtime.
The most common service is a lacquered finish where your floor will be deep-cleaned and cut back ready for a fresh coat of lacquer.
We do this by using a light abrasive on the floor to remove small scratches and then we apply the professional lacquer.
If your floor type is different then we may apply an oiled finish which also includes a deep clean and an oil.
Either service will prolong the time needed before full restoration of up to 15 years. Please note, to benefit from these results you would need to have a clean and coat completed annually.
Our maintenance packages are a quick and cost-effective option.
What if your floor is in a bad way and needs full restoration?
After serious hard use or a lack of maintenance, full restoration will be necessary.
A restored solid wood floor will last 5 years before needing another full restoration.
At an estimated cost of £8-10,000 based on a 300m2 hall, your projected costs are £20,000 every decade.
We highly recommend opting for our annual maintenance package in order to reduce your costs over time.
Full restoration entails a full sand to remove the previous finish, plus application of a professional sealant and lacquer.
We also include any required Sports Line Marking.
Sports Line Marking
An essential part of sports hall floor maintenance is making sure the markings are clear.
Sports court marking, also known as sports line marking, can be completed during both our annual maintenance package and full restoration options.
We apply court lines between the coats of lacquer to best protect the lines from wear. Once re-applied and protected your new lines will last for many years to come.
We use paint for line marking as opposed to tape as it is more sustainable.
Other things to consider
If you believe a full restoration is necessary, please consider the time of year.
We get booked up to three months in advance so, think ahead and plan a restoration during down time. For schools we usually work during the half term or summer holidays. Other sports facilities such as gyms or leisure centres tend to be quieter during the months leading up to Christmas.
Making sure you get an expert opinion before disrupting your business is highly advisable. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation should you wish to get some expert advice in advance of the works.
