A Legacy of Passion, Leadership, and Friendship

To our respected customers, valued vendors, trusted business contacts, association members, and cherished friends:

It is with our deepest sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our esteemed former CEO and owner, Jay Stoehr, on the morning of Saturday, February 24th. Jay was not only a passionate industry leader; he was an embodiment of dedication, mentorship, and friendship that touched the lives of many.

In these difficult times, our hearts are heavy with grief as we extend our deepest condolences to Jay’s beloved wife, Amy, and their children: Jamie, Sydney, Maddie, and Gretchen. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they navigate through this profound loss.

May he rest in peace, leaving behind a legacy that will continue to inspire and resonate with all of us who were fortunate enough to share in his journey.

With heartfelt sympathy,
Robbins Sports Surfaces

 

Remembering the life of Jay Stoehr

James “Jay” Harkness Stoehr III., beloved husband of Amy Stoehr for forty years, died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on February 24th, 2024. He was a devoted husband, father, son, brother, grandfather, friend, and business leader.

Jay was a graduate of Cincinnati Country Day School and Kalamazoo College. He was known as a cheerleader for all, and found success through others triumphs, always inquisitive and eager to pass on his learned knowledge to others. These traits remained true even through the final stages of his Alzheimer’s disease. Jay continued the Stoehr legacy and was devoted to his life’s work as the President and CEO of Robbins Sports Surfaces. He prided himself on doing the right thing—a core value ingrained in both his business and personal life. But above all, anyone close to him knows that sailing and his family were his true passions in life. Taking his family and friends under sail was what brought him the most joy, whether it was for an afternoon getaway or a weeklong adventure. He was also an avid skier and loved spending time in the Northwoods. Jay spent many summers in Northern Minnesota as a former camper, staff member, and board member of Camp Kooch-i-Ching; he was an integral part of founding Camp Ogichi Daa Kwe, the sister camp of Camp Kooch, where he served on the board for both Ogichi and the Camping and Education Foundation. He was an instrumental board member of Lyman Orchards, along with the Maple Flooring Manufacturing Association (MFMA), where he served as president.

Jay is survived by his loving wife Amy Waller Stoehr, children James IV, Sydney Whedon (Samuel), Madeline Stoehr (Nathan Osborn), and Gretchen Luthy (Cameron), as well as his loving siblings Thomas Stoehr and Katherine Mohrlang (Durrell) and his two grandchildren James Stoehr V and Dorothy Whedon. He was preceded in death by his parents James H. Stoehr Jr. and Olga Conroy Keumpel.

James Stoehr, III Obituary – Cincinnati, OH | T.P. White & Sons Funeral Home (tpwhite.com)

It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce our new Vice President of Manufacturing, Rick Lovorn, as he officially stepped into the role this week upon the retirement of John Williams.

Originally from South Carolina, Rick joined the Robbins family in 2021 and relocated to our facility in White Lake, Wisconsin to begin learning the inner workings of Robbins, and preparing to take over the role as Vice President of Manufacturing. Throughout his career, Rick has served in senior management positions and focused heavily on the implementation and improvement of LEAN manufacturing and automation. In his time at Robbins thus far, Rick has been working to present ways to improve the flow of the workplace, reduce waste, and encourage a workplace culture that focuses on the operation of the company as a whole, rather than each individual step in our process.

One of the key concepts that Rick has been working to integrate at Robbins is the idea of root-cause problem solving. He notes that in the year he has been here, there has already been a cultural shift in the way that team members view the Robbins process, and utilize critical thinking skills to develop new, innovative ways to make improvements and sustain the gains that have been made. Rick is optimistic about the future of Robbins and is looking forward to see the continuation of employees learning, growing, and challenging the status quo, as well as continuing to improve our cost and growing market share.

Rick states that his favorite aspects of working at Robbins are the comradery, positivity, and family atmosphere, the driving forces that make Robbins a great team to be part of. Congratulations, Rick! We are so lucky to have you on Team Robbins.

Yesterday, we sent off one of our most famous superstars, Vice President of Manufacturing, John Williams as he embarks on his next journey of retirement. To know Robbins is to know John, and we cannot say enough about all of the lives he has impacted over his 42 and a half years of being a member of the Robbins family.

John began his career at our Ishpeming Michigan facility in 1979 as an office and assistant plant manager and soon after became actively involved in the manufacturing and operations side of the business. During his time in Ishpeming he was responsible for the purchase and installation of our Parquet and Sportwood lines along with the ongoing daily operations of the strip line.

John joined the Robbins White Lake team in 1988 as an assistant plant manager being promoted shortly after to the Vice President of Manufacturing.

Over the next 10 years John was actively involved in upgrading and expanding the Residential side of the business at White Lake as well as at our Southern plants until the sale of the Residential division in 1997. This was one of the most transformational periods in Robbins history bringing the Continuous Strip® XL product line from concept to reality – ultimately becoming the mainstay of our Recreational wood business today making up over 90% of our wood production volume.

Working together with Product development, Marketing, and Sales the Continuous Strip® XL product came to life and is what continues to set us apart from our competition today. John was a key player in the evaluation, purchase, and installation of the equipment for making that product along with upgrading and expanding the White Lake facility in order to bring the product line into full production.

Throughout all of the change over the years John always found the most rewarding part of his job to be the friendships and relationships that were built among suppliers, team members and the customers that were using our products.

Over the years, John has given Robbins as a whole and each individual employee his unfaltering dedication, kindness, and positivity. There are no words to describe the gratitude and thanks that John deserves, and while we are all sad to see him go, we wish him all of the best in spending time doing the things he loves most in his retirement- spending time in nature and surrounded by family and friends. Congratulations John, onto the next adventure.

 

From left to right: Jairo Vargas, Robbins International Sales Manager; Pat Folz, Robbins CFO; John Ficks, Robbins Global Sales and Marketing Manager; Jay Stoehr, Robbins Chairman and Owner; Jim Remmel, Robbins Finance; Kimberly A. Reed, Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Chairman

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed presented an Exporter of the Year award to Robbins, Inc. a family-owned small business headquartered in Cincinnati that manufactures sports flooring systems featuring hardwood maple flooring, and toured the company’s facilities.

Robbins, established as a flooring installation company in 1894, manufactures high-performance maple and synthetic flooring systems for sports and performing arts venues that can be found in 70 countries.  Robbins’ flooring systems are used by National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional teams; National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
programs; and thousands of school, college, university, and recreational facilities across the United States, Canada, and the world.

“Robbins Sports Surfaces is an Ohio small business success story that also makes jobs possible in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where the strong maple hardwood trees that comprise these beautiful floors are grown and harvested. Be it your local elementary school gymnasium, your favorite N.B.A.  team, or a nationally recognized performing arts center, the high-performance sports floor very well could be Robbins. EXIM’s export credit insurance helps bring these high-quality ‘Made in the USA’ systems—made by U.S. workers—to floors in countries around the world,” said Chairman Reed. “As a 2020 Exporter of the Year, Robbins Sports Surfaces exemplifies how EXIM supports innovative small businesses as they compete in the global marketplace and support American jobs.”

To access new markets abroad, Robbins has relied on EXIM’s export credit insurance for its international sales strategy since 2003. EXIM’s insurance enabled the company to offer customers favorable payment terms needed to secure new projects and grow international sales. That allowed Robbins to further increase sales in its original markets and expand into new countries. EXIM supports approximately 50 percent of Robbins’ international sales, and exports sustain the jobs of the entire workforce of 180 employees. Since 2014, EXIM has supported exports valued at more than $7 million.

“Robbins is a small family business operating in a global market. The assistance provided by EXIM allows us to compete at a higher level when meeting demand for athletic flooring systems for projects around the world,” said John Ficks, Global Sales and Marketing Manager for Robbins. “EXIM makes it possible for Robbins to extend payment terms to our export customers who are often small businesses with limited access to credit. Our ability to compete internationally not only assists Robbins in our success but supports the entire community of working Americans involved in the hardwood forestry community.”

ABOUT ROBBINS:  

Established as a flooring installation company in 1894, Robbins manufactures high-performance maple and synthetic flooring systems for sports and performing arts venues that can be found in 70 countries.  Robbins’ flooring systems are used by National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional teams; National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs; and thousands of school, college, university, and recreational facilities across the United  States, Canada and the world. Robbins has been celebrated as a true game-changer in the sport industry. They lead the way with remarkable new, first-to-market, flooring innovations that are changing the way  the same is played.  www.robbinsfloor.com  

ABOUT EXIM: 

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency’s authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt. www.exim.gov


In an effort to continue improving our products and minimize our affect on the environment, Robbins recently decided to test several strip maple products under the California Department of Public Health CDPH/EHLB/Standard Method Version 1.2, 2017. With the exception of one item, the other products chosen were all products that are pre-treated in some manner prior to leaving the factory. Some of these items can help to speed up the installation time or contribute to the overall health of jobsite conditions.

Robbins is happy to report that all four strip maple products that were tested have passed and are in compliance with the CA Specification 01350 standard. The four products are:

  • Unfinished Continuous Strip® XL (25/32” x 2 ¼”)
  • Factory Sealed Continuous Strip® XL (25/32” x 2 ¼”)
  • Factory Finished Continuous Strip® XL (25/32” x 2 ¼”)
  • Edge Treated (EZ-XL) Continuous Strip® XL (25/32” x 2 ¼”)

In addition to the environmental benefits, these products will allow for the above strip maple products to be in compliance with or contribute credits toward (partial list):

  • USGBC LEED Version 4, BD&C, ID&C
  • The WELL Building Standard
  • ANSI/GBI 01, Green Building Assessment Protocol
  • Green Guide for Healthcare V2.2

The new product certifications, which were tested by Berkeley Analytical lab in California, will meet the requirements of specifications that request compliance with a number of environmental standards in the education construction market. In addition, Robbins Pulastic® systems were tested in 2013 and are also in compliance with the same CA Specification 01350.

For more information about Robbins maple products, click here.

When the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits needed new gym floors installed in their new state-of-the-art D1 practice facility, they turned to Robbins dealer Anderson Ladd. After all, Anderson Ladd has installed flooring for every D1 facility in the state.

”South Dakota, South Dakota State, pretty much up to the Midwest, too, to Creighton, Omaha, Nebraska, and the University of Minnesota,” said Anderson Ladd Athletic Facility Specialist Mike Larson. “They wanted to go with a company that has put in those types of floors for D1 practice facilities.”

The SDSU Stanley J. Marshall Center addition was a big project for the university and, having worked with Anderson Ladd in the past, facility management and school officials could count on the experts there to find the right flooring for the Jacks. Being sensitive to budget constraints, Anderson Ladd took university representatives to the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls to test out a Bio-Channel Star in person.

“Typically for a D1 practice facility, we’d lead with the MVP flooring system, but it really kind of came down to what they had in their budget,” Larson explained. “The next best is, in my view anyway, the Bio-Channel Star system. After dribbling a ball and testing out the Bio-Channel Star floor at Sanford Health, they liked it.”

So nearly 27,000 square feet of Robbins Bio-Channel Star was installed in October 2018 for men and women’s basketball and volleyball in two separate gyms, each with a full-sized NCAA basketball court and two high school length cross courts for added versatility. This provided more flexibility in scheduling practices for all sports and allowed the overall facility to function more efficiently.

“We researched other floors and knew that some high-quality regional gyms were using the Robbins Bio-Channel Star anchored system,” SDSU Senior Associate Athletic Director, Facilities and Operations Jeff Holm said. “Having two additional gym floors has helped our student-athletes and coaches plan practices around academics instead of vice versa.”

The Bio-Channel Star features a continuous subfloor and continuous resilient pad providing vibration damping and control, resulting in improved comfort for users – another perk. Additionally, the improved shock absorption and ball bounce leads to improved player performance, which is a big part of why athletes like the floor.

“All the input that they’ve gotten from players is that they love the floor there,” Larson said. “They love the aesthetics, they love all the graphics that were put on it. They are also aware of the safety features of the floor as far as being easier on the knees and lower back and things like that.”

Despite a challenging timeline and a window that kept getting tighter and tighter, Anderson Ladd finished the project in under ten weeks. Typically a project of that size would take ten weeks to complete, but Anderson Ladd made sure they worked to meet deadline for another project well done.

Robbins has launched a new digital tool to make it easier for users to find the best suited sports floor for their facility. The new Floor Selector tool takes users through a series of questions that will help them focus on the needs of their facility, and narrow down the results to match those needs.

According to Jamie Darpel, Marketing Manager for Robbins, there are an overwhelming number of sports flooring options in the sports surfacing industry and knowing which floor is the right fit, isn’t always an easy task.

“It is very easy for our customers to get overwhelmed and to not know if they are choosing the right product or not”, says Darpel. “We wanted to build a tool that helps guide our customers so they can have a customized experience as they search for the right floor. Installing a new floor is a big investment and a time consuming project. We want them to be confident in the choice they make.”

