There are eight considerations to consider when choosing a sports surface.

1. Usage
Many facilities require a multipurpose system to get the highest possible return on investment from their sports facility. There are two ways of looking at "multipurpose."

The first interpretation of multipurpose is a floor designed to fit a wide variety of athletic/sports activities. Some wood systems are promoted as multipurpose, but who likes to play tennis on wood?

How about indoor soccer and not to mention indoor hockey? Synthetic systems rate a higher score when considering an all-sports flooring system. Creating high levels of shock absorption should not interfere with creating a good ball response.

The second interpretation of multipurpose is combining sport activities with non-sport functions. This is all possible due to the high physical properties of the surface resin layer.

2. Shock Absorption
Shock absorption measures the amount of impact force the floor systems absorbs as opposed to returning it to the athlete. For every action there is a reaction, and for every impact there is a return of energy.

When an athlete jumps on a floor surface, the more of the impact energy the floor absorbs, the less the athlete must absorb. This relates to safety and fatigue. Designing floor systems capable of high levels of shock absorption is relatively easy when dealing with area-elastic (wood) systems.

But there's more than just the maximum amount of shock absorption. Biomechanical studies prove that the human body is not able to absorb impacts within the first phase of a shock. This means the floor has to do the job. This is only possible if the floor reacts fast to impact. Point-elastic floors react faster to impact than area-elastic floors, due to the higher weight of the area-elastic construction. You simply need more force to get any movement in an area-elastic floor.

3. Surface Friction
Surface friction is the amount of slide the surface will allow an athlete when the athlete comes to a stop.

Wood systems again rate high when considering surface friction, as they offer the proper amount of slide. Conventional synthetics tend to play much "tighter" than wood floors. They do not allow for proper "stop-slide-rotate," and this leads to knee and ankle injuries.

4. Injury Reduction
We may question the fact that children and recreational athletes have the same demands for injury reduction as professional athletes. For professionals, shock absorption and surface friction are the most important items. Children have a specific injury risk because they tend to fall down during play. In this situation a point-elastic floor offers more comfort than an area-elastic floor.

5. Maintenance
An important consideration in choosing an athletic surface is, of course, the maintenance requirements of the floor surface.

The fundamental rule in maintaining any floor surface is to routinely remove surface dust and dirt, which microscopically is grit. Removing this grit from the floor will assist in maintaining a good surface appearance.

Wooden floors have to be dry mopped daily and recoated with a clear lacquer approximately twice a year. The normal lifecycle of a wooden floor is somewhere between 25 and 40 years. Traditional synthetic floorings have to be wet scrubbed daily and replaced completely after 10 to 15 years.

6. Stability
All floor systems, whether synthetic or wood, whether floating or bonded down, are vulnerable to moisture from below.

Moisture from above, on the other hand, has no affect on most synthetics, but it is very detrimental to wood floors. Approximately 90 % of all wood floors that have to be repaired or completely renewed within the normal lifecycle span are damaged by water. Wood and water simply don't mix. Wood floors will expand and contract with normal changes in relative humidity; synthetics just lay there. Wood floors can be severely damaged or completely destroyed by flood water: from roof leaks, water fountains, broken water lines, improper maintenance, or a number of other sources.

7. Investment
An important consideration on the choice of the floor is the initial installation cost. Synthetics have always been installed at a lower cost than wood.

8. Lifecycle Costs
Depreciation, interest and maintenance costs will determine the lifecycle costs. Wood tends to have an advantage over conventional synthetics as far as maintenance is concerned. Assessing interest costs this is the reverse.

Source: Aura Flooring

Product Roundup

Boflex Sport Floor from Centaur Floor Systems
Centaur Floor Systems presents its Boflex Sport Floor, the ultimate in a pre-finished, high-performance hardwood gymnasium floor system. Utilizing a patented resilient foam channel understructure, Boflex exceeds all the requirements of D.I.N. standards – making it a leader in shock absorption, resilience, performance and safety. The shock absorption channels allow even small children or lightweight athletes to gain immediate resilience.

Boflex is engineered to withstand heavy loads as the foam channels are recessed into the backside of the hardwood base construction. This eliminates the chance of the foam being damaged or crushed, and this resilience is warranted for the life of your floor. Available in oak, ash, and maple hardwoods, Boflex is the ultimate solution for a multi-use hardwood sport floor.
www.centaurfloors.com

Multi-Play Sports Flooring
Multi-Play sports flooring is the gym flooring surface that has all the properties of play that you’re looking for – ball response, traction, and durability - without the high price.  Able to be installed on almost every type of existing surface, inside or out, it turns any area into playing surface for virtually any activity you can name. Installation is a snap and a full-sized basketball court can be put in within one day.  Available in a solid or grid surface, no other flooring is as easy to maintain and keep looking great for years as Multi-Play. Developed by sports flooring experts, they are so sure of the toughness of their product that they have given it a full 10-year warranty. 
www.multiplayfloor.com

DaltonCarpet.com
DaltonCarpet.com is your mill-direct wholesale church carpet supplier. They have custom colors available for those seemingly impossible colors to find, and they also have national installation available. If you need assistance on carpet and options for your church flooring, contact their professionally trained customer service Carpet Team. Gym Carpet is their specialty. They install it, and you enjoy it. Total Gym Carpets have a 20 to 25-year wear warranty. They reduce noise and are half the cost of other types of gym floors.
www.daltoncarpet.com