What Are The Best Materials For Making Basketball Flooring?
When making basketball flooring, the material selection is vitalfor how well it will perform and last. There are a lot of different materials that can be used for basketball flooring:
- Carpet
It is a common choice due to the ease at which it can be installed and taken out of service if the building needs to be reconfigured for another use. Another reason that carpet is a popular flooring option for basketball courts is because it will cushion the players as they move about on the court surface. However, it is a heavy, bulky item to ship and install.
- Rubber
This material is a popular choice for outdoor basketball courts as it provides a durable surface that will not crack or break up over time,as some more complex surfaces can do. It also has the added benefit of minimizing noise levels, which makes it popular in indoor facilities. Rubber is also an economical choice for flooring, making it attractive to owners of smaller facilities looking to save money.
- Wood
Wood can be an excellent option for basketball floors, providing the court has plenty of ventilation underneath the floorboards to allow it to dry out after periods of wet weather or humidity. A wood flooring surface must have proper airflow beneath the floorboards to not become moldy or saturated with water.
- Carpet Tiles
A trendy choice for gymnasiums, schools and other extensive facilities is carpet tiles. They are effortless to install, maintain, and reconfigure if the facility needs to have the flooring surface changed for any reason. Carpet tiles are also effortless to replace if worn through heavy usage or damage.
- Resilient Flooring
One of the more popular choices, resilient floors,is rubber combined with different materials on the top surface to provide athletes with good traction. Resilient flooring is also very easy to clean and maintain, plus it does not take up much space in storage when the court surface needs to be replaced.
- Plastics
Plastic can make a good choice for basketball floors because it can be made into tiles laid directly over any firm, flat surface. Plastic tiles can also be interlocked to create a surface that will not shift or move during play, such as one installed over an existing wood court flooring system.
As long as the firm surface underneath stays level and does not become warped or twisted, plastic flooring can provide a very solid playing surface.
- Synthetic Rubber
This product is a good choice for basketball flooring because it has properties similar to natural rubber but a much lower price. This material is molded into tiles or poured directly onto the subfloor of the court to make an impact-resistant surface that will not crack under pressure.
As you can see, there are many options for the material used for the flooring of a basketball court. Consider all aspects before deciding: cost, installation and removal issues, maintenance needs and requirements, which sports will be played on the court, and how much use the flooring will get overtime.