Robbins new Floor Selector considers several factors when taking users through the process. Facility type, primary activity, as well as safety and performance requirements are just a few of the questions users are asked.

Upon completion of the questions, users will be presented with up to 4 product recommendations. Results can be downloaded in a pdf and will also be emailed to the user for their records. They will then have the option of speaking directly with a Robbins dealer about the recommended products, who can also perform a full assessment of the facility and provide users with a quote.

“The recommended products will get users off to a great start in the floor selection journey. However, there are a lot of variables involved when selecting the final product. Slab depression, heavy load requirements, environmental conditions, are just a few of the variables that can affect the final floor selection. Due to these variables, users will most definitely want to consult with their Robbins dealer after they receive their results to get a thorough analysis of their facility prior to making the final decision”, says Darpel.

The new tool can be accessed on the top navigation on the Robbins website, or by going directly to floorselector.robbinsfloor.com.

A quality wooden gymnasium floor might be a costly expenditure, but it can also be worth every penny as an immense asset and a source of pride for schools and sporting venues. But what happens when that flooring system is faulty and doesn’t perform well? Then that asset turns into a pricey mistake.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened at Southern Utah University’s America First Event Center in Cedar City. That is, until Croft Beck Floors, an exclusive Robbins dealer, solved the problem by replacing the subpar floor with 7,350-square-feet of a Robbins Bio-Channel SB flooring system last July. The project earned Croft Beck a nomination for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

“The support system underneath was giving too much, allowing it to flex too much so the boards would crack, especially the tongue-in-groove areas. We had a lot of cracked boards,” said the Center’s Director of Custodial Services and Sustainability Ralph Savage.

When Croft Beck replaced the defective floor last year, it was fourteen years old, but the floor started experiencing problems just a few years after being installed. Every time the NBA-style stanchions were rolled onto the floor, boards inevitably cracked under the pressure.

“We were having to do repairs every year because of the way they were cracking,” Savage explained. “It was getting to the point it was not going to be safe anymore. We understand a floor should last a lot more than 14 years so we were looking for something that would hold up to the weight … and ultimately be a safe venue for our athletes.”

Savage said the university hired an architect to find a floor that would hold up to the weight of the stanchions and better meet the needs of the SUU Thunderbirds. The architect recommended a Robbins flooring system. Two companies bid on the project – Robbins and a competitor and installer of the previous floor. Robbins won out.

Robbins Regional Manager Jim Colla previously worked with the architect and suggested Croft Beck Floors over the competitor.

“Croft had been around for a long time and they have a wonderful reputation in their market area,” Colla said. “They (SUU) had a competitor’s floor that had not performed to their expectations and they were still giving them an opportunity to play in the game so-to-speak. I said if you give us a chance I think you’ll be very happy with the work that Croft Beck does.”

They opted for Robbins and they were very happy.

“They love it,” Savage exclaimed. “The players like the look and feel of the floor.”

That’s due in large part to Croft Beck Floors Owner Gary Beck. Beck visited the university multiple times over the course of three years to fully investigate the issues and formulate a plan of how to provide SUU with a good flooring system.

Beck found the installation was incomplete and there was moisture throughout the underlying concrete slab. Coupling those issues with a floor that is incapable of handling high point loads resulted in a disastrous floor for SUU.

He recommended the Bio-Channel SB, a high-performance anchored floor that holds up under heavy loads. The self blocking technology and continuous interwoven subfloor design is durable, maintains structural integrity, and was exactly was SUU needed. It would resolve all of the unacceptable conditions and provide a state-of-the-art, aesthetically pleasing athletic floor with outstanding longevity. Plus, Croft Beck corrected the unforeseen moisture issue through a moisture mitigation system in an expedited fashion, keeping the project timeline on schedule.

Now the floor is the perfect venue for the Thunderbirds’ needs – basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, stage productions, commencements and other events.

“They were just great to work with through the whole process,” Savage said.

As an authorized Robbins dealer, Croft Beck is an expert in sports flooring. They don’t farm their work out to inexperienced installers. They carefully study each case to learn the needs of the facility and direct the client to products that meet their needs. The right product is installed correctly for each individual job.

Sometimes Robbins isn’t always the cheapest, but it is the best and in the long run, the product will outlast the competitors, making it more cost-effective in the long run.

“Robbins has had floors in for 60-plus years,” related Croft Beck Floors Administrative Assistant who worked on the SUU project. “It just depends on how they maintain it and treat it.”

Croft Beck’s hard work, integrity and quality service resulted in a nomination for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

“It makes us proud of the work that we’ve completed and we take pride in providing owners with floors that are going to last them a long time,” Dial expressed. “We do it right so they’re happy with it.”

Croft Beck previously won a Sports Surface of the Year Award for a combination Pulastic® and wood floor project.

“It makes us feel validated that we’re doing a good job that makes our customers happy,” Dial said.

When Tony Rewa contacted Foster Specialty Floors last summer for a quote on a new gym floor, not only did he wind up getting a stunning new sports surface, but he also formed a long-term partnership for the future.

Rewa, facility director for PrepNet, a charter high school system network in Michigan, needed to replace an old, outdated, peeling vinyl gymnasium floor at Taylor Preparatory High School. He found Foster Specialty Floors, an exclusive Robbins dealer, through an online search.

“The floor that was in there was a vinyl sports floor and it just had reached its peak in life,” Rewa said, noting the 28-year-old vinyl was bubbling, tearing and separating, making the floor unsafe. “I had gotten numerous quotes from all over.”

But it was Foster, winner of last year’s Robbins Sports Surface of the Year (SSOTY) Award for their installation for the Michigan State Spartans, who helped find the perfect floor for the project. Vice President of Sales Jordan Foster, part of the fourth generation of the family-owned business, walked Rewa through all the options and presented him with a floor that would best fit Taylor Prep’s need for a multipurpose surface while respecting budgetary constraints. Jordan took his time, detailing the pros and cons of the various floors including hardwood and vinyl surfaces.

They ultimately selected the synthetic Pulastic® Classic 90 sports floor system, a high-performing seamless synthetic flooring system that is durable and versatile. The poured urethane surface won’t peel or bubble like vinyl, is easy to maintenance, and lasts for decades.

Pulastic is poured as a liquid so it gives you that nice seamless, smooth look,” Rewa said. “It also worked out with all my doorway transitions so we didn’t have to change any of that. And if the floor ever was damaged, chipped, stained, whatever, they can always come in and they can cut a little chunk out and replace it and basically flow it back together with almost a seamless look.”

Rewa said in the sports world everyone wants a wood floor, but for the Taylor Prep Tigers there were too many obstacles with a hardwood surface. Rewa said Jordan reassured him that the Pulastic system would meet and exceed his needs based on performance, aesthetics, cost-effectiveness and ease of maintenance. Rewa wanted to install the right product so the floor would last. Plus, with a 25-year warranty, he couldn’t lose. Now nearly a year later, he is still thrilled with his choice.

“He felt really strongly that I would be pleased with it and the warranty system on it, how it reacted, and the budget,” Rewa recalled. “It’s been an impressive floor in many different aspects. It’s really a floor that you kind of set it and forget it. There’s really not a lot of upkeep for us and with the way they did all the painting on there, it’s really pretty hard to tell that it’s not that old traditional wood floor.”

Jordan said they have Pulastic installations that are 30 years old and still in great shape because Pulastic can be refurbished to extend the floor’s life.

“You can kind of always resurface it or make it last more or less forever,” Jordan said. “It doesn’t wear out like a vinyl floor would. Even with a wood floor, if you were sanding it and refinishing it, eventually you’d sand through all the wood that was there and with this one you wouldn’t. You would resurface it, pour more of the resin on top, do repairs, repaint it, do whatever to keep the base mat intact and still resurface the top.”

The 8,800-square-foot installation took three weeks and features a main basketball court with two cross courts and a main volleyball court with two cross courts, and is now the pride of the school. Not only do the Tigers’ basketball and volleyball teams love the floor, but so do visitors. Rewa said he gets compliments on the comfort and look of the floor all the time.

Rewa was so satisfied with the project that Foster is currently working on another gymnasium install for Rewa at Westfield Preparatory High School. The building, set to open in the fall, will feature the very first installation of the new Robbins VCP II system, an anchored hardwood maple system featuring Robbins Continuous Strip® XL.

Rewa said he will rely on Foster and Robbins for his flooring needs for the schools he oversees from now on, and Jordan describes the partnership as the ideal customer relationship.

“We worked really well together on the Taylor Prep project and everything’s been going really smoothly at the Westfield project,” Jordan said. “It’s exactly the type of business-customer relationship that we like to have. There’s a level of trust there, we can meet his needs and when he’s got an issue we’re going to take care of it. This Taylor Prep job really laid the groundwork for that and I think as long as we continue to deliver quality services to him, I’m sure he’s going to continue to call us.”

This project has earned Foster Specialty Floors a shot at this year’s SSOTY Award. Winners will be announced next month.

Robbins Performing Arts is introducing a revolution in Marley surfacing, called Forever™ Marley, to give dancers and performers an exceptional, seamless and repairable dance surface that can be refurbished over time at a fraction of the replacement costs.

Dancers the world over ask for Marley floors under their feet to give them support and responsiveness as well as a slip-resistant surface on which to perform. But the term “Marley floors” has come to represent any vinyl surface rolled out over an existing floor. Those vinyl surfaces have a number of issues the dance community has just learned to deal with over time such as seams with tape lines that create inconsistent surfaces, bubbling, cracking, difficulty with cleaning, and the inability to easily repair damaged or worn areas. Forever Marley by Robbins Performing Arts is the solution to all those traditional issues.

Forever Marley is a proprietary poured polyurethane that creates a thicker, seamless, uniform surface across the entire room. No seams, no tape lines, no bubbles. It can be used alone or laid over a sprung floor, which provides the responsiveness and flex performers need to reduce stress on joints and muscles.

“We’re excited to be able to introduce a better alternative to traditional Marley flooring,” said Robbins CEO Dave Fulton. “Forever Marley improves the experience on the surface for performers while making repairs and resurfacing economical choices for theaters, dance facilities and studio owners.”

With traditional Marley floors, repairs mean cutting out the worn or damaged area and essentially taping a new section in place. This creates additional seams and the potential for even more uneven surfaces, which can be a tripping hazard and cause dancer injuries.

“The top studios around the country can afford to replace their Marley floors on a regular basis. But that’s not the case with small and medium-sized facilities.” continued Fulton. “For the first time ever, studios of all sizes have the ability to purchase a premium surface that can be repaired and resurfaced easily and economically. This is a revolution for both performers and studio owners.”

As a heavier grade surface, Forever Marley holds up to regular wear and use better than traditional surfaces. In the case of worn or damaged areas, with Forever Marley, the damaged area is cut out and new material poured into the space and leveled with the existing floor to create a seamless repair. Over time, studios may choose to resurface the floor instead of replacing it for a dance surface that looks, wears and performs like new at a fraction of the cost of replacement.

All this and more colors, too! Forever Marley lets studio owners and facility managers choose from 17 classic colors, with a broad selection of greens, blues and reds to balance out traditional greys, beige and black. If that’s not enough, custom colors are available to match facilities and design visions. And since Forever Marley is a paintable surface, studies can choose to customize graphics on their floor to suit their tastes.

In addition to choosing from multiple colors, the surface friction and gloss levels can be adjusted to fit the preference of the facility or studio owner. Surface choices are no longer limited by the one size fits all designs of the vinyl manufacturer.

For additional information about Robbins Performing Arts, Forever Marley or other Robbins engineered performance flooring, visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com/forever-marley/.

Most of the time, Dude Perfect’s insanely impressive trick shots are met with a deluge of high-fives and creatively choreographed celebrations. That wasn’t the case, however, when a stunt last fall resulted only in a deluge of water, destroying the dudes’ basketball court – a necessity for the group’s Texas-based sports entertainment business.

With over 37 million YouTube subscribers and a hit show on Nickelodeon, the uber-popular band of friends who specialize in sports stunts were flooded with problems when the coupling on a hose busted inside their warehouse while filming one of their famous trick shots.

“With Dude Perfect’s business, we’re filming for our clients constantly,” Dude Perfect Business Manager Jeff Toney explained. “We’re also filming Season 3 of our television show on Nickelodeon, so we really only had a short window of opportunity to kind of basically rip the old flooring out that was damaged from the flood and replace it with brand new flooring, because we had to put it in use quickly.”

Keeping on track with their production schedule is important, so when things went awry in the Dude Perfect world, they turned to Robbins and Ponder Company, an exclusive Robbins dealer in Texas. Toney said Ponder and Robbins came highly recommended because of their work at area high schools and universities.

“We got in touch with them and actually were very impressed with not only their crew, but their creative design and some of the things that we could do with our floor that we hadn’t even thought of,” Toney said.

