Rubber Flooring for Tracks, Weight Rooms, Locker Rooms, Ice Arenas

Many athletic, commercial and residential buildings utilize rubber flooring for its durability, initial cost and  application advantages.  Commercial building atriums, athletic facility running tracks, weight room floors, and ice arenas to name a few.  Rubber flooring has an average initial cost of ownership, a lower than average ongoing cleaning and maintenance cost and a higher than average life cycle cost.  Rubber production methods have improved over the years so that today’s products are more aesthetically appealing with the use of color, speckling and patterns.

Rubber is a great solution where high traction and prevention of slip, trip and falls is a priority.  However, most indoor court sports applications like basketball, volleyball, and racquet sports require foot slide characteristics to minimize muscle fatigue and athlete injuries.  Other products are a better fit in these situations.

One of the most important criteria for sports flooring is shock absorption and area of deflection as defined by international DIN standards.  Good shock absorption ratings reduce athlete muscle fatigue best over extended practice sessions. Bone and joint injuries increase from hard playing surfaces and because fatigued muscles do not support bones and joints as well. Wood gymnasium floor and synthetic poured urethane floor systems offer the best ratings in these areas as compared to rubber flooring.

Advantages of Rubber Flooring:

• Aggressive traction and grip is good for some sports and activities
• Durability in heavy traffic areas
• Impact resistance
• Rubber tiles make spot replacement and repair easy
• Average initial cost of ownership
• Acoustic absorption and sound control
• 100% recycled rubber content floors offer sustainability

Disadvantages of Rubber Flooring:

• Floor seams create tripping hazards and maintenance costs
• Environmental impact of non recycled content manufacturing
• Waste and landfill disposal issues
• Difficult to clean
• Must be replaced periodically
• High life cycle cost due to replacement cost
• Aggressive grip causes injuries and safety concerns for some sports and activities
• Limited color and aesthetic options
• Odor with some rubber products
• Not highly regarded for shock absorption compared to other flooring options

Contact Anderson Ladd at 888-241-6877 for an initial consultation of your facility goals.

Linkedin

Twitter

Facebook

email

Print