Finding Seamless Multipurpose Flooring for Heavy Traffic
By: Jennifer Walker-Journey
RichmondOutreachCenter, known as The ROC, a non-denominational, independent church in Richmond, Virginia, calls its style anything but typical. There is always something going on at the church.
When leadership set out to do a total rehab of its 120,000-square-foot building, creating a 45,000-square-foot entrance, foyer, and auditorium, they knew the flooring for the new space was critical.
On any given day, the vast auditorium would be used for a variety of activities, including worship services, day care, indoor soccer, basketball, running track, and concerts. Up to 3,000 people at one time would be standing or walking in the space, and chairs and sports equipment would be set up and torn down on a daily basis.
The current old, vinyl tiles atop a concrete floor just wouldn’t hold up, nor complement the newly refurbished space. A new multipurpose flooring was needed, and it had to be strong but pleasing to the eye.
When it came to finding an all-purpose surface with which to cover the floor, leadership at The ROC turned to the experts at Abacus Sports Installations Ltd./Abacus Surfaces for advice.
Abacus installs various types of sports surfacing for gymnasiums, running tracks, tennis courts, weight rooms, and athletic locker rooms. In addition to sports surfaces, Abacus installs synthetic rubber flooring for playgrounds, storefronts, and horse stables.
After meeting with The ROC representatives, Abacus quickly identified Padenpor, a “sandwich” system made up of the most durable and highest quality materials, as the best solution.
“We do many different worship halls across the country. It is great to see churches use their worship halls for community involvement,” said Susan Proud with Abacus. “Many of the centers use Padenpor for functions that need bleachers and/or chairs only to turn around and remove the rolling loads of tables and chairs to use their floor for sport functions.”
Padenpor is compromised of a recycled rubber base mat with polyurethane top coatings. These coatings render a perfectly seamless system. It has been developed over the past 30 years and has proven itself at venues all over the world.
Padenpor delivers exceptional durability and superior wear resistance for indoor applications. Unlike fully poured-in-place or single ply platform surfaces, this system guarantees uniformity in thickness and density, giving the athlete a dimensionally stable platform for safe and consistent performance.
The basemat durometer – or measurement of hardness – can be custom engineered during manufacturing to meet specified performance attributed to the site requirements. Its resurfacable wear surface provides optimum frictional properties required for typical indoor gym sports and field house activities.
The flooring comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses from economy 1/4-inch to 5/8-inch. The surfaces can also be custom designed with subtle differences or additions to enhance the performance of different systems.
With different finishes, strengths, and thicknesses, Padenpor can deliver ultimate playing characteristics for any use. Furthermore, all Padenpor systems are resilient, seamless, durable, and easy to maintain.
Different types of Padenpor surfaces offer more flexibility in use. The Padenpor XTR uses urethane with extreme elongation and tensile properties, which offers enhanced performance values.
- Padenpor SLT is a “floating” system that can be applied over substrates with environmental issues such as asbestos or mercury), or over “green” substrates.
- Padenpor SPK is a spike-proof system designed specifically for competition running tracks – both indoor and outdoor.
- Padenpor SKT is an engineered system with additional urethane layers to sustain in-line skating. This hard but resilient surface delivers high speed to skaters, and unparalleled puck control and comfort to skaters with its seamless design.
- Padenpor TXT is a textured system designed for application where enhanced traction is required, such as running tracks and areas with high levels of moisture or humidity.
- Padenpor DXL, with a harder urethane coating, is specially designed to hold up under animal applications and hoof traffic. It resists bacteria and fungal growth and is typically used for breeding sheds and in veterinary clinics.
With so much diversity, Padenpor was an ideal choice for the heavy traffic and multiple uses at The ROC. Once installed, the Padenpor flooring became a tremendous hit with members, according to Rick Brown with the church. “The kids love it for basketball. The ball has a great bounce and it’s easy on the players,” he said. “Our main concern was durability due to our extreme uses. We have been extremely happy with the floor.”
Visit Abacus Sports online at abacussports.staging.wpengine.com.