Abby Mitchell, chief operating officer at Ponder Company, said since there is no slab depression and the court sits directly atop concrete, they opted for a Robbins Bio-Channel® LP (low-profile). The Bio-Channel LP would fit seamlessly in the facility and offers better performance, better deflection characteristics and better floor uniformity than the previous Junckers floor. Because a quick install was a must, Ponder brought in pre-sanded XL maple to save time and cut down on dust.

But it was the total redesign of the floor graphics that took the dudes’ court to a new level. Mitchell suggested amping up the look of the previous court to reflect the awesomeness of Dude Perfect. What better way to do that than a one-of-a-kind GameTime Wrap?

GameTime is a Robbins partner company specializing in permanent vinyl graphics for sports floors, and other surfaces like vehicles and walls. GameTime has the most advanced design and printing capabilities in the market, so any graphic or center court logo imaginable may be printed. Not only are the graphics capabilities, detail and uniformity unmatched with a GameTime Wrap, but for a project like this where time is of the essence, it’s a lifesaver. Traditional painted and stained logos and graphics can take several days to hand paint and dry, so the time and labor savings is a great benefit.

“The fact that we can pretty much do an unlimited array of graphics – things you really can’t paint even if you had time to do it – you still can’t produce what we could do in a day and a half,” said Bob Sahr, owner of Arkansas-based GameTime Wraps.

Sahr said working with Dude Perfect, Robbins and Ponder was seamless.

“They (Dude Perfect) were extremely nice and helpful and Abby’s group, Ponder, is always incredible to work with,” Sahr related. “We have really good relationships with many of the Robbins dealers and it seems to always go that way.”

The collaboration between GameTime and Dude Perfect resulted in a honeycomb graphic with a grey stain and Dude Perfect mint green that looks amazing next to the gradient in the design. And the entire project took two weeks, about half the normal time.

“They worked with our schedule and actually worked straight through the weekends and did a fabulous job,” Toney extolled. “It’s a real conversation piece and obviously we’ve got a 30,000-square-foot facility that we use to film and play, as some people would say. It’s just something that is really kind of eye-catching and looks good but also performs well.”

Not only has the floor been used during filming, but the athletic dudes also use the floor for regularly scheduled weekly basketball games.

“You can definitely tell the difference,” Toney continued. “The floor seems to be an upgrade in terms of, not only the look, but the professional feel of the floor and its responsiveness.”

The new court, as well as the stunt that resulted in the flood, will be featured on Nickelodeon during Season 3, which premieres Feb. 8. It has also been nominated for a Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

Mitchell submitted the project for SSOTY nomination due to the quick turnaround and stunning results for such a high-profile client. Plus, the dudes, known to be generous with their time and finances donated the old floor so that it could be repurposed into toys for children who are patients at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

 

When you have THE very best gymnasium floor in the entire state of North Dakota, you have something to brag about. When you’ve designed, manufactured and installed THE very best floor in that state, you also have something to brag about.

And those bragging rights belong to White Shield High School, and none other than Robbins Flooring and authorized Robbins dealer Anderson Ladd. Anderson Ladd installed the premier hardwood flooring system on the market – the Robbins MVP® – for the White Shield Warriors in September 2018, making it the first installation of the MVP in the state. The MVP (Maximum Vibration Protection) is unrivaled as the leading flooring system in the sports flooring industry, thus earning the White Shield project the distinction of being a Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award Finalist.

“I could go on and on and on about the MVP system, but to sum it all up it is the best of the best,” said Dealer Salesperson and Facilities Solutions Specialist at Anderson Ladd Brandon Larson.

And the best is exactly what White Shield wanted when the MHA Nation (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes) was constructing a new school on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, according to Larson.

“We sat down with the architect and also the owner (White Shield) and basically went over all the gym floor systems that Robbins has to offer,” Larson explained. “The owners really liked the fact that the Timberwolves’ practice facility was installed by Anderson Ladd and had the MVP flooring.”

Larson presented multiple floor samples and school officials were so impressed with the benefits of the MVP, including its shock absorption, biomechanical features to improve performance, comfort and safety, and overall aesthetics, they chose to install the nearly 12,000-square-foot MVP, which is college regulation size. The White Shield gym floor joins the ranks of not only the Minnesota Timberwolves, but that of the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, Texas A&M, SMU and other elite teams.

“The MVP is a completely different concept in our industry,” Robbins Regional Manager Kevin Price said. “It’s really the floor of choice for many NBA teams and it’s starting to take off at the NCAA level. To have a high school go with the MVP is quite an accomplishment.”

Price said as the MVP gains recognition, more people will understand the benefits the MVP offers to not only professional athletes, but beginners, as well.

“A basketball floor can provide safety for the athletes who are playing on the floor,” Price explained. “I hope that everybody from the elementary level to the NBA starts to see that protection of the athletes is vital and the floor can go a long way in helping with that protection.”

Just like at White Shield.

“The tribe just said, ‘We need to get the best for the kids,’” said White Shield Superintendent Wayne Fox. “It was all about the kids.”

Fox said the floor was funded entirely by the tribe. Since no public funds were used, they had more freedom to choose the best fit for their school. Unlike White Shield, traditional public schools typically must rely on the lowest bidder for school projects, not necessarily the best product. In White Shield’s case, Robbins dealer Anderson Ladd was chosen to work with general contractor Graham Construction.

“Graham always brought in the best and I know when he (Brandon Larson) did his presentation, he was spot-on,” Fox continued. “We were looking for, of course, longevity but also quality. I think with the bounce back and basically how the floor looks, it’s just magnificent.”

Cody Hiller, project coordinator for Graham, said the floor installation was part of a larger $15 million project. It took about three weeks to install and went perfectly. For Hiller, it was the first MVP he’s seen, and he said it is indeed astonishing.

“It’s a pretty premium product,” Hiller said. “It’s pretty cool to see it go down.”

And the finished product was something to behold, according to Larson, between the intricate detail work in the center court logo and seven warrior silhouette on the sideline.

“The artwork on this floor is, in my opinion, top notch and some of the best artwork that we’ve ever done in the state of North Dakota, and they take a lot of pride in their design and artwork,” Larson said. “There’s extreme detail in that center court logo, which took a lot of time but it turned out tremendous.”

But most importantly, the students couldn’t be happier with their new floor. Fox said the floor is a source of pride for the students and they are excited to showcase their new MVP.

When it was time to replace the athletic court at the Icardo Center, officials at California State University, Bakersfield knew who they could trust and where to turn – Robbins Flooring and Pacific Floor Company. After all, Pacific, an authorized Robbins dealer, had performed maintenance work at CSUB for some time.

“They’ve really been our go-to person for any type of repairs that we’ve done on our floors for a number of years and they’ve always done a great job,” said CSUB Senior Associate Director of Athletics Karen Langston. “We’ve always really relied on them to keep the courts that we had in as good of shape as they could possibly be.”

The choice was clear not only because of their previous work, but also because Robbins is an approved vendor of Sourcewell, the national cooperative purchasing program formerly known as NJPA. Every four years Robbins must submit a bid to be considered and selected as an approved vendor. Sourcewell members, like Robbins, are thoroughly vetted so it’s easier for schools and other organizations to choose a trusted vendor when it comes to making a major purchase like a new gym floor.

Sourcewell ensures public bidding requirements are satisfied and the contract is awarded to the vendor of choice, not simply the lowest bidder, as prices are preset. Because the Robbins/Pacific track record was outstanding, CSUB decisively chose Robbins over Connor Sports, Robbins’ competitor and another Sourcewell vendor.

“Using Sourcewell, they didn’t have to go search out Connor,” said Sales Manager and Estimator at Pacific Floor Company Mark Herthel. “We had a relationship with the university already and I think they certainly wanted to work with not only Robbins, but certainly Pacific Floor Company.”

Plus, the CSUB Roadrunners had a bit of a unique situation, and they knew Robbins and Pacific could get the job done right. Not only was the old, original standard sleeper flooring system with 33/32″ maple still in place, but there was also a refurbished portable sitting atop the original floor that needed replacing. The portable functioned as the Runners’ center competition court, but was elevated three inches higher than the rest of the floor. Big, black ramps were installed to ease the transition, but there were still safety concerns.

“The portable court was also starting to lose its performance,” Langston said. “We knew it was important for our student-athletes who compete on that floor – men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball … to have the very best tools to have them be as successful as possible, and to make sure that we’re being conscientious about their health and their ability to perform at the highest level.”

No question, the lifespan of the two floors had expired. Neither offered the resiliency and support needed for athlete safety and success or for the success of the program itself. But, it wasn’t in the budget to replace all 25,000 square feet of gym flooring. Herthel was able to offer a solution that was cost-effective and resulted in an entire floor that looked and felt brand new.

Herthel removed the portable and replaced just the main court of the original floor underneath with a 7,300-square-foot Bio-Channel® Classic. The rest of the floor had enough life remaining to sand to bare wood, refinish it and paint it with the signature solid blue court and graphics, to tie it in seamlessly with the new court.

“You can’t even tell a difference when you look at the floor,” Langston said. “There’s no indication of where the break is from the main floor that was replaced to the floor that was refinished. I know where it is because they showed me and I recognize where it is because I was part of the project, but there isn’t another person who’s walked in there who does. Most people think we replaced the whole floor.”

The one thing everyone did recognize was the difference in the performance and comfort of the floor. The court was unveiled mid-August and Langston said athletes noticed the major improvements immediately. Before, it felt like playing on concrete. Now the comfort and resiliency were striking.

“Our basketball coaches have talked about recovery time and the guys feel so much better after practice,” Langston said. “It makes a huge difference.”

The upgraded, high-quality floor will reduce injuries, which can affect an athlete’s playing time and future career in sports. Herthel said while the method was unconventional, the results were extraordinary.

“Usually you tear out the entire floor,” Herthel said. “But this worked fine and they’ve got an excellent floor to play their games on now.”

According to Herthel, the Bio-Channel Classic is an engineered sleeper system, but it’s steel encased and anchored with a high-performance pad.

“Compared to the old 2 by 3 sleepers that would have been on a 3/8 neoprene pad which don’t last very long,” Herthel said. “This is still a sleeper system, but it’s much more advanced.”

Top programs such as Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, the Wizards, the Lakers, the Timberwolves, the Magic and the Cavaliers all use the Bio-Channel Classic. So, the CSUB Roadrunners are in good company with their new Robbins floor, dubbed Kern Schools Court.

The school is extremely satisfied with the new floor and the project was nominated for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

What do you do when you want your sports flooring to perform like hardwood, but you need a durable surface to accommodate a multitude of needs? Easy – you install a Robbins Pulastic® Combi System that offers the best of both worlds, combining a synthetic surface over a hardwood subfloor.

That’s exactly what officials at Forest Lake Area Schools in Minnesota did when they were constructing a new field house. Forest Lake Area High School Principal Jim Caldwell said because the new field house would be extensively used by more than 2,000 students plus the larger community for various purposes, they needed a multisport surface that was low maintenance but functioned much like a regular basketball court.

Caldwell said the floors in the field house are used by students in gym class and by the Rangers’ dance, volleyball, basketball and baseball teams.

”Not only do we service our community during the school day, but in the evenings after 6 o’ clock, community ed takes over and those floors are used for community ed volleyball, basketball, soccer, you name it,” Caldwell said. “There’s a lot of traffic on those floors throughout the school year.”

So when Patrick Duffy, senior associate at Anderson Ladd and authorized Robbins dealer, was working with the client to determine the right fit for their flooring, the Combi system seemed perfect. Duffy had previously installed Robbins competition and practice gym flooring for the school district.

“We went through that process to find out what their wants and needs were, what the highest priorities in athletics were, what the lowest priorities were, and provided that solution,” Duffy said. “They wanted a versatile floor, a synthetic floor that could be used for multiple things, yet wanted the performance of a wood floor. So by understanding that, we arrived at the Combi system as being the best solution to meet their needs.”

Since the two-phase project valued at upwards of $2 million was awarded through a national cooperative purchasing program known as Sourcewell (formerly NJPA), of which Robbins is an authorized vendor, Forest Lake knew they were getting quality products and service. Being part of Sourcewell means you’re a vetted, trusted partner with a good reputation.

Duffy said it ensures owners aren’t getting stuck with the low bid, which can mean low quality and service, or dealing with multiple change orders or faulty products.

“We were able to work with them, write the specifications and go through a process where they knew exactly what they were getting, exactly who they were getting it from, and it allows them to really be able to select things that are important to them,” Duffy detailed. “They have a passion for the athletic side of it and wanted to provide the highest quality they coul

d and still maintain a reasonable budget and be comfortable with the project.”

In December of 2017, Anderson Ladd completed phase one of the installation: 40,000 square feet of a Pulastic Classic 90 over a Bio-Cushion® Classic subfloor at the field house. Duffy said it’s a premium product, but the long-term investment for owners and users has lower life cycle costs and lower maintenance than a typical wood floor.

