Wondering what the best type flooring is for your gym? Should you choose carpet or hardwood flooring? Sometimes rubber and cork are good choices to install. Specialized sports flooring can be installed in many different environments and settings. Basketball courts, in-home gyms, kids play areas, and multi-purpose gyms are all great places to find the right sports floor. Since you are interested in customizing your personal workout area, the best way to start is to research which flooring option best suits your needs.

Sports Flooring Materials

• Maple Hardwood flooring – Maple hardwood flooring is a popular sports floor especially for basket ball courts. Maple has a high Janka rating, provides traction to athletes and absorbs shock. A big advantage to maple flooring is that the room can be used for more than workouts. The maple hardwood floor would look just as good in your home theater or in your study room as it will in your sports room.
• Rugs and mats – If you prefer yoga to keep the body and soul in excellent shape, area rugs or exercise mats are a good choice. If gymnastics or martial arts are your passion mats will come in handy especially when paired with a maple hardwood floor.
• Rubber flooring – if you love high impact sports that will require you to land on your feet with force – rubber flooring is a choice that you must explore. It absorbs shock like none other and will keep the balls of your feet singing with pleasure. Training rooms and martial arts arenas all over the world prefer rubber flooring for its ability to provide a safe landing surface for athletes.
• Foam Flooring – is soft but is also easily damaged by sharp objects. If you choose this flooring injuries due to accidental falls will be fewer. You will need to enforce a strict policy to prevent it from getting damaged by nails, files or other sharp objects. It is advisable to install foam flooring as squares and not as one solid piece. This way you can replace the damaged area without too much cost.
• Carpets – Is a good choice for areas with weight training facilities and exercising machines. Its only drawback is that throwing a weight on the carpet forcefully can damage it permanently.

Why install Sports Flooring?

Sports flooring is specialized to handle the task you have chosen it for – absorbing pressure from jumps and ensuring your safety. Working out on a bare concrete floor can cause serious injury in the event of an accident. Carpets are softer but may not be suited for all sports areas like volleyball courts. Specialized padding can help carpet last longer when used for workout areas. But carpets and regular hardwood flooring may wear out very quickly when used for workouts. Replacing worn out flooring needs both time and money. Specialized sports floors are soft, prevent injuries and if installed as square tiles, are a breeze to repair. Easy maintenance, repair and user safety makes specialized sports flooring a great home improvement idea. The only drawback if any, is the initial cost you may have to incur. But the cost is more than repaid in terms of the increased value to your property and the health benefits of a specialized work out area.

Maintaining Your Sports Flooring

Sports flooring is designed to be easy to maintain. If you are using a carpet sports flooring you may need to get it cleaned more frequently and use a steam cleaner to drive away the odors from the work out area. For most other types of sports flooring especially if installed in a house, physical washing with suitable cleaning agents is often sufficient. For a more thorough cleaning you can access the professional services of Contempo Floor Coverings. Another important thing to keep in mind is that proper installation of a sports flooring is very important. You would not like your unprofessionally installed flooring if it may result in an injury or if it wears out too soon. For more details about the available sports flooring suited for your specific needs, visit any of our flooring store locations.