November/December 2019 - 12

SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE
Selecting the best flooring for your sports facility
Since 1897, members of the Maple Flooring Manufacturers
Association (MFMA) have been dedicated to producing
some of the highest quality sports flooring systems
throughout the world. And when it comes to deciding on
your athletic facility's next
flooring system, MFMA's
Performance & Uniformity
Rating, or PUR Standards,
can help make sure you're
selecting the perfect floor
for your facility.
Daniel Heney, MFMA
executive director, said
when selecting a new
flooring system, it's
important to understand
some of the specifics
that often get overlooked
throughout the process.
" We want (athletic
directors) to be aware that
the floor system they're
putting in their facility is
going to be something
that's going to be there
longer than they will be, "
Heney said. " It's important to select proper flooring for your
facilities based on the specific activities you anticipate being
done on the floor. "
DECIDING ON LOOK & SUBFLOORING
Before actually deciding on the flooring system itself,
athletic directors are first tasked with deciding on the
aesthetic of the flooring. This can include many different
elements such as whether they want a light floor or a floor
with more character, how to incorporate stains and paints,
and where logos will be placed throughout.
After deciding upon the look for the flooring system, it's
time to get down to the specifics of the subflooring in terms
of performance of the floor itself.
" How high-performance does (the floor system) need to
be? Is it going to be high school athletes or grade school
athletes? That's going to affect the level of performance
you put in a facility, " Heney said. " If you've got a mix
from young to old, you're going to be better off with a
higher-performance system than you are with a standardperformance
system. "
PUR Standards are a set of parameters that focus on the
five key elements that create an optimal flooring system:
shock absorption, vertical deflection, area of deflection, ball
bounce and surface friction.
" Different activities that can be done on a floor - aerobics,
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dance, volleyball, squash courts, racquetball courts - those
all have different levels of performance associated with them, "
Heney said. " That's not to say that just because a floor is going
to be predominantly used for volleyball that it can't be used
for basketball - it just may
not be as high-end (for)
basketball. "
POST-INSTALLATION
CLEANING &
MAINTENANCE
Following installation,
proper cleaning and
maintenance routines
are vital in making sure
the investment in your
flooring system remains
intact. In general, flooring
systems tend to adapt to
their environments, and
without proper care, can
see extensive expansion
and contraction that can
permanently damage the
floor and subfloor.
" Some of the biggest
mistakes I see people make is that they think that when you
put a wood floor in, you put it in and then forget about it, "
Heney said. " (A flooring system) is like a living thing - it
responds to the environment it's put into. When you ignore it
and don't pay attention to the environment, that's when you
see expansion and contraction of the floor system beyond
what we consider to be normal. "
Proper environmental control of the facility and
maintenance techniques, such as refraining from using
power scrubbers, can help improve the lifespan of your
flooring system and help prevent various issues such as
splintering, graying of the edges of boards, cupping or
buckling, peeling finish and chipped paint.
MORE ABOUT MFMA AND PUR STANDARDS
MFMA is dedicated to providing accurate information and
being an authoritative source of information on everything
maple sports floors and related sports flooring systems.
" There is a lot of different performance standards out there, "
Heney said. " One thing that separates PUR is the uniformity -
making sure you get a consistent performing floor throughout.
As long as the floor carries the PUR compliant logo, that
indicates the floor has passed all the tests. "
For more information on how to determine the best
flooring system for your facility or to find a supplier or
contractor for your new flooring, visit maplefloor.org.
ADVERTISEMENT | © 2019 Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association Inc.
http://www.maplefloor.org
November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2019
