Helpful Tips: How to Accurately Measure for a New Gym Floor Cover
When it comes to protecting your gym floor, investing in gym floor protection is key.
Whether you are making sure your gym floor maintains its beautiful finish or you want to turn your gymnasium into a multi-purpose event space for graduations, fund raisers, weddings or other special function, choosing a gym floor cover is important.
The quick answer to ‘How do I measure for my new gym floor cover’ is simply to multiply your gym’s width in feet by the length in feet.
This will give you an average square footage to begin with, to get estimates for the different types of gym floor covers you might be checking out.
But before you begin, there are several things you need to decide so you can have accurate measurements of the floor space to be covered.
What events are your planning in your gymnasium?
Gymnasiums are incredibly versatile spaces that can accommodate a variety of events from sports tournaments and competitions to banquets and more!
With ample storage space available plus sound systems and lighting already installed in many gyms, it’s easy to host any type of event you want in these facilities.
Will you need to cover the whole floor, wall to wall, or just partial coverage?
Knowing what events you need to plan for will help to determine how much of the gym floor you will need to cover.
Some facilities will use half, or two thirds of their gym for special events, while others have larger groups that will need the whole gym.
Covering your gym floor wall to wall is not recommended because installation and takeup will be too difficult. You will need room for the gym floor storage racks or carts.
If full coverage is needed, we suggest using runners along the sides. Runners can be installed and taken up easily.
Does your gym have bleachers and will they be retracted or be extended during your events?
This is a key question in determining how much of the gym floor you will need to cover. Will you need the bleachers for seating, or will they be retracted?
Covering just the floor that is exposed is the objective.
What will the traffic paths be to enter and exit the gym?
Not only do you have your determined area to cover, you need to consider the traffic path into and out of the gym to protect that area of the floor as well.
That area will get heavy foot traffic, and this is where gym floor protection is important.
You can use a combination of gym floor covering to handle each area of your gym.
Will you need lighter coverage for foot traffic, or more heavy duty coverage for stage equipment, etc?
Foot traffic, other than high heels, can be considered as the minimum wear and tear on your gym floor.
Chairs and tables add another level of damage, but if you are planning some form of concert or other function that will necessitate heavier equipment on the floor, selecting a heavy duty gym floor cover will be the best choice.
Tip: Key Considerations in Choosing the Best Gym Floor Cover:
Budget is critical but more importantly the labor of installation, take up and cleaning and the lifespan of the gym floor cover should be considered in the budget process, along with the other key items discussed in the Comprehensive Guide.
Review the Comprehensive Step by Step Guide to determine your Needs, the best Solution, and the Options to make the best decision for a new gym floor cover.
Once you have determined the area of your gym floor that will need to be covered, you measure the total length and width. Muliply this together and you will have the total square footage.
You may decide to add a foot on either end to allow for full coverage. Your gym floor cover specialist will be the one to guide you if you need to allow for overage.
Some gym floor covers will butt up to each other, edge to edge, but some like the vinyl gym floor covers are overlapped to ensure that the floor is completed covered. If your gym floor cover overlaps, the amount will need to be taken into consideration.
Once you have the number of square feet, you can determine what type of gym floor cover fits into your budget.
Gym floor covering comes in various styles, and advancements in the industry both in covers and storage racks are always happening. Years ago the simple choice was vinyl.
Read on to see what types of gym floor covers are available.
Pro and Cons of Vinyl Gym Floor Covers
Vinyl gym floor covers come in various widths, thicknesses and colors and serve a very specific purpose.
They are usually very cost effective but can be very noisy, offering little to no sound proofing.
Vinyl provide some coverage, but protection is not the best.
The heavier vinyl does offer more protection for your gym floor, but may be heavy to deploy and takeup.
As the covers are wide, the storage racks are big and can be difficult to transport.
Feedback from facility managers suggests that working with the vinyl causes static, which can be very irritating while installing and taking up the cover.
Finally, vinyl may have a tendency to wrinkle, causing trip and fall hazards.
When ordering a vinyl gym floor cover be sure to allow for the overlap to be sure you have enough!
Pro and Cons of Gym Floor Carpet Rolls
The new carpet roll covering has a carpet top cloth and this adds many benefits to using this type of gym floor cover.
The carpet surface adds to the acoustics of the gym, is quieter to walk on, looks clean and professional, and some carpet rolls have anti-microbial protection to keep your cover fresh and looking good longer.
The earlier carpet roll covers are heavier than the newer ones on the market.
Of equal or better protection, the new rolls are lighter and faster to install and takeup, are easily stored on the storage racks and provide a great look for any special event.
The gym floor carpet rolls are usually more expensive than vinyl, but offer many upgrades to vinyl.
Pros and Cons of Gym Floor Tiles
The newer carpet tile gym floor covers allow for the benefits of the carpet topcloth and the benefit of being able to put out as much or as little coverage as you need.
The tiles provide durable protection, a great look, better acoustics, possible anti-microbial protection and flexibility.
Installation and takeup are fast and storing the tiles on the platform trucks makes storage and transport easier.
The heavy duty carpet gym floor tiles may be more expensive, but weighing the benefits will make this investment a good one.
Check out our Facility Armor Gym Floor Covers
Facility Armor Court Armor Roll
The Court Armor Roll comes in 6’ widths and in lengths up to 125’ in length.
Strips of the roll system lay side by side.
Due to the set roll width and length, there is a little less flexibility if you choose from time to time to change the area that you need protected.
Our customer service will help determine the best direction to install the product to keep square footage to a minimum.
If you have a nonstandard shaped room, our team will work with you to determine the best coverage!
Facility Armor Court Armor Tiles or Pro Tiles
The Court Armor Tile or Enhance Pro tile system are separate large tiles (35” x 70” – 17.01 sq ft per tile) that are installed in a grid pattern to cover the needed area.
The tile system allows more versatility as you can install as much or as little gym floor cover as needed, depending on the function.
You can determine the number of tiles needed by dividing the square footage needed by the square footage per tile (17.01 sq ft.).
Our team can help determine the number of tiles needed and we do suggest purchasing a few extra to keep on hand.
These will be helpful should any tiles get damaged, and they work well due to their slip resistance to create a quick runner or mat when needed.
Remember Bleachers!
You will need to know if your gym floor cover will always be used when bleachers are out, or if the gym will be used for other activities and you will keep the bleachers in storage mode. (Gym floor covers should not be placed under the bleachers).
Depending on when you will protect the gym floor, bleachers out or bleachers stored, it would be necessary to measure the gymnasium with the bleachers in both positions so you can determine how much gym floor coverage you will need in either way.
Looking for a logo, or have a gym that is not rectangular? Our experienced gym floor experts can assist. Just call (877) 318-8625 or email Sales@enhancemats.com for assistance and quotes.
Browse Our Selection of Gym Floor Covers!
Choosing the best gym floor cover system with the best storage rack for your school or facility takes selecting the right company.
Check out our videos on the roll, tile, and courtside runner pages to see all of the key points you need to know to make the best decision.
Enhance Mats offers roll systems in both 6’ and 8’ widths, heavy duty tile systems, custom color tiles and courtside runners to protect your gym floor.
Trust Enhance Mats, the leader in Sports Surface Protection to help your choose the right gym floor cover system for your facility. Call 877-318-8625 or Request a Quote today!
