Since 1891 - The Oldest Name in Sports Flooring
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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.
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
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.
To ensure a safe sports floor, you should consider a floor that:
A PUR certified floor is a safe sports floor.
After safety, you will want to consider the economical factors of your new 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. .
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:
Now determine if a wood or synthetic floor is best suited to your application.
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:
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.
How to FundraiseIs your school looking to purchase and install a new gym floor? Are you lacking the funds to pull it off? Let us help you with fundraising for a new athletic floor.
First, form a fundraising committee specifically for this project. Sharing the financial responsibility with a group of people will add accountability and reduce stress for those working hard to make the dream a reality.
Second, remember there is no irrelevant fundraising effort. Every little bit helps and every contributor can feel pride in the new gym floor – regardless of how much they were able to donate. Here are a few tried-and-true suggestions for fundraising…
Horner is here to help you raise money for your new athletic floor in any way we can. One of the common ways we are able to raise money for you is by displaying logos of local businesses on your new hardwood floor.
This is a practice we’ve done for Boys & Girls Clubs around the country, for faith-based organizations, and even for the NBA!
To see what your options are, contact us.
Consider putting penny jars in your classrooms.
You might also consider a virtual penny jar by setting up an online contribution page on a service like Give-Send-Go, or other like services
Consider having a used book fair at your school, where all of the proceeds go toward the new project. What better way to raise money than encourage students to read new-to-them books for a low price?
Ask families and community members to donate books that may be sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
Rather than running a 5K, consider hosting a community Walk-A-Thon to raise funds for your new court! Participants can collect pledge money from sponsors and celebrate the grand total on the big day. These events are a great way to grow support for a project. They open up plenty of additional opportunities for business donations in exchange for advertising.
Consider writing to local companies, restaurants, or businesses asking for donations.
Offer to have a sponsor plaque that will hang in your gym above the new floor with donor names or donor banners. Or, as mentioned previously, offer to advertise the business on the back of a t-shirt during other fundraising events.
Remember, this doesn’t have to be a monetary donation – perhaps they can donate snacks or drinks to fundraising events.
Ask businesses or restaurants to create their own fundraising efforts for your cause:
10% of every order on Friday will go toward the fundraising efforts
5% of the daily revenue, etc.
This will help to
Promote the business’s reputation within the community
Potentially increase their own sales
Increase your fundraising total
For their donation to the fundraising effort, consider hanging a plaque for them or their banner/logo in the gym.
Different sports and activities require different surfaces. At Horner, we know that your biggest investment is in your athlete. We aim to provide the best-fitting resources to help them compete at the highest level. When considering a new floor, be sure to identify WHO will be using the floor. From basketball to dance, we provide systems for every need.
Another important consideration is the kind of equipment that will be used on the floor. Equipment includes bleachers, backstops, portable hoops, media tables, and more. Knowing your intended level of wear-and-tear will help us hand-pick the best flooring options for you. This also tells us what maintenance you will require in the future. Horner doesn’t just deliver a product…we are a service. This means that we are here to help you through the entirety of the floor’s life. Contact us to learn more about our Cleaning and Maintenance Program.
By identifying possible activities that will take place on your new floor, we can steer you in the right direction of the best system. Here are some trends we’ve noticed…
What amount of moisture will the floor encounter? Depending on the geographic location and air quality control, there could be substantial differences in relative humidity.
Floors are installed to account for these changes as the maple expands and contracts from the humidity level.
Building architects are expected to provide MFMA-approved conditions for wood floors by looking at existing conditions and the possibility of future moisture problems. If post-consumer recycled materials, sustainably harvested hardwood, and plywood are necessary for your new floor, make sure the gym floor contractor is aware.
You can often get a quality sustainable product and make eco-friendly choices even without a LEED certified floor. Also, when evaluating green choices, consider a water-based finish to reduce the BOC content. Some state and local laws limit BOC amounts.
In the field of sports flooring, a critical design decision brought to the forefront by Horner and USGC is to choose wood material harvested from sustainable forest land – but another critical sustainability question comes into play when specifying a particular cut of maple.
At Horner we believe the intention of sustainable design is to “eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design”. (see Wikipedia) To us this means choosing a sports maple design which consumes the least amount of trees possible while maximizing the maple trees resource to the greatest benefit of both design professional and owner. Subfloors can be made in part with post-consumer recycled materials, combined with sustainably harvested hardwood and plywood.
Choosing a grade of maple is based solely on aesthetic appearance. It has no effect on playability.
If you ask any manufacturer, they will tell you the quality will be the same whether you get first, second or third grade maple. They will all perform equally, so it is simply for your aesthetic preferences.
The finishing choice depends on personal preference
The MFMA has a list of approved sealers and finishes. Be sure to consider the regulations of your area in the country, particularly for VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) content. Oil-based finishes are higher in VOC content than water-based finishes. Finishes with lower or zero VOC content are better for the environment, but ultimately, the choice depends on your needs.
Game lines and graphics should be considered right away. They are an essential part of choosing and making a new hardwood floor, because they will determine the future uses of the floor. Here’s our quick tips:
Maintaining a floor is crucial and will essentially protect the investment in the floor. Daily dust mopping is highly recommended, along with regular cleanings with an approved solution. As weather changes, watch for leakage, and ensure that proper heating/cooling systems are in place. If you live in an especially humid area, we will help you pick the proper system to allow for extra expansion.
On a yearly basis, the floor should be screened and recoated. Approximately every seven to ten years, depending on the usage, the floor will need to be sanded down, resealed, repainted, and refinished. Contact us with any questions about taking care of your Horner floor.
The MFMA has a list of accredited installers on their webpage. Each of these installers and flooring manufacturers are evaluated every two years. These tests ensure that the installation recommendations are being followed.
There are multiple sets of flooring standards and guidelines.
At Horner, we have several DIN floors known as our Performance Systems. DIN standards measure the following performance characteristics:
Quality assurance is always a priority. Contact us with any questions regarding our warranty or DIN-compliant floors.
