The Ultimate Guide to the Best Gym Floor Covers

Your gym floors see a lot of use from athletic activities and other types of events.

That’s why most gym floors need a lot of maintenance to keep them looking good.

However, failing to take care of your gym floors can result in them wearing down at a fast rate.

Gym floor covers are a great way to ensure your floors look attractive and can last for many years to come.

Floor coverings protect the floors, preventing unwanted scratches, cracks, and chips from appearing on your flooring.

However, it can be challenging to figure out what’s the best type of floor cover for your gymnasium.

This guide will discuss everything you need to know about floor covers for your gymnasium. Find the best option that works for your needs and budget.

What Are Gym Floor Covers?

Gym floor covers protect your floors from excessive wear. Your flooring sees a lot of heavy traffic.

You can purchase floor covers that protect your gym’s flooring from getting scuffed by tables, chairs, and foot traffic.

These floor protection options also let you use your gym for other things, such as:

• Graduations
• Commencements
• Community Events
• Fundraisers
• Conventions
• Receptions
• Weddings
• Trade Shows

It can take a group of people less than 30 minutes to put the floor coverings down and put them away, or it can take much more time to install and take up depending on the gym floor type.

It just depends on how big your gym is.

Do I Need Gym Floor Covers?

Covers are essential for protecting your gym floors. There are a few other reasons you might want to invest in them.

Improved Cleanliness

Gym and locker room floors can get really dirty. The floor will quickly accumulate debris, dust, and dirt.

A build-up of these materials on a floor can result in a slippery floor and someone getting injured.

The build-up of debris and dust on your gym’s floor can also cause additional wear and tear.

The surface of your flooring will start to look dull and dingy.

You’ll find that you’ll need to have your floors replaced or sanded sooner than later.

Use the Space for Multiple Purposes

Gym floor covers can transform the space into an area where you can hold events. You can hold the following types of events in your gym:

• Dances
• Receptions
• Weddings
• Graduations

School gyms sometimes double as concert venues. That’s because they can accommodate a large number of people.

Keep in mind that the amount of foot traffic on your gym floors will grow exponentially when you hold an event there.

You’ll want coverings to protect the floor from scratches, spills, and scuffs.

On top of ensuring your floors stay looking good, floor coverings can bring in additional income for your gym.

You can hold school-sponsored activities or rent out the space for other community events.

Less Maintenance

Maintaining a gym floor can be expensive and time-consuming. Some of the regular maintenance tasks you need to perform include:

• Polishing
• Sweeping
• Cleaning

These tasks keep your floor looking great and ensure that dirt and grime don’t accumulate on it.

Most flooring manufacturers recommend getting the floor recoated every couple of years if not well maintained.

Floors that see heavy use might need to have that done more often.

It’s also recommended to have your gym floor refinished, repainted, resealed, and sanded every five to 10 years.

How often you do those things depend on whether you use gym floor covers when the gym isn’t in use for athletic events but rather the special events.

The cost of gym floor refinishing can quickly accumulate.

Besides the dollar cost, there will be significant downtime as your gym floors can’t be walked on during the floor refinishing time.

That means not only are you out a huge chunk of change but athletes can’t use your facility during that time.

Keeping your gym floors covered ensures they’re protected from additional wear and tear.

You won’t need to perform maintenance (refinishing) as often, reducing how much you spend on it.

Increased Safety

Floor coverings can improve your gym’s safety. Dust and spills on a wood gym floor easily create slip and fall hazards.

A good gym floor cover prevents this.

What Kinds of Gym Floor Covers Are There?

There are three main types of floor coverings for your gym. You can choose from vinyl roll systems, carpet rolls, and carpet tiles.

Vinyl-Roll Systems

A vinyl roll system is an easy and fast way to put down and take- up.

They’re typically made in 10′ wide sections. You can have them cut to your desired length.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to buy a storage rack with a motorized or hand-crank winder.

The motorized winder makes it easier to store and put down your floor coverings.

The vinyl flooring is coated with PVC on both sides.

It also has polyester mesh in the center. Some of the benefits of vinyl flooring are:

• Anti-bacterial
• Anti-fungal
• Waterproof
• Mildew and rot resistant
• Fire-retardant

One of the great things about vinyl flooring is it comes in a wide range of colors. You can stick with gray or choose options that match your school or business’s colors.

