Sports floors (typically made of maple) take tons of abuse. When properly cared for these floors can last up to 100 years. However, the foot traffic endured by these floors is usually rated at one layer of finish per year. Sometimes it’s two layers of finish per year. This means that recoating and refinishing are a huge part of the sports floor contractor’s business.
Sports floors get recoated and refinished when they are not in use. This puts sports floor contractors into a time crunch. Having the right equipment and right recoating methods is a must!
One of the best pieces of equipment a sports floor contractor can invest in is an auto scrubber. Read on below to find out why.
For many sports floor contractors recoating is a dry process. These contractors will use the “dry screening” process to recoat a sports floor. While this method works, there is a better method that sports floor contractors can use — wet sanding.
Typically there’s how the dry screening method works:
- The first step is to thoroughly clean the floor. (Unfortunately, many contractors skip this step.)
- The next step is to abrade the floor. Abrading the surface of the floor will ensure the finish will properly adhere to the surface.
- After that the floor must be vacuumed.
- Then the floor must be tacked. This can be a time consuming process. The floor might have to be tacked a few times over to get every bit of dust and debris off the floor.
With an auto scrubber the cleaning and abrading can be done in one step. The wet sanding method eliminates the need to vacuum as well. This means auto scrubbers are a huge time saver for the sports floor contractor. The wet sanding method with an auto scrubber can be 70% faster than dry screening! In other words a 10,000 SF sports floor can be prepped in two hours using an auto scrubber.
Auto scrubbers can be either battery powered or cord-electric. Each type of auto scrubber has it’s benefits. To see City Floor Supply’s selection of auto scrubbers, click here.
If you’d like to learn more about wet sanding or auto scrubbers you can call City Floor Supply at (800) 737-1786 or email info@cityfloorsupply.com. For info on caring for and maintaining gym floors, click here.
Is it time to refinish your sports floor? Shop our full line of sport floor finishes.
Thank you for the very interesting blog. In the blog it says that with an auto scrubber, the cleaning and abrading can be done in one step. With how important it is for hired services to maintain those wooden floors, having a device that can help cut down on the amount of time required to do the job could go a long way in improving productivity. An investment in one of these could definitely help for itself in the long run.