“We have installations that are 15 years old that have just received their first maintenance on the floor as far as resurfacing goes,” Duffy said. “The owners are still absolutely in love with the floor, the system, the performance, and floors are in excellent condition in an environment that’s being used 12 to 14 hours a day, quite often seven days a week.”

While the Combi systems are rarely seen in the United States, Duffy said they’ve installed five of them in the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area primarily because their climate requires them to build field houses because they play sports indoors for nearly six months out of the year.

“These field houses are built for multiple uses. They’re actually almost like a community center,” Duffy explained. “They’re working closely with community education and community athletics, so the spaces require a higher level of performance that’s not the standard run-of-the mill gymnasium.”

Phase two, the installation of the same Combi floor in the new Forest Lake Area Middle School gym addition, was completed just prior to the start of this school year. District officials have been pleased with both new floors and would recommend Robbins again.

“It really functions very much like a regular basketball court with the rubber underlayment and the padded polyurethane surface on top,” Caldwell said. “When you’re bouncing a ball or doing those things it really reacts just like a regular basketball court would.”

Plus, Caldwell said the new floor has opened up more options for students and the community.

“It’s increased the activity options as far as community ed goes with being able to host large basketball tournaments and volleyball tournament and things like that,” Caldwell continued. “We’ve increased the capacity within our building to host large events.”

Robbins sashayed into the dance business in 2015 when they premiered a new sprung flooring product line engineered specifically for the performing arts market. Although Robbins was already a proven industry leader in sports flooring, with millions of square feet of flooring canvassing 65 nations on six continents, they were not by any means, newcomers to the dance market and had been designing stage and fitness flooring for decades. However, designing a specialty floor line just for dancers was unchartered territory for Robbins.

In true Robbins fashion, they didn’t delve into this specialty lightly, however. In fact, the research and development team at Robbins worked for years to learn what a performer needs in a floor versus what, say, an athlete on a basketball court needs. The experts at Robbins collaborated with top theater consultants and dancers to assess a performer’s needs, injury rates, how much vibration control is necessary, how hard or soft a floor should be, the various shoes dancers wear, and a multitude of other factors resulting in the most advanced professional, highest performing sprung dance floor systems in the field.

While Robbins may not be the biggest name in dance flooring – yet, their products are top notch and are often far superior to those of the top sellers, including Harlequin, according to Abby Mitchell, chief operating officer at Ponder Company, a Texas-based exclusive Robbins dealer. Mitchell said one of the biggest differences is that anyone can install a Harlequin floor. Not so with Robbins.

“A lot of times you can buy direct from Harlequin and they’ll just outsource the labor to put the floor in, so they really don’t have control over who’s putting stuff in,” Mitchell explained. “Robbins has a dealer network and they are very selective about who gets in, and everyone is trained on their floors.”

Mitchell said time and again she’s seen competitors’ floors installed improperly, with faulty materials or missing a moisture membrane entirely, resulting in a product akin to a cheap basketball court, spelling trouble for users of the floor. With Robbins expertly trained and vetted installers, Mitchell says customers know exactly what their getting.

And Mitchell knows dance flooring. Not only is indoor sports flooring her livelihood, it’s also her passion. As the mother of four girls, spending up to 20 hours a week each in the dance studio, Mitchell wants only the best for her daughters, and she expects nothing less for her clients. Proper engineering means less fatigue for dancers like her daughters. It also means dancers can perform longer and more safely, preventing injury.

“Making sure you have a good floor to protect that body is crucial because if you have a hard floor without the resiliency, the knees, the hips, all the joints are going to suffer,” Mitchell said.
When her daughters’ home studio, Legacy Dance Center in Frisco, Texas, was constructing a new 10,000 square-foot facility in 2015, Mitchell was instrumental in the installation of a Robbins Le Lena B vinyl sprung floor in their six studios. The triple layer resilient sprung subfloor dampens vibration and provides spring and comfort for almost any dance activity, which is crucial at Legacy, where dancers perform everything from tap to ballet to hip hop.

Scott Purcel, who along with his wife Pamela, owns Legacy, said vinyl allows for multipurpose use, as well as easy maintenance.

“We have productions and usage 355 days out of the year,” Purcel detailed. “The other ten days of the year we’re not in there we’re probably at a theater performing somewhere. We just want a floor that’s very reliable, that ‘s multi-use, and basically is safe for the dancers.”

Purcel said the Robbins floor has been a great fit for his dance center and he would definitely buy from Robbins and Ponder again.

“For me it’s really not about the marketing.” Purcel indicated. “You know a lot of these other companies have marketing and trucks and everything with their name on the side of them. That’s not us. We’re about safety for the dancers, and that dancers are able to dance on all types of floors.”

But Robbins has a multitude of floors to meet the needs of every facility. In the case of Texas Christian University, Ponder installed a Robbins Le Lena B wood sprung dance floor with a maple surface after flooding occurred on their previous floor.

“TCU’s Facility Services/Physical Plant selected Robbins and Ponder to replace our flooring after a significant flood damaged the original,” said Professor and Director of Classical and Contemporary Dance at TCU Elizabeth Gillaspy. “The new flooring was installed in October 2017 in a space that houses our Pilates conditioning equipment and serves as a warm-up/rehearsal space for our dancers. Abby, our representative from Robbins and Ponder, was terrific to work with; keeping us apprised every step of the way during installation.”

Congratulations to Foster Specialty Floors on winning the annual Robbins Sports Surface of the Year contest for the Breslin Center installation at Michigan State University. Foster Specialty Floors, an exclusive Robbins dealer, was chosen by an impartial panel of judges who reviewed countless top-notch projects within the Robbins dealer network, which spans six continents and reaches more than 65 countries!

The 2017 project was named the contest winner based on the level of quality in both system selected and installation. And while the installation of 17,000 square feet of the MVP® flooring system turned out beautifully, the project was quite complex and required a lot of dedication and hard work from Foster to achieve perfection.

Since 1924, the family-owned Foster Specialty Floors has provided excellent products and workmanship for numerous clients. However, when Jordan Foster, part of the fourth Foster generation, took on the role of vice president of sales a decade ago, he made it his personal goal to acquire the high-profile Michigan State University basketball team as a client.

He intensified his pursuit in 2013 and began calling anyone at the university who would give him audience. Two years later he began meeting with the deputy athletic director to discuss the elite MVP system.

“This was the best floor out there for high-level facilities, for Michigan State-type facilities,” Jordan said. “This floor was designed, in my opinion, for that type of customer.”

While Jordan was working that angle, officials at MSU already had Robbins and the MVP on their radar. MSU officials realized they needed to support athlete health and safety by installing the best practice floor, which is where players spend the most time, so they had been researching new flooring options.

“We wanted something that was going to be better for the student athlete and something that was going to last,” said MSU Men’s Basketball Athletic Trainer Nick Richey.

Based on glowing recommendations from doctors at St. Vincent Sports Medicine, an affiliate of the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Richey contacted Robbins Regional Manager Kevin Price about the MVP.

“Typically in our business we don’t get a call from the head athletic director,” Price said. “But once they understood the biomechanical aspect of the MVP and how the system worked and how it protected their athletes, it seemed to make their decision a little bit easier.”

It also helped that Foster and Robbins took MSU officials on a road trip to nearby Hillsdale College, another Foster Specialty Floors SSOTY winner. Hillsdale is unique in that Foster tied the MVP system into the Bio-Channel Classic, so Richey and his crew were able to compare the two systems literally side by side. Once they felt the difference, it was MVP all the way for their two full-size practice courts at the Breslin Center.

“Our guys feel like they notice a difference between the practice floor and the game floor,” Richey explained. “There’s more bounce to the practice floor, it gives the feeling that it’s not quite like running on a regular, old standard gym floor. They feel like some of the shock absorbing capabilities of the floor are beneficial.”

He also commented in a recommendation letter written for Robbins that they have seen a reduction in soft tissue injuries compared with the previous year, and hope to see a reduction in stress reaction injuries in the future.

It wasn’t just the tough sell of a premium product that made this project SSOTY-worthy. It was also Foster’s frequent long days working nearly around the clock to get the job finished before students returned to school. As part of a bigger renovation, the floor installation wasn’t set to occur until 2018, but a construction issue led to significant damage of the previous floor, accelerating the construction schedule.

“The whole process went really fast,” Jordan said. “What was going to take a year to plan and bid and figure out got kind of crushed into the next month.”
But Jordan and his team would do anything to satisfy the perennial top ten Spartans.

“Foster was here the week after the Fourth of July and they worked from really the Fourth of July through the month of July, to have our floor serviceable when our guys got back here at the end of August,” Richey said.

Richey said everyone at MSU has been thoroughly satisfied with the floor and noted that if Robbins made a portable MVP system, they would likely use it as their competition floor.

For Jordan, presenting to MSU, the reigning Big Ten Conference champs, and winning the contract that ultimately led to the Sports Surface of the Year Award has been a great source of pride.
“I was ecstatic to get the job,” Jordan said. “For me it was a big accomplishment.”

They say beauty is only skin deep. That goes for flooring, too. It doesn’t matter if you have the most magnificent maple or a simply stunning synthetic – looks mean nothing if what’s underneath is ugly.

The foundation of any flooring is critical. Without the proper base, a floor, no matter how aesthetically amazing, will incur problems, not perform well, be a safety hazard for users, and will need to be replaced well before it should, costing more money in the long run.

Concrete plays a significant role in the sports flooring industry due to the majority of sports floors – both hardwood and synthetic – being installed over concrete. While concrete can provide a good solid surface for flooring, it can also be a detriment if not installed properly. If not completely cured or dried or if leveled improperly, the quality of the sports floor can be affected greatly and cause delays in your project or require major repairs for an existing floor.

Robbins, the sports flooring specialist, knows concrete inside and out and is dedicated to ensuring your project is a success, standing by their product, workmanship and installation from top to bottom.

“When we are installing a system, the expectation of that system is that it is going to last and last,” said Lisa Szczupaj, Robbins account manager at Sika USA, owner of the Sika Netherlands manufacturing plant, producer of Robbins Pulastic synthetic sports floor systems. “From the bottom up you want to ensure that everything about the installation of the system is built in a way that it is going to last a lifetime – 25 years plus without any issues. If it starts letting go at the slab you’ve got a problem from the bottom up that sacrifices your system ultimately.”

Why is moisture in concrete so important?

Szczupaj, an expert in the chemical composition of concrete, says that a major culprit in faulty concrete substrate is moisture content within the concrete.

Concrete mix design is of utmost importance when building a slab to ensure longevity. The concrete mix design is the process of selecting appropriate ingredients and their proportions for a concrete mixture.

“Part of what comes with that is using the right amount of water in the mix,” Szczupaj said. “Mixing concrete is just like making a cake. You don’t want too much liquid but if you don’t put enough it’s not going to turn out, so there’s a sweet spot.”

For a fluid applied urethane product like Pulastic, Szczupaj said moisture levels in the slab can affect adhesion. Urethane, by nature, reacts with moisture, so minimizing the moisture that comes into contact during application and cure of the product is important for the floor to stay put, according to Szczupaj.

And it’s widely understood that moisture negatively affects wood. Typically, wood floors are floating systems that do not seal off the slab, rather the wood lives off the ambient conditions that are caused by the environment, Szczupaj said. For instance, a concrete floor that’s not sealed has a high level of moisture, so the gap between the slab and the maple floor built on top could have a potentially damaging amount of relative humidity. While wood naturally expands and contracts, excess moisture can cause wood to be pushed beyond its limits, resulting in buckling, warping and splintering. It can also result in mildew or mold growth.

Causes of moisture problems

  • Leaks – busted pipes, ceiling leaks, roof leaks.
  • Major flooding, natural disasters.
  • High humidity or drastic environmental changes.
  • No moisture barrier or a faulty barrier installed beneath the concrete slab.
  • Alkali-silica reactions.
  • Improper curing or drying time for concrete.

Solving moisture problems

  • Prevent leaks with regular maintenance and inspections. Any type of top-down moisture can wreak havoc, with wood floors in particular.
  • When major fluctuations in humidity exist in a facility, flooring systems can suffer. Pulastic tends to hold up better than wood, regardless, controlling the environment is critical. “It’s very important that the environment is in what you would call “at-use” conditions,” Szczupaj said. “If you’re in a new construction situation, you don’t want to install a floor before the point that the heating and air conditioning goes live. You want the environment to be stable and you want it to be what the day-to -day environment will be when that floor is in use. Making sure that the facility is in at-use conditions prior to the installation is one of the best ways to ensure a quality, long-lasting floor installation.”
  • If a high level of slab relative humidity exists, an epoxy or cementitious urethane can be applied to the slab as a moisture barrier for Pulastic systems. For wood systems, Robbins uses a VersaShield® Moisture Suppression System for situations with high concrete moisture.
  • Make sure a 10 mil impermeable plastic liner beneath the concrete slab is installed to prevent ground moisture from coming up through the slab. If that liner is not present or is faulty, mold or mildew can result and create pressure underneath the flooring system, allowing pockets of moisture to rise.
  • Ensure the proper concrete mix is utilized, and minimize moisture in the slab. When highly alkaline concrete mix reacts with moisture and silica present in the aggregate, an alkali-silica gel results. The gel will cause the concrete to fail, as the floor pops off or adhesion issues arise.
  • Allow the concrete to properly dry or cure. Cure time and moisture are positively correlated. Sometimes contractors give cure rates as 30 days per inch of slab, but that’s not about the concrete drying or curing off or moisture being released, according to Szczupaj. “In our industry we basically say it’s not about time,” Szczupaj explained. “It’s about the current state of the slab.” Szczupaj said to steer clear of anyone who quotes any hard and fast rules associated with curing time. Many factors, including ambient and exterior conditions come into play. Robbins relies on a Tramex moisture meter for accurate results. While Robbins always operates in the most timely manner, they will never skimp on quality to rush a job.

