On the morning of Nov. 4, the fall American Sports Builders Association gym floor sanding school—the first of its kind—began in Cheyenne, Wyo., at the Destiny Christian Academy.
A little information on the Destiny Christian Academy: This school was purchased from the Cheyenne Wyoming School district in the year 2000. The Destiny Christian Academy is a K-12 private Christian school. This Academy is privately funded through the church and student tuition. They do a great job of educating their students, but funds are always short, so doing maintenance to the gym floor has never been in the cards for them. The gym floor had never even been recoated in the 24 years that it has been owned by the Academy. So, needless to say, a little maintenance work was in order.
We had 11 student contractors participate in our class. Nine of the 11 had never been on a riding gym floor sander. Six of the 11 had never even used a floor sander. Nevertheless, they were all motivated to learn, and by day three, all 11 were efficiently using the riding gym floor sanders.
We started with basic safety and maintenance of the sanders.
Jared Berg with Western Sport Floors demonstrates how to level and dress a sanding drum.
Participants started with a single sander. With the floor sander turned off, they practiced driving the rider back and forth over the gym floor, concentrating on getting to know the machine prior to turning on the rider.
While one group was learning the riders, another group was practicing putting abrasive on a split drum sander (never an easy skill set to acquire!).
This floor had sustained some water damage over the years, so we did a crosscut on the first pass.
While part of the group were learning the gym floor riders, the rest of us enjoyed presentations from Tim Young of Basic Coatings about tape on gym floors, finish application basics, and tinting sealer.
The Jason Beebe of Beebe’s Hardwood Floors and I gave presentations on gym floor sanding theory. They were different theories, and now the participants have information to develop their own!
By the end of day two, all of the participants were up to speed and using the dual riding setup!
The students did 95% of the sanding of this 7,200-square-foot floor!
During the sanding process we continued to get very valuable presentations; here Pat Parker with Norton talks about abrasives. He explained in detail the way different abrasives can help in different situations:
By the end of day three, the floor was ready for sealer. Participants had the opportunity to perfect this skill, as well.
Then we had to take a little break to visit the Wyoming State Capitol and take a photo on the steps.
Thursday morning, we were back at the gym to take a look at the sealed floor and to inspect for any missed edger or drum marks. There were a few!
In the end, everyone had a great learning experience, and we made lifelong friendships. We are leaving Cheyenne, Wyo., bursting with energy! The gymnasium flooring industry has some better trained contractors as a result of this ASBA regional school!
RELATED: Sport Flooring Contractors Organize as Part of American Sports Builders Association
