Horner Sports Flooring

Since 1891 - The Oldest Name in Sports Flooring

Knowledge Base

Horner Sports Flooring Legacy Systems

Legacy Systems

Its common to refer to a product that has reached the end of its life cycle as “legacy”. Or as in technology: “The product is end-of-life.”

At Horner Sports Flooring, we would prefer to call these products “legendary floors”. Truth is, many of basketball’s greats began their careers on one of these legendary floors. And as far as “end-of-life” describing one of our floors, well, its not accurate.

Legacy Systems - James Naismith iconic photo holding peach basket and soccer ball.
James Naismith iconic photo

How we View Legacy Systems

A Horner Sports Floor is not like a cell phone. We recognize that it is a large investment that our customers expect to last a long time. We expect it to last a long time too. So as long as your floor is stamped “HORNER FLOORING” on its underside, we’ll do our best to supply the materials needed to repair and maintain its playability. And when it comes time to finally replace your “legendary” floor, we hope you’ll do so with another floor stamped “HORNER FLOORING” on the underside and continue the legend.

If you have questions or concerns about your Horner legendary system, contact us here.

– Horner Sports Flooring

HORNER FLOORING name impressed into bask of wood flooring

What Should You Consider When Choosing Gym Flooring?

hardwood basketball court practice facility with indoor synthetic track

Primary Consideration

When considering what type of hardwood, maple flooring to use in a new or renovated gymnasium, the athletes playing on the floor are the primary consideration. All other considerations come after safety, from professional athlete to 1st grade gym class.

Breaking Down a Safe Floor

Physical Factors

To ensure a safe sports floor, you should consider a floor that:

A PUR certified floor is a safe sports floor.

Economical Consideration

After safety, you will want to consider the economical factors of your new floor.

  • Make sure you couple a reasonable initial investment with added life cycle/cost benefits.
  • Minimize your financial risk by getting a floor with a track record for longevity and documented history of success in similar applications.
  • Request your floor is manufactured by a reputable company that stands behind their product.
  • Demand your new floor is installed by factory-trained, accredited professionals to ensure maximum warranty coverage.
  • Confirm the floor is easy to maintain relative to competitive floors.
  • Recognize that even an economical floor from Horner Sports Flooring is a safe floor.

Demanding a Horner Sports Floor will cover all these considerations and more. Horner Sports Flooring is a founding member of the MFMA and was established in 1891 – the same year basketball was invented. .

Consider Synthetic

Horner Sports Flooring has a long history in hardwood flooring, but we also have a product line of synthetic systems. All of our systems are specialized for virtually every sports activity and engineered for the very best in athlete safety, athletic performance, structural integrity, trouble-free maintenance, and long-lasting appeal.

There are some applications where wood flooring is not recommended, weight training rooms for instance. We encourage those looking into athletic, hardwood flooring to evaluate all the uses that their flooring will be experiencing:

  • High moisture area
  • High impact area
  • High traffic area

Now determine if a wood or synthetic floor is best suited to your application. 

hardwood basketball court

Final Considerations

Hardwood flooring has the aesthetics and performance that is associated with traditional court competition. The downside to purchasing hardwood flooring is the cost and maintenance. Plus, there are some applications that wood is just not suited for. While hardwood flooring is ideal for the athletes playing on it, a multiple use gymnasium or multi-purpose room may warrant consideration of synthetic flooring. The most common example of this is a field house that uses wood sports flooring for the courts and a synthetic surface for the track that surrounds the courts. Known as a “Combi” floor, Horner has several proven wood-synthetic floor pairings.

We hope the above discussion has helped you better plan your meeting with your flooring professional. While the above represents some of the most important considerations you should make, there are a few more:

Consider these:

  • Sport-specific, multiple sports, or multi-purpose?
  • Top level competition or recreational activities?
  • Number of participants and spectators
  • Number of hours/day and days/year the facility will be used?
  • Special equipment use (bleachers, sound stages, lifts, portable backstops, etc.)?
  • Desired life expectancy of floor?
  • Budgetary considerations – initial cost versus total cost of ownership?

It may seem daunting trying to decide on a new floor for your new or renovated gymnasium, but there are always friendly people here at Horner Sports Flooring to assist you, regardless of your current level of flooring knowledge.

Give us a call if you have questions.

Horner Sports Flooring Logo

What are Synthetic Paired Flooring Systems (Combis)

Blue circle icon with left and right arrows indicating a Synthetic Pairing floor.

Synthetic Paired Flooring Systems

Synthetic Paired Flooring Systems - Wood plus synthetic surfaceA synthetic paired flooring system is a wood floor system that has been paired with a synthetic floor system such that they can be successfully used together. The most common use of these wood-synthetic pairs are field houses with wood courts and synthetic, indoor tracks.

Paired systems are a tested pair of wood and synthetic flooring that have been successfully used in previous installations.

SuperTuff rubber flooring system - showing weight training equipment at Michigan Tech SDC

Rubber Flooring Systems

Rubber Flooring Systems Horner Rubber Flooring Systems These systems provide an economical way to surface an area with a floor...

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Logo of the Maple Flooring Manufacturer Association consisting of a white outer band, a green band and a green maple leaf.
Founding Member of the MFMA

What is a Multi-Stage Resilient Floor?

Blue circle icon with horizontal lines and a down arrow indicating a multi-stage resiliency floor.

Multi-Stage Resilient Floors

Multi-stage resilient Zenith system at Notre Dame Academy - Green Bay WI

Multi-Stage resilient sports flooring systems provide one of the safest, highest performing and most consistent sports surfaces available. Meticulously  engineered, these floor system are designed to meet the most stringent performance certifications.

The resilience of a Horner Sports Flooring, multi-stage floor comes from multiple components within the system. Combinations of pads and foam are used to tune the resilience to provide the best energy return, impact reduction, ball bounce and vibration control. Meeting all these goals and getting certification that these goals are met, requires a delicate balance of engineering and materials application. 

The Zenith family of Horner Sports Flooring is a Multi-Stage resilient flooring family.

Logo of the Maple Flooring Manufacturer Association consisting of a white outer band, a green band and a green maple leaf.
Founding Member of the MFMA

What is a High Wear and Tear Floor?

Blue circle icon with dial gauge indicating a wear and tear friendly floor.

High Wear and Tear Floors

High wear and tear flooring example, performance stageA high wear and tear floor resists high traffic and abrasion causing events. High wear and tear floors are ideal for rolling bleachers, portable goal towers and performance stages.

It is important to note that High Wear and Tear primarily refers to finish abrasion. It also includes other factors like loads and  resistance to stains, denting and other damaging events. 

It is also important to remember that all floors will experience wear and tear. Floors with this designation resist these events better.

Logo of the Maple Flooring Manufacturer Association consisting of a white outer band, a green band and a green maple leaf.
Founding Member of the MFMA