Properly installing a flooring system can be detailed, labor-intensive and often times challenging right down to the concrete. Robbins prioritizes doing what’s right for your project to ensure longevity and quality, beginning even before the flooring system is installed.

Why should a Pulastic® floor system be the top choice for your next project? Because Pulastic’s premier seamless synthetic multipurpose and specialty sports floor systems not only offer the ultimate in form and function, but are now backed by a new, unprecedented 25-year warranty.

Pulastic, imported from the Netherlands by Robbins, Inc., is proven to be the best in resilient flooring. In fact, as the exclusive North American distributor of Pulastic for 25 years, Robbins is so confident their product will last, they are guaranteeing it for a quarter of a century.

“Pulastic has demonstrated an unparalleled level of durability and longevity; so much so that we are now offering a revolutionary 25-year limited warranty for the Pulastic Classic and Pulastic Pro families of systems purchased after March 1, 2018,” said Randy Niese, general manager of synthetics at Robbins. “This game-changing warranty reflects the long-term durability of the high-performance Pulastic design.”

The track record of Pulastic is unmatched. European installations of Pulastic began in the 1960s, with the first North American installation in 1979 at a Vancouver Boys and Girls Club. Nearly 40 years later, that Pulastic floor is exceeding end-user needs and is still utilized by hundreds of children each day. The floor is in excellent condition, meeting the original design specifications, with only minimal customary maintenance, which reaffirms the lifetime cost-effectiveness and high performance standards of Pulastic.

“The warranty puts our money where our mouth is,” said Jason Blake, Robbins’ product manager of synthetics. “We know that our product lasts way beyond our 25-year warranty. We have proven that year over year.”

Blake also noted, “If used properly and maintained properly, your floor should last the lifetime of your building, but with proper maintenance and using the floor for what its designed to be used for we guarantee it will last 25 years.”

The 25-year warranty also outlasts the typical 15-year shelf life of competing vinyl and rubber products by a decade, and there are no similar competitors’ warranties, making Robbins the leader in the marketplace once again. Competitors have tried to imitate Pulastic, but none have the same longevity.

“Pulastic was the original pad and pour urethane product,” Blake explains. “I don’t know that any of our competition in the U.S. can claim that they have a floor that’s older than 15 years of this particular product – a pad and pour product – because it really didn’t come to the United States until we brought it here.”

Pulastic’s flexibility allows for an efficient surface designed for multipurpose use. From competitive basketball, weightlifting, volleyball, pickleball and children’s scooter races, to conferences, worship services and performances, the functionality of Pulastic is far-reaching.

“The main focus of most synthetic floors is related to multipurpose use,” Blake explained. “You can do many things. It serves many, many purposes and really has very few limitations on what you can do on the floor.”

And with a lab dedicated entirely to research and development of products, Robbins has set the standard for high performance sports flooring systems that support the health and safety of athletes. Plus, Pulastic’s eco-friendly, sustainable products contain recycled content and renewable raw materials, and the water based finish virtually eliminates voc content.

The ease of installation and variety of color and design options means the Pulastic product line offers aesthetically beautiful and eye-catching floor systems to fit every client’s program.

About Robbins, Inc.

Robbins, Inc. is a privately held flooring company owned by the Stoehr family. Robbins is headquartered in Cincinnati, with sales offices in the U.S. and Canada, and manufacturing plants in Michigan, Ohio, the Netherlands and Wisconsin. Pulastic systems purchased after March 1, 2018 with the NEW 25-Year Warranty include: Pulastic Classic 60, Pulastic Classic 90, Pulastic Classic 110, Pulastic Pro 110 Comfort, Pulastic Pro 165 Comfort, Pulastic Pro 180 Comfort. Robbins Pulastic installations include the Richmond Olympic Oval, the University of Michigan, Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Cincinnati and the Louisiana Recovery School District after Hurricane Katrina. For more information about Robbins’ divisions, please visit http://www.robbinsfloor.com/, http://robbinsdancefloors.com/, http://www.stoehrflooring.com/, and http://egisfloorlife.com/.

 

After a pipe burst last September at Mandaree High School in North Dakota flooding the gymnasium, it looked like the Warriors’ entire basketball season would literally be under water. Luckily school officials wasted no time in turning to the professionals at Anderson Ladd, an authorized Robbins dealer, whose quick action rallied the Warriors from a near catastrophe and set them on the path to a winning season.

Anderson Ladd was able to remediate the water, demo the existing floor and reinstall an 8,300-square-foot Robbins Bio-Cushion® Classic with Continuous Strip® XL maple flooring in less than two months – just in time for the start of the basketball season.

The fact that Mandaree Schools immediately contacted Anderson Ladd instead of calling a flood restoration company or local flooring contractor – both of which have no expertise in gym floors – not only speaks volumes of Anderson Ladd’s reputation, but saved valuable time in remedying the problem. It was that trust and the partnership between Robbins, Anderson Ladd and Mandaree Schools that got the project off to a running start and completed expeditiously, according to Brandon Larson, Dealer Salesperson and Facilities Solutions Specialist at Anderson Ladd. The project was also named a Sports Surface of the Year Finalist.

“Robbins helped me out tremendously with all the materials that were needed, Mandaree School was great on communication,” Larson said. “All in all it’s just a picture-perfect absolute disaster story that turned into a brand new beautiful gym floor that they were able to use for their first home basketball game.”

But most incredible was the integrity of the previous floor that was damaged by the floodwaters. The roughly seven-year-old floor was the same Robbins Bio-Cushion Classic with XL maple that Mandaree reinstalled after the flooding.

“Water and wood do not mix…usually with a random length gym floor if it experiences any flooding, it will expand and usually break the tongue-and-groove on that maple,” Larson explained. “The XLplus maple held up tremendously. It (the floor) actually raised up about two feet in the air, but the joints and the tongue-and-grooves never broke on the floor which is a story in itself.”

Larson said despite the immense pressure of the water, the performance of the maple exhibits the product’s longevity and quality, and shows why it’s a good option for flooring.

Robbins Maple Product Manager John Puening attributes the success of the Bio-Cushion Classic to the sheer length and strength of the XL maple. According to Puening, Robbins finger joints anywhere from two to five random length boards together to make a premium product seven foot long board, replacing traditional end joints with seams that are significantly stronger. “The XL is straighter, stronger and longer compared to random length flooring,” Puening said.

The weakest part of any floor, according to Puening, is the groove to groove intersection. With the XL boards, there are less groove to groove intersections and up to 70 percent fewer end joints, resulting in less weak spots and a stronger flooring system. Independent research conducted at Purdue University indicates that, when compared to systems using standard strip, systems using Continuous Strip XL tend to be up to three times as strong.

Additionally the product’s strength eliminates the need, and cost, for an added layer of plywood, which is necessary in other types of flooring. The boards are also easier to sand, therefore less material is removed when leveling the playing surface. That means a longer lasting flooring system.

“If I can have a floor that will get me one more sanding, and typically it’s ten years between sandings, then I can have a floor that lasts ten years longer,” Puening explained.

It’s not every day a high school basketball team has a floor equal to that of several NBA teams. But that’s the case at Archbishop Riordan High School, according to Annette Brown, chief financial officer of the San Francisco school.

Brown was also the project manager overseeing the installation of a patented Robbins MVP flooring system by authorized Robbins dealer H.Y. Floor and Gameline Painting, Inc. at the school in October. 

While the top-of-the-line MVP isn’t typically seen in high school gymnasiums – in fact this was the first high-profile MVP installed in the San Francisco Bay Area – it’s even more unusual to have a playing surface on par, or more exceptional, than the pros. In fact the new MVP even led the Crusaders to the Central Coast Section Division III title this year!

Because the MVP is the best on the market, Archbishop Riordan High School officials turned to Robbins and Steve Heller of H.Y. Floor when they were planning a complete overhaul of their gym, the largest on the West Coast, according to Brown. Not only did they choose the MVP, but they selected a unique Boston Square maple parquet pattern to create a striking, bold look for the Crusaders – unlike anything else in the area.

“Steve’s came in to be the best overall bid in terms of quality, in terms of a known entity, and in terms of pricing,” Brown said. “He was an amazing contractor to work with.”

Brown said Heller’s team was professional, on time, on budget, and was respectful of the students still trying to learn during construction. But most importantly, everyone at the school thinks the 8,200-square-foot floor is outstanding, from the look to the quality and feel of the playing surface. It was such a remarkable transformation, the project was named a Sports Surface of the Year Finalist.

Built in 1949, the 68-year-old gymnasium was in dire need of a makeover. The current floor, at least 20 years old, was built atop the original floor, which had absorbed so much moisture, it was like walking on terrazzo tile, Brown said. At some point, another floor had been installed on top of the original, then removed. There was no denying the floor was in bad shape, filled with dead spots that made the floor a potentially dangerous playing surface.

“If you’re running and you hit a dead spot, you kind of feel like you’re going into a gopher hole,” Brown said. “And if you bounce the ball in one of these dead spots, the ball just kind of stays flat on the ground. It doesn’t really bounce back up.”

That’s not a good scenario for a basketball court, and because player health and safety is a top priority, the school made the collective decision to replace the floor with the safest sports floor in the industry, the MVP. It was a tedious process, removing two layers of flooring. The original floor had to be abraded with diamond grinder heads, the process taking nearly three weeks to complete. Plus, creating the Boston Square pattern is time-consuming.

“It’s a lot more work to do the Boston Square because not only is it harder to make sure everything lines up perfectly, but then when you sand because you’re crossing the grain it’s just more sanding to get the scratches out,” Heller said. “It’s just more work.”

Despite the challenges and extra difficulties, Heller not only got the job completed before the first big game, but his crews also had time to install new Douglas fir on the walls and remove, refinish and reinstall the original wooden bench seating in the gym.

“They look just beautiful,” Brown said, “They’re still from 1949, they’re old Doug fir, but they’re redone and shiny and new and really, really nice…the gym just looks amazing.”

About Robbins, Inc.

Robbins, Inc. is a privately held flooring company owned by the Stoehr family. Headquartered in Cincinnati, with sales offices in the U.S. and Canada, and manufacturing plants in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and the Netherlands, Robbins is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff dedicated to providing eco-friendly, superior products and maximizing player safety. The MVP® (Maximum Vibration Protection) features Zero/G® Shockpad, elimination of resonance frequencies, continuous laminated subfloor panels, anchoring via resilient layer, unparalleled game-play response, extreme uniformity of ball bounce, deflection and force reduction, and is heavy load capable.

 

For more information about Robbins’ divisions, please visit:

Robbins Floor | Robbins Dance Floors | Stoehr Flooring | Egis Floor Life 

Vinyl might be good for siding or records, but not for basketball courts. At Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, they discovered that the hard way. The school, one of South Florida’s largest Christian schools, was forced to throw good money after bad constantly repairing a hazardous vinyl gymnasium floor until parents and administrators decided their students deserved the best – a premium Robbins maple floor installed by Robbins Dealer Impact Sport Surfaces.

“They (the vinyl installer) used the wrong glue to put the floor down and it was bubbling, so at the seams it was ripping and then there would be bubbling underneath and we would have them repair it every year for like 1200 bucks,” says CCA Athletics Director Keith Huisman. “We were just dealing with constant performance issues in terms of it being a trip hazard.”

One bubble was 15 feet long running between the basket and the 3-point line right in the middle of play. The repair involved cutting the floor and reapplying glue. But, as soon as one bubble would be fixed, a new one would pop up.

The 10-year-old floor needed to be replaced before a major injury occurred. The 2017 State Champion CCA Eagles, some of whom were being scouted by colleges and universities nationally, as well as the school’s volleyball players, needed a safe, quality playing surface.

Robbins officials said this scenario is all too common and is a main reason they refuse to install a subpar vinyl flooring product for their customers.

Safety and Performance
There is no comparison between a vinyl and a high-quality maple basketball court. For Robbins, athlete and user safety is of the utmost concern. That’s why Robbins has a dedicated full-time research and product development staff that is committed to maximizing player safety.

“The best thing you can do on a floor system to prevent injuries is make the floor system as uniform as possible, that means every step the individual takes is performing the same,” explains Robbins Maple Product Manager John Puening. “With our wood floor it’s basically going to be one monolithic surface.”

That’s not so with a vinyl floor, according to Puening, who holds a degree in Manufacturing Engineering. For the last two decades Puening has worked at Robbins and done research and development building, designing and testing product samples.

According to Puening, vinyl is manufactured in rolls which are laid upon a concrete surface with adhesive. The rolls are then seamed together. Puening said in artificial athlete testing, there is great variation between the center of a roll versus at the seams – a big safety risk.

In the case of many vinyl floors like the CCA floor, the adhesive failed, leaving the floor prone to bubbling and tearing, which could be catastrophic for athletes.

Robbins floors are designed to be resilient and comfortable. They are tested for force reduction and deflection properties. For instance, a Robbins Bio-Channel SB will have a force reduction, or shock absorption, of about 60 percent, whereas a vinyl floor ranges from 20 percent to 40 percent, at best. Additionally, the deflection capabilities, or how far the floor moves up and down, are far superior on a wood floor.

Vinyl floors are notorious for using closed-cell foam pads for their resilient aspect of the floor, as well. “What happens with closed-cell foam is, if you can imagine like a bubble wrap, once you pop the bubble basically the protection that bubble wrap provides is gone,” Puening explains.

Puening said it’s not unusual for the vinyl floor to become depressed under the basket and in the lane, the more heavily used parts of the floor.

With Robbins Bio-Channel SB, an open-cell foam is used, which is a sponge-like material that bounces back and regains its shape time after time, keeping the wood floor uniform throughout its 40-year life expectancy.

Cost
While the upfront cost of a wood floor is slightly higher than vinyl, on average $106,000 versus $80,500, the cost over the lifetime makes the wood floor a much better value. A wood floor will last 40 years, whereas a vinyl floor is lucky to make it to the 15-year mark. Considering the maintenance and repair costs, a wood floor averages $131,850 over 40 years, with a vinyl floor coming in at a steep $313,230 over the same time period – nearly 2-and-a-half times the cost!

Annual maintenance on a wood floor includes abrading or lightly sanding the floor, then putting on a coat of finish to make it pop and look brand new. Every ten years, it is recommended to sand down to bare wood, where graphics can be changed up, also.

“You can change the whole personality of the floor with different game lines and colors and logos,” Puening says. “Where a vinyl floor, in order to kind of change it up some, you would have to actually remove it.”

If the vinyl floor is fading, installing a new floor is the only option to fix the problem.

“The biggest thing is a wood floor on that particular job site (CCA) as far as life cycle costs, will be a lot less and the uniformity over time is going to be a lot better for every person that’s on that floor. With a uniform floor, the risk of an injury is going to be less,” Puening details.

Solving CCA’s Vinyl Problem
For CCA, a Robbins wood floor would project a professional, high-quality look, while ensuring player safety. CCA officials received bids for the job and wasted no time in contacting the winning bidder Darin Aarnio, one of the owners at Impact Sport Surfaces. Huisman knew what quality work Aarnio did, as they worked together previously.

“When it comes down to it, it’s people that I trust and Darin is one who whenever I talk to him he’s a straight shooter and I know he’s an expert from the floors he’s done,” Huisman said. “I trust Darin and Darin trusts Robbins, so therefore I trust Robbins.”

Aarnio recommended the Robbins Bio-Channel SB, which meets and exceeds all third party industry standards for safety and performance. Getting rid of the old vinyl and installing the 12,400 square-foot top-of-the-line product was just what CCA needed. The floor was completed in the fall of 2017 and the results were stunning, earning Impact a spot as a Sports Surface of the Year Award Finalist.

“Visually it’s just beautiful,” Huisman says. “From the logos and the print and everything it speaks volumes.”

Huisman says the students love it and it looks, feels – even sounds more like a gym. The cost was roughly the same as the vinyl floor. But most importantly, it’s safer for the athletes.

“For those who are dealing with shin splints and impact injuries, they love it,” Huisman said. “Our boys’ basketball program won a state championship last year so we obviously have a program of high caliber and now we have the facility that matches it. It’s hard to explain unless you go onto a vinyl floor versus a wood floor. It’s just completely different.”

As one of the winningest franchises in NBA history, the Los Angeles Lakers are nothing short of basketball icons. With 16 world championships under their belt, the Lakers are one of the most storied programs in the history of sports. And for decades Robbins Sports Surfaces has been with the Lakers every step of the way providing world-class flooring for the world-class team.

At the Staples Center, the Lakers play on a Robbins All-Star™ Plus flooring system. They also practiced on the Bio-Channel® Classic during their tenure at their previous training facility, the Toyota Sports Center. Now, the tradition continues as another top-quality Robbins Bio-Channel Classic was installed at the new state-of-the-art UCLA Health Training Center, which opened last summer just in time for the current season.

Because of the longstanding relationship between the Lakers, Robbins and Robbins dealer Pacific Floor Company, and because of the excellent quality workmanship and customer service they provide, there was no question the flooring at the new facility would be a Robbins floor installed by Pacific Floor. It was also because of those reasons that the new Lakers floor was chosen as a Sports Surface of the Year Finalist.

“When we decided to do this project we, of course, really didn’t go to anybody else,” explains Project Manager for the Lakers Joe Pica. “We’ve always had Robbins floors.”

The UCLA Health Training Center project was a massive undertaking, giving the Lakers, and NBA G League team the South Bay Lakers, their own home. The new facility also houses all Lakers operations in one facility. Previously, the team shared space with the LA Kings at the Toyota Sports Center. So, it was important to rely on someone they could trust – Robbins and Pacific Floor – for the flooring, a critical part of the project.

“We don’t have a relationship with just Robbins,” continues Pica. “But we also have a relationship with Pacific Flooring, who are the folks who actually install the flooring.”

Pica said Lakers organization officials, aficionados of flooring, visited virtually every floor within a 100-mile radius to get ideas for their new facility. While there were newer models out there, the Lakers decided to stick with what worked for them for years – the Robbins Bio-Channel Classic.

“We met them at Loyola Marymount University because we wanted to show them the MVP,” says Robbins Western Regional Manager Jim Colla. “While they liked the MVP, the bottom line was, ‘We love this floor so much, we want to just keep the floor we have and put it in our new facility.’ And that’s what we did.”

Given the players are on the floor many hours each day, the flooring choices were heavily studied, Pica said, keeping multiple factors in mind, including performance, the feel of the floor, and athlete health and safety.

“It [the MVP] was an excellent floor. It was a great floor, but they just felt more comfortable with the floor that they had and they really wanted to stay with the softer floor. That’s why they stayed with the Bio-Channel,” Pica details. “It really came down to the training staff and everybody really feeling that that product worked best for the Lakers in the situation.”

Once the decision was made, the Robbins team got busy. In fact, Robbins had been hard at work for some time. Because the Lakers use only the clearest, first-grade maple, Robbins had been hand selecting the purest boards for the floor over a period of time.

Then, it was time to install the 23,400-square-foot floor featuring two and a half courts. Sales Manager and Estimator at Pacific Floor Company Mark Herthel said the installers worked hard to replicate the Lakers original Robbins floor.

“The unique method of the installation was installing the sleepers at 17 inches OC (on-center) in lieu of 16 inches,” Herthel explains. “We ran the three-quarter inch plywood subfloor diagonal to the sleepers in lieu of parallel direction. We also used Random Length Plus maple instead of the new XL, as it didn’t exist when the earlier training center was built. We didn’t want to deviate from what they had. It was a challenge to install at first, however, our crew caught on quickly and completed the project on time.”

Herthel said it was an honor to do work for the Lakers.

“It is certainly high profile being an NBA team, and one that’s been a champion over many years,” Herthel says. “The floor turned out flawless, beautiful, nice.”

And it’s not just the Lakers who love the floor.

“Actually everybody in the NBA has played on it,” Pica says. “One of the differences between the LA Lakers and any other team in the NBA is that most of the NBA players live in Los Angeles, so they have an open door policy here at the Lakers that the players can come over and use the facilities.”

On any given day NBA greats from across the league may grace that Robbins floor.

“Whether they’re members of the Lakers or not, everybody loves the floor and everybody enjoys it,” Pica adds.

 

Robbins Sports Surfaces kicks off the New Year by adding yet another team – the Philadelphia 76ers – to the list of NBA franchises whose games are played on a Robbins floor. That means half of the 30 NBA teams currently play their games on a Robbins floor, and an astonishing 24 teams either practice or play their games (or both!) on a Robbins floor.

The 76ers already practice on the patented MVP system by Robbins, but also chose the portable All-Star™ Plus with RapidLatch™ locking system game floor for the Wells Fargo Center. The new floor installed on December 13th and marked the beginning of a new era for Robbins and the 76ers.

“We were all ecstatic. The 76ers had never played [their games] on a Robbins floor so this was a big deal for us,” says Portables Sales Manager Greg Pierce. “We always like to add a new one to the list. It’s wonderful to replace Robbins floors, but you get a little extra satisfaction when you know you’re replacing a competitor’s floor.”

Robbins and the 76ers had been in discussions for over a year, and the 76ers ultimately decided the proprietary design of the All-Star Plus with RapidLatch lock, which is meant to speed up changeovers for efficient and quick event transitions, would best meet their needs. After all, the All-Star Plus is easy to install, disassemble and store – a must for the team.

Once the decision was made, it was off to the races for Robbins. The purchase order arrived Nov. 6 and the experts at Robbins’ Ishpeming, Michigan plant got busy manufacturing, sanding and finishing the floor for a Dec. 11 delivery. Installation began two days later, and couldn’t have gone any smoother. A dozen or so crew members installed the court in a few hours, finishing up before noon.

“It’s generally a two to three hour process the very first time and it only gets faster from there,” Pierce explains. “They set the floor up with the 76ers logo, then they pulled it apart to a degree so they could put the second logo in with the Liberty Bell set up just enough that that was surrounded, and then they were done. Then, they were going to pick the floor up and store it until they set it up for the game on Friday.”

Despite the time crunch, everyone was happy with the entire process. Pierce received an email from one of the 76ers operations team members stating, “Everything went perfectly yesterday. Court was much faster and easier than any we’ve worked with before.”

Another successful Robbins project in the books – and another NBA team playing on a Robbins floor.

When California Baptist University officials needed the most advanced flooring system for their new state-of-the-art CBU Events Center in Riverside, there was only one name to trust – Robbins Sports Surfaces. And there was only one product that could outshine all the others – the MVP®.

Installed in August by Johnson Flooring, the project is being hailed as one of the best of the year, and was recently named a Robbins Sports Surface of the Year (SSOTY) Finalist. The SSOTY award, which will be given in May 2018, recognizes the hard work and creativity of Robbins dealers, and as a finalist, the CBU Events Center is among the elite.

That could be because the MVP is the best flooring system on the market – period. Independent research proves the innovative, patented design is unmatched in performance, comfort and safety. And because the MVP is the cream of the crop, it isn’t seen just anywhere, but it is seen in facilities with a need for a superior product with exceptional quality, like CBU.

“There are no equals to that product, the science speaks for itself,” explains Jim Colla, Robbins Western Regional Manager. “It’s not for every application in our industry but for those that want a top-of-the-line floor, there’s nothing like it.”

The MVP can be a tough sell because it is a higher priced system. However, once Robbins sales staff and dealers’ Johnson Flooring and Pacific Floor Co. collaborated, CBU awarded the contract to Robbins when they were assured that the MVP floor was the best option for their new, multi-purpose facility. It also helped that CBU officials liked the look of both Southern Methodist University’s and Loyola Marymount University’s facilities – both of which are Robbins MVP systems.

The eye-catching graphics of the CBU floor are being met with rave reviews of the bold, yet simple design highlighting the logo and new CBU graphic.

“The players have been pleased with the bounce and energy of the floor,” says Head Men’s Basketball Coach Rick Croy. “I think the floor represents the overall aesthetic feel of the CBU Events Center – classic and clean.”

But, according to Colla, it’s not always what meets the eye that counts.

“It looks great. The proof is in the pudding in terms of what the players and coaches and the university thinks,” Colla asserts. “It’s a really nice looking floor, but realistically in our business it’s not necessarily what’s on top, it’s what’s underneath that really makes up the floor.”

When Johnson Flooring installed the 16,000-square-foot MVP system, President and Owner Kevin Johnson said crews also installed a custom stop blocking feature for nearly the entire arena for durability and longevity of the floor. Multiple events, including Lancers basketball, chapel, concerts, dinners, student orientation activities and commencement ceremonies held in the events center, often require the movement of heavy equipment like portable basketball goals, scissor lifts, and staging materials, which can create a lot of stress on the floor.

According to Johnson, who has been in the industry for 25 years, the teamwork and cooperation on the project was among the best he’s ever witnessed, and is a big part of what led to the CBU project being named a SSOTY finalist.

