Gym Floor Maintenance Schedule: Routine Cleaning to Refinishing

By: WAXIE Editorial Staff  |  June 19, 2019

As with anything, if you routinely take care of something it will last a long time, and it's no different when it comes to gym floors.

Gymnasiums are often the “showcase” of a school or athletic club. Good looking, shiny floors convey a positive image to the public, school officials and athletic teams that use these facilities. Sports floors need specific, proven maintenance systems that will enhance their natural beauty and protect their substantial investment. 

Wood floor care can be divided into two main systems:

• Water-Based (recommended)
• Solvent-Based (oil-modified) and Epoxy

Wood floors, like resilient floors, need routine maintenance to maintain their beauty and safety. Their maintenance can be divided into four simple techniques:

• Daily or Routine Maintenance
• Weekly Maintenance
• Periodic Restoration
• Yearly Recoating

Water-Based Maintenance

Daily or Routine Maintenance

There are no short cuts or inexpensive substitutes for keeping gym floors clean. Proper matting and dust mopping are critical to the daily maintenance program. It removes the particulate soil (sand, silt and clay) that will abrade, scratch and dull the finish if left unattended. Street shoes should also be kept off the floor as much as possible.

Weekly Maintenance

Wood floors need to be chemically cleaned weekly to maintain their appearance and slip-resistance. An autoscrubber and/or mop-bucket with a neutral cleaner is perfect for those desiring a water-based cleaning method. For those that prefer a waterless method, a tacking cleaner is available.

Periodic Restoration

If you have an important tournament, open house or other special event and need your gymnasium looking its best, there are new wood floor coatings that are formulated to respond to burnishing. Simply quick scrub the floor surface with an approved floor prep-cleaner followed with a burnishing procedure using a natural hair floor pad. Instant shine.

Yearly Recoating

It is important that you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when working with any floor coating. There are easy-to-use products on the market today that make working with wood floors as easy as working with standard vinyl floor care programs. After dust mopping, you just autoscrub or single disk scrub your floor with an approved floor prep cleaner and a brown or black pad. Rinse well with a neutral cleaner and apply one to two coats of the floor coating. These new products allow for sport activity after 24 hours! Having immediate access allows for gym floor to be done during the year instead of the summer months.

Solvent-Based Maintenance

Daily or Routine Maintenance

There are no short cuts or inexpensive substitutes for keeping gym floors clean. Proper matting and dust mopping are critical to the daily maintenance program. It removes the particulate soil (sand, silt and clay) that will abrade, scratch and dull the finish if left unattended. Street shoes should also be kept off the floor as much as possible.

Weekly Maintenance

Wood floors need to be chemically cleaned weekly to maintain their appearance and slip-resistance. An autoscrubber and/or mop-bucket with a neutral cleaner is perfect for those desiring a water-based cleaning method. For those that prefer a waterless method, a tacking cleaner or waterless cleaner (mineral spirits) is available.

Periodic Restoration

Solvent-based coatings do not respond to restoration procedures of any kind.

Yearly Recoating

It is important that you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when working with any floor coating. These coatings require anything from heavy screening procedures to prepare the floor surface to easier procedures, such as those used with water-based systems. The methods using waterless cleaner and floor sanding screens are most common.