Some premium fabric options include a raised texture. The additional design makes the flooring highlight slip-resistant.

Carpet Surface Rolls

Carpet surface rolls are similar to vinyl-roll systems.

The main difference is the surface of the roll has a carpeted surface that absorbs sound as well as dirt and dust.

There are huge benefits to the carpet surface versus the vinyl gym floor covers.

Once you see the carpet surface roll gym floor covers in action, having a carpeted surface is a necessity because of the many benefits.

Most carpet surface rolls will need to be taped together on the seams, and this cost and time in labor should be taken into consideration.

Carpet Tiles

Carpet tiles are more expensive than other floor cover options, but they come with different advantages. These benefits include:

• Ability to arrange as needed per activity
• Put out as few or as many as needed
• Quick and easy deployment and takeup
• Great look for all functions
• Won’t slide, ripple, or wrinkle
• Eliminate tripping hazards
• Sound absorbing
• If a couple of tiles are damaged, you can simply replace  them without having to purchase a long roll

One thing to keep in mind when selecting your gym floor cover is that tiles do not require taping.

This saves money over the life of the tile system in two ways.

You do not need to purchase tape and you don’t need to spend the additional time/labor taping the tiles together and pulling up the tape after your event.

Storage on carts is compact and you are easily able to transport your tiles to your storage area.

Carpet gym floor tiles will give your gym a professional, attractive, and acoustically pleasant facility for any event.

Carpet tiles have carpet on the side that you walk on and waterproof backing on the opposite side.

The non-skid backing makes it easy for people to walk on and provides a great look.

How Do I Measure My Gym Floor?

The last thing you want to do is not buy enough flooring to cover your space.

You also don’t want to over-purchase and spend unnecessary money.

That’s why measuring your gym floors is an important step.

The first step is to measure the total width and length of the area you want to get covered.

Consider if you have retractable bleachers.

Do you want your gym floor cover to fit the floor with them extended or retracted?

You’ll also want to consider if you want the floor cover to go all the way to your walls. You might only need it to cover the athletic portion of the gym.

Planning to cover from wall to wall isn’t always recommended. This method can make it challenging to install and remove your flooring.

If you want 100% of your flooring to get covered, use gym court runners alongside the walls.

It can be challenging to figure out how many roles you need.

That’s why we recommend working with an experienced gym floor company to ensure you purchase the correct amount.

What Other Things Should I Consider?

One of the things you should think about is what type of functions you plan on having in your gym when it’s not being used for athletic purposes.

If you plan on using your gym for concerts, lectures, or speeches, you might want to explore carpet tiles. That’s because carpet improves your gym’s acoustics.

Another factor to consider is how often your gym will be used for other activities.

You’ll also need to determine how much extra foot traffic you’ll expect. The heavier duty the flooring is, the more easily it can withstand wear and tear.

You should also figure out how many people you have available to help you install and remove the floor coverings.

As we said earlier, some gym floor covers are much easier to install than others.

That process can go by more quickly when you have more people, or if you have selected a gym floor covering system that only requires a small amount of labor to deploy.

Most vinyl-roll systems only need a couple of people to install, but consider if you need to use tape to seal the seams.

If so, that is an additional cost for the tape and additional cost in labor. You could need extra hands if you choose a heavier flooring material.

How Do I Maintain My Gym Floor Covers?

Keeping your gym floor covers clean is your top priority. Use a broom and detergent to clean your floor covers, or a vacuum if you have a carpet surface system before you store them. You’ll want to remove debris, spills, and stains.

Don’t leave any mud, liquid, or food trapped between the layers of floor covering.

These substances can wear away the protective coating on the floor covering while in storage.

You might see permanent stains the next time you roll out your floor covers.

When not in use, your floor coverings need to be in storage.

We recommend storing them on racks so they don’t crease, or tiles on platform trucks. That also helps protect them from accidental damage or foot traffic.

Protect Your Gym Floors With High-Quality Covers

Purchasing gym floor covers is important whether you operate a gym in a school, church, university, or another type of facility.

Not only do you want the space to be safe at all times, but you’ll want to prevent costly maintenance and repairs.

Improve your gym and protect your investment by investing in gym floor coverings.

Enhance Mats carries a wide range of gym floor coverings, custom mats with logos, gym court runners, and more

. Everything can be customized to fit your needs. Contact us to get a quote.