“It’s a great story to tell because it’s the kind of calls we like to go on where we can make a difference, and where someone’s receptive to actually purchasing a better product than was initially envisioned for the entire project,” Colla says.

Fresher, bolder and more striking – that’s the Indiana Pacers’ new look at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. For the start of the franchise’s 51st basketball season, the Pacers wanted an updated image which paid homage to Indiana’s basketball roots, and they nailed it – with the help of Robbins Sports Surfaces.

The state-of-the-art All-Star™ Plus portable flooring system, manufactured at Robbins’ Ishpeming, MI plant, finished and installed by Robbins, features a rebranded design for the Pacers including a larger center court logo and a new secondary logo – the Pacers basketball inside a graphic of the state of Indiana. The sidelines, now a commanding Pacers blue, are emblazoned with a sunburst pattern and most noticeably includes the phrase, “WE GROW BASKETBALL HERE.”

The project, which took just a few short months from start to completion on Sept. 21, is the latest in a long line of installations for the Pacers, who are long-time Robbins’ customers. According to Portables Sales Manager Greg Pierce, the alliance predates the current facility, extending back to the Market Square Arena days.

“I’ve been here 39 years and as far as I know it goes back at least 39 years,” Pierce recalls. “We’ve had a wonderful relationship with the Pacers over the years.”

Pierce and his colleagues assisted the Pacers with samples, pricing and held numerous meetings to achieve the very best product for the team. For Pierce, if that meant taking a middle-of-the-night phone call, no problem. Around the clock dedication is how Robbins does business.

Every Robbins’ NBA team plays on the top-of-the-line portable model, the All-Star™ Plus, which is head-and-shoulders above the rest in aesthetics, portability and comfort. “If you have athletes on there that you have a lot invested in, you definitely want to go with the All-Star™ Plus,” Pierce recommends. “These players, they’re all worth millions and millions of dollars.”

Comfort is key, so a well-engineered subfloor with mechanical features to provide the ultimate protection for the athlete is critical. The All-Star™ Plus features a three-layer padded system on sleepers with a little more than one pad per square foot on each panel for extra resiliency. “It’s there for the comfort of the players so the panels flex as they’re playing on it,” Pierce explains. “They get that resiliency so it’s not like coming down on concrete, so you don’t get all that abuse to their ankles and knees and hips and back.”

Additionally, the proprietary ZIP® design and RapidLatch™ locking system allows for easy portability. With an experienced team of a dozen people, the floor can be unlatched and easily stored for event changeovers in less than a couple hours. For major arenas like Bankers Life Fieldhouse, which has various events including Pacers basketball, sports tournaments, performers like Katy Perry and family favorites such as Disney on Ice, that’s important.

Aesthetically, the system is superior because simply tightening the latch in the RapidLatch™ system keeps the seams and panels tight during the natural expansion and contraction of the premium maple flooring due to changing climate conditions. Plus, Robbins floor expansion joints are built into the panel throughout resulting in smaller gaps, rather than having larger gaps every few boards.

“You basically have seams in the floor that you can’t really see from a distance,” Pierce says. “If you look at the Pacers floor, if you’ve ever seen it on TV, unless you’re really looking very closely you can’t hardly tell that there are panels. It looks like one solid floor.”

The new floor is a win-win, garnering exceedingly positive reviews from players and fans alike, taking Pacers basketball to the next level.

Being named a Robbins Sports Surface of the Year (SSOTY) Finalist is no easy feat. After all, with authorized Robbins dealers located in 65 countries on six continents, countless first-rate projects are completed worldwide each year. Included in that illustrious list is flooring for multiple Olympic venues, 22 NBA Championship teams and 20 NCAA Championship teams in the past 27 years, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and even the swim gym at Beverly Hills High School, known for its iconic role in the holiday classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” So, narrowing down finalists for the annual contest which recognizes the hard work of Robbins dealers is tough.

That’s what makes the SSOTY Finalist Quartz Hill High School gym floor project even more special. While all Robbins projects aren’t as high-profile as others, EVERY Robbins project – large and small – is equally important, because no matter what the task at hand, Robbins guarantees superior workmanship for all Robbins customers. Out of all the Robbins projects worldwide, Quartz Hill, part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District in California, was chosen as a 2017 SSOTY Finalist. In January, the gym floor was sanded, refinished and stained with new graphics by Robbins dealer Pacific Floor Company to the delight of everyone at Quartz Hill.

“The results were simply outstanding and we could not be more proud of this facility,” extols Antelope Valley Union High School District Facilities Manager Dale Carlson. “It’s gorgeous. It turned out beautiful.”

The Robbins Bio-Channel Classic wood sports floor system, surrounded by 5,000 additional square feet of maple parquet, was originally installed at Quartz Hill in 2003 by Pacific Floor. When it came time to refinish the floor, the principal at Quartz Hills, a UCLA alum, wanted to make a statement and differentiate from the other high schools in the district. Pacific Floor used UCLA blue and gold colors and stained most of the playing surface a dark maple, leaving the 3-point area clear to give it a contrasting look. The end product was a complete rejuvenation of a decade-and-a-half old floor with stunning graphics and aesthetics, proving a quality wood floor has remarkable performance, stability, durability, and longevity with a long lifespan and low life cycle costs.

“They (staff and students) love it,” Carlson says. “They like the stain and the graphics that they did and the players like it because it’s not slippery – it’s just tacky enough. It maintains the shine and it’s a quality floor.”

Carlson, who started as a custodian with the district 36 year ago, said floors were previously done in-house until it became more cost-effective to contract the work out to Pacific Floor. Carlson knows these gym floors inside and out, and was so thrilled with the work of Pacific Floor Company, he wrote a letter of recommendation for the Robbins dealer.
“They do very good work and they are very easy to work with,” Carlson continues. “They give us competitive rates and I’m very happy with them.”

The Bio-Channel Classic is a favorite among top NBA and NCAA teams and is used by the Wizards, the Lakers, Duke, Kentucky and Indiana. It combines the structural and dimensional stability of anchored flooring systems with the safety and comfort of resilient sports flooring, can withstand heavy loads and is shimmable for different slab depression heights or out-of-level slabs.

“The Bio-Channel Classic has been the premier flooring for the industry and for Robbins for over 20 years,” Sales Manager and Estimator at Pacific Floor Company Mark Herthel explains. “It’s been the top floor and most of the NBA teams practice on a Bio-Channel Classic in their training facility.”

Thanks to Robbins dealer Pacific Floor Company, the entire project was completed in less than two weeks, which is critical for a school like Quartz Hill with a student body comprised of more than 3,000 students, many of whom utilize the gym nearly continuously.

“Pacific Floor has been doing this for almost 50 years,” Herthel remarks. “Over those early years we’ve installed many, many manufacturers’ flooring but for the last 15-plus years we’ve been exclusively a Robbins dealer and there is a distinct difference – they’re better systems than other products.”

Robbins Sports Surfaces, an international leader in sports flooring, is celebrating its 100th anniversary at its White Lake, Wisconsin manufacturing plant. Originally a sawmill carved out of the upper Wisconsin wilderness in the early 1900’s, the plant now – 100 years later – offers sustainably harvested hardwoods used in world-class sports.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the promotions of two strong contributors and developing leaders in our organization.

John Puening

John Puening has been promoted to the position of Product Manager for Recreational Wood. In this position John will manage the Rec Wood segment that includes Portables and  Performing Arts and will work closely with Marketing, Sales, Technical Service and Operations. John will also continue to oversee Wood R&D. During his 18 years with Robbins, John has always shown initiative in the performance of his duties, regularly going above and beyond to ensure that Robbins delivers innovative products to the market and quality customer service. We expect this same level of dedication and commitment to be applied in his new position.

 

Kevin Price

Kevin Price has been promoted to the position of Sales Team Leader.  Kevin celebrates 5 years with Robbins this month but his experience in the industry is extensive including 8 years managing the Indianapolis office of Cincinnati Floor Co., managing the sports surface division of Jack Laurie Floors and he also worked as a Regional Sales Manager for Polytan USA. In this newly created position, Kevin will work closely with Marketing and Product Management and will serve as a leadership representative for the Sales Organization. Kevin has been a successful Regional Sales Manager and brings a strong sales and business acumen to the team. We expect the same great results as Kevin transitions into this new role.

 

 

Robbins commitment of Best in Class service to our customers is as strong as ever. Please join us in congratulating John and Kevin on their promotions. We are confident in their ability to achieve the highest results in these new roles.

The Challenge:

After just five short years, Millersville University was experiencing a floor failure in their 22,000 sq ft fitness center at the Student Memorial Center. The large multi-purpose area is used for sporting events, fairs, assemblies, and other events that also require the use of tables and chairs. The linoleum floor that was installed five years earlier was not only breaking down at the seams, it was also becoming a safety and tripping hazard for athletes due to warping and seam separation. We talked to Sara Burcin, SMC Fitness Center Manager, about her experience and the struggles they faced with the failure of the floor “The problems were mostly with the steel plates beneath the linoleum. We found that rolling big carts, stages, and chairs and tables over it would warp the floor and it never bounced back. It was in pretty poor shape by that time and it was only five years old. It didn’t hold up at all. It was becoming dangerous because we would have basketball tournaments and the athletes were tripping on these bumps in different places on the court. And over time, it just looked terrible. So it really needed to be replaced. It was just a disaster, just a very, very poor choice of a product.”

The Solution:

Millersville University turned to their local Robbins dealer, Abacus Sports Installations, for advice on a replacement floor. Abacus recommended a seamless Pulastic SP140 padded polyurethane point-elastic system for its puncture resistance and strong physical properties in the “Spike Proof” resin.

“We worked through Abacus directly. They worked well with us, answered all our questions, took their time. They seem to be pretty well versed on sports floors. We went to look at several Pulastic floors around Lancaster County and found they seem to hold up really well over a long period of time, which is exactly what we needed. We went to some elementary schools that had a Pulastic floor for 20 plus years. They were using it for gym class and lunch and all kinds of things. So we were able to see the floor had been there a long time and had been used in a very similar to the way we use ours. We also looked at a 2nd manufacturers products as well. You also have other companies that want to come in and put a floor down for you for much cheaper.”

The Results:

After facing a challenging demo to remove the existing heavy steel plates that were adhered together, and the linoleum that was in turn adhered to the steel plates, Abacus completed the installation of a new Pulastic SP140 floor in June 2016, just in time for the fall education semester. Not only was Millersville University extremely happy with the clean look and feel of the new floor, student feedback has also been very positive. The gamelines on the floor create three basketball courts, three volleyball courts, and nine badminton areas which are all heavily used by students. The area is also used routinely for assemblies and other events. One of the first events included new student orientation for incoming students in the fall of 2016 (see pictures below).

“We did our research and were pretty adamant about what we needed. Abacus was also good in educating us about the difference in products and advocating that they were not the same. We just weren’t willing to risk another bad experience. We did it once; we weren’t doing it again.”

About Pulastic Sports Flooring

Pulastic Sports Flooring by Robbins is a seamless floor system that provides superior safety and comfort for athletes of all ages. It is a durable and stable floor system with lasting beauty and a multitude of color options for gamelines and school logos. Pulastic can be used for almost any athletic sport including; volleyball, basketball, color guard, football, baseball, wrestling meets, or cheerleading. It is also perfect for multi-function facilities, auditoriums, or cafeterias, and provides superior strength under the everyday use of tables, chairs and bleachers.

The seamless quality of Pulastic is easy to clean and provides a hygienic solution for facilities with a high volume of users and activity. Floor system failures are often found in the seams. Pulastic is an alternative solution to tile or vinyl flooring with seams. Pulastic will last for many decades and can be given a “facelift” which recoats and restores without replacing the entire floor, all the while maintaining the physical properties of the floor performance including; shock absorption, seamless uniformity, and optimal friction.

Robbins Sports Surfaces is the leader in developing sport floors that protect the safety and performance of athletes. Whether it is a hardwood floor system or seamless synthetic like Pulastic, users can be assured they will receive the highest level of sports floor safety and comfort found on the market.

To hear from other Pulastic users, watch this short video:

The saying “age is only a number” is especially true when it comes to a hardwood floor. And after winning 3 out of 6 NCAA title championships in the past 30 years alone, UNC’s gym floor at the Dean Smith Center has proven just that. When the Dean Smith Center opened in 1986, the UNC Tar Heels chose a Robbins SpringAire floor system for their new game UNC Practice Gym- Robbins SpringAirefloor. The SpringAire system offered a unique combination of high load bearing capacity (for bleachers or forklifts), excellent acoustical properties (for sound absorption), and dimensional stability (for athlete protection) in a gym floor. Years of engineering and fine tuning sport floors had led to new developments in the construction of the subfloor. Not only was the floor designed for optimal game play, but it was also constructed with safety of the athlete in mind. UNC understood this technology and wanted only the best for their student athletes.

The new floor not only proved to be a winner for the team which brought home three additional NCAA title championships, but also proved that it was built to last. With routine hardwood floor maintenance, the Dean Smith Center was still in excellent shape in 2007 when it received a facelift with a floor sanding and new graphics. In 2010 the men’s head basketball coach, Roy Williams, also wanted to improve the floor in the practice facility due to the high number of hours spent practicing. He and the facility directors turned to Robbins and Foster Specialty Floors (Robbins dealer in NC) to develop a flooring system that would mimic the performance of the existing gym floor.

The SpringAire system had been off the market for several years at this point, so Robbins and Foster joined forces to build a replicate of the original SpringAire floor system. The signature springs were custom built and the sleeper system redesigned to deliver the same comfort and performance of the original Springaire. Before full manufacturing of the system occurred, two 4’x6’ mockup samples of the new floor were sent to UNC for testing. After a week of hands on testing by the basketball players themselves, Coach Roy Williams made theUNC Smith Center- Robbins SpringAire final decision to move forward with construction of the new floor. In June 2010, over 8,000 sq ft of the newly designed SpringAire floor system was installed in the men’s practice facility.

The UNC Tar Heels can say they truly have a floor that is one of a kind since there is no other flooring system like it anywhere else in the world. They should also be proud of thinking ahead and prioritizing their athlete’s safety by selecting the best floor option to support the future of their tremendous basketball program. Robbins is honored to be a supplier to the UNC basketball team for more than 30 years now. We also congratulate them on winning their 6th NCAA Championship Title and look forward to many more to come!

 

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

Campus athletics have come a long way over the years and are not just for collegiate level athletes anymore. Facilities for recreational activities on campus have seen a tremendous amount of growth and improvements for the students and staff they serve. And for colleges that have a long history and the historical buildings to prove it, the challenge is always the same, combining the new with the old, and where to find the space to put it. The new Sumers Recreation Center at Washington University is one of those projects. The athletic complexes at Washington University recently underwent a major renovation that was completed in October 2016, and included more than 70,000 sq ft of various Robbins systems installed by Robbins dealer, Missouri Floor Company.

The project was not your ordinary rec center and was instead, a bit of a hodge podge of new and old buildings. Since the university is located within the city walls of St. Louis, MO, the location of the rec center was land locked, which meant the building had to go “up” instead of “out”. The project included a new 65,000 sq ft building addition, a renovation to the historic Francis Gymnasium which was host to the 1904 Olympics and World’s Fair, and renovations to the existing athletic complex which was constructed in 1983.

The new rec center has received national attention since its debut. It was chosen as a location for one of three 2016 presidential debates. It has also received attention for the unique and stunning graphics in the gymnasium. On top of the 25,000 square feet of Robbins Bio Cushion Classic floor, Washington University pays homage to the city of St. Louis by featuring graphics of the 1904 World’s Fair building, the Francis Fieldhouse gates, and the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch. The graphics were designed and finished on site by Missouri Floor Co. The arch was a 1:5 scale model of the real arch, and two stain colors were used to give the graphics a 3D appearance.

In addition to the recognition given to the city and university’s history, the original Francis Gymnasium which was constructed in 1903 for the 1904 Olympics and World’s Fair, was semi demolished during the construction process. The university wanted to make sure this
history was not lost and decided to incorporate part of it in the new space. The maple flooring from the Francis Gymnasium was reclaimed, installed and then sanded and refinished on the main passage way into the building. The back of the reclaimed maple was stamped “Yawkey Bissell”, which was the name of the original Robbins flooring plant in White Lake, WI and is still in full operation today. Missouri Floor Co. and the Sumers Recreation Center has also been named a finalist in Robbins’ Sports Surface of the Year Contest.

From start to finish of the flooring, the project was completed in 7 weeks. The university is very pleased with the outcome of the graphics, as well as the flooring that was hand selected for each area of the building. Robbins and Missouri Floor Company has had a long standing relationship with Washington University. Alex Verseman of Missouri Floor Co. attributes the success of this project to that relationship, “we had a history with the owner that dated back to the original athletics building construction in 1983. This was developed by past generations of Robbins and Missouri Floor, but never forgotten through the family businesses. We kept a strong relationship with the owner over the years through maintenance, misc. projects across campus, and sharing dreams of this project. When it finally became a reality it was a test of the
relationships between all 3 parties and the outcome was a success we’re all proud of!”.

Both Robbins and Missouri Floor Company are over 100 years old. And when a company has been around that long, it is safe to say they have witnessed a lot of change. Ten decades of nonstop technological advancements is bound to make a huge difference to any product or service. But one thing remains the same, the importance of quality products and quality relationships. Robbins is proud to be associated with and chosen for this project. From the days of Yawkey-Bissell flooring to now, we look forward to another 100 years serving the students at Washington University with our high performance sports floors.

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

In the fall of 2016, the Georgetown University Hoyas unveiled the long awaited Thompson Athletic Center, a 144,000-square-foot facility that would serve as the primary practice location for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The new facility was named for the iconic former coach, John R. Thompson, who led the Hoyas to three Final Fours in four years, including the 1984 national GTU- TAC- 2016 (1)championship.

While the school is well known for their excellent athletic programs and having a remarkable 1 out of 8 students in Div I sports, the facilities were not up to par in comparison to other Div I schools. GTU knew they needed to build a state of the art facility that would attract young talent and serve as a top of the line training center for their athletes. When it was time to select a floor for the practice gymnasiums, GTU knew what floor they wanted, and who they wanted to install it; the Robbins MVP and Weyer’s Floor Service.

The Robbins MVP sport floor system was specified and chosen for a variety reasons. With the substantial amount of time athletes spend practicing, GTU understood how the mechanics of the floor can impact the athletes body and performance over time. They wanted the best safety and protection they could get from a floor. They were also faced with a small footprint of building space which required 2 levels of gymnasiums. So minimal floor vibration was extremely important. As a result, a total of 30,000 sq. ft. of Robbins MVP was installed and features a full-size court, as well as four half courts in each of the men’s and women’s practice gyms. The facility also features sports GTU- TAC- 2016 (2)medicine and weight training rooms, an academic center, and a large equipment area.

For more than 30 years Weyer’s has serviced GTU with Robbins flooring. Since the opening of the new athletic center, GTU has been extremely pleased with Weyer’s installation and service. When asked about their experience working with Weyer’s, Brian A. McGuire, Associate Director of Athletics said, ”This fall, Georgetown Athletics opened a brand new athletic training facility (The John R. Thompson Athletic Center) which included the installation of two 30,000 square foot Robbins MVP wood athletic basketball practice courts. Despite receiving many proposals from many flooring companies to do the work, Weyer’s Floor Service was our clear first choice, and we have been completely satisfied with their work and the timeliness of the installation, The quality of the work that they do is outstanding. Whether it’s installations, finishes or painting court designs, Weyer’s will not be happy until the work they do is done to the highest standard of perfection.”

The Thompson Athletic Center is truly a state of the art facility. Weyer’s Floor Service was recently recognized as a “BEST OF THE UNITED STATES 2016” by the US Builders Review, as well as being featured in an article of the fall 2016 magazine issue. And most recently, Weyer’s and GTU was chosen as a finalist in Robbins 2016 Sports Surface of the Year contest. In addition to a multitude of projects over their 30 year relationship, Weyer’s is actively working on numerous floor projects at GTU including a maple wall construction and recoating several hardwood floors throughout the campus.

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

The TCU Horned Frogs called on Robbins dealer, Ponder Company, to freshen up their 14-year-old Robbins Air Channel Star with a new court design for the women’s competition volleyball gym.tcu_ponder-2016-1-web The floor, which is the located in the University Recreation Center, had been well maintained over the years and was in perfect condition for a face lift.

The new court graphics were originally designed by Nike in 2015, and was unveiled after the 72M dollar renovation of the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena was complete. While Robbins and Ponder Company was not chosen as a vendor for the Schollmaier Arena floor, TCU chose Ponder to sand and refinish the volleyball gym floor with the new court design. The new Horned Frogs design features a unique purple, white, and black lizard-skin pattern that covers the entire area of the game play surface, as well as a red accent color for the court lines. While the color Red is not part of the school’s official colors, it was used as an accent color on the helmets of the football team several years prior and represents the horned frog (aka the horned lizard) distinct ability to shoot blood from its eyes to fend off predators.

Painting and staining a floor with this much detail is no easy task, but Ponder was up for the challenge. They called on Praters Flooring to provide the masks and work closely with the Ponder crew during the training of the application. The court had a total of 22 mask templets and due to the amount of detail, took 2 full weeks to complete.

Since the completion of the refinish in the volleyball gym, this unique floor was featured in the June/July 2016 edition of Hardwood Floors Magazine, and has also been chosen as a finalist in
img_6919_web
Robbins 2016 Sports Surface of the Year contest. TCU was also so pleased with the results of Ponders graphic work, they have since been contracted for additional face lifts on the practice basketball court, the new arena floor, and the 3 court gymnasium at the recreation center. All work will be completed in summer 2017.

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

The Beverly Hills High School Swim Gym is a bit of a legend in the world of gym floors. The swim gym at Beverly Hills High School combines something unheard of in your typical gymnasium- wood and water! Located approximately 5 ft above the 23m swimming pool, the gym floor was constructed to divide in the middle and retract under concrete bleachers to expose the pool for beverly-hills-h-s-2016-24-webswimming events. This unique gym floor was designed and constructed in 1939 and is still in full use today. It is also a very iconic floor as it was used for filming the “pool party” scene in the nostalgic movie “A Wonderful Life” in 1946, in addition to being featured in several other movies and TV shows. See the clip from “A Wonderful Life” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rha-6qG4OQ

After various instances where water damage had affected the quality and structure of the floor, the decision was made to replace the floor. Beverly Hills High School called on Robbins dealer, Pacific Floor Company, a trusted vendor since 2002, to replace the floor. Pacific recommended Robbins Bio Channel Star flooring for its excellent performance and to minimize the possibility of moisture traveling under the floor.

Building a floor that not only sits atop a swimming pool, but is also retractable comes with its own set of unique challenges. As we all know, wood and water does not mix. If the proper measures are not taken during installation, the humidity that accumulates from a pool can affect the integrity of the gym floor. We asked Mark Herthel, Sales Manager at Pacific Floor Company, to explain the measures that were taken to ensure the successful installation of this atypical gym floor “the challenges for this floor is the humidity issues from the pool and moving it back and forth. We installed the Bio-Channel Star to prevent moisture transfer under the floor and between any sleepers. We closed off the sides to protect the subfloor and we used 1-1/2″ XL-PLUS for a more stable floor. We also closely monitored the humidity in the gym. The building does not have de-humidifiers, however they have a good exhaust system to circulate the air. We also made sure the exhaust fans under the bleachers were working as the floor can be stored under them for considerable time. A HOBO was also used to monitor conditions during the install”.

Over 6,000 square feet was installed and just recently completed in October 2016. A video of the floor opening can be seen here on the Robbins YouTube channel. The Swim Gym was also chosen as a finalist in the 2016 Sports Surface of the Year contest which recognizes the hard work and dedication of Robbins dealers. The winner will be announced in May 2017.

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jay Stoehr remains CEO of family-owned flooring company, adds proven leader as part of succession plan

CINCINNATI, OH, NOVEMBER 3, 2016 – Robbins, Inc., an international leader in sports flooring systems, has hired Dave Fulton as President to oversee all manufacturing, sales and service functions.

James (Jay) Stoehr III, the fourth generation of his family to lead Robbins, had been serving as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. He will retain his other leadership roles, and Fulton will dave-headshot-pic-1-webreport to him.

Fulton had served as Manufacturing Leader for Cincinnati-based Shepherd Color Company, a multi-generation family-owned color pigment business, since 2014. He previously was President of Dayton, Ohio-based Hohman Plating & Manufacturing from 2008 to 2014.

Fulton received two degrees from the University of Cincinnati: a Bachelor’s of Science in chemical engineering and an MBA in finance. He is a resident of Lawrenceburg, Ind.

“Dave is a transformational business leader with a wealth of experience growing and leading family-owned manufacturing businesses,” Stoehr said. “He understands the manufacturing process as well as its role in driving business growth. I’m counting on him to bring his formidable skills to bear to focus on strategic planning, operational excellence, organizational development and financial results.”

Robbins is based in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin. The privately held company’s main business unit is Robbins Sports Surfaces, the premier supplier of high-performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to professional and college athletic programs as well as fitness, religious and performing arts.

Athletes in more than 65 nations on six continents compete and practice on the company’s sports surfaces. More NBA teams use Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors — including the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, who have played home games on a Robbins floor since 1974.

Stoehr credits a 20-year relationship with the Goering Center for Family & Private Business, based at the University of Cincinnati, with helping him plan for succession in a family business and prioritize business success ahead of personal interests or ambitions. Working with Robbins’ Board of Advisors, Stoehr developed a succession plan that led to the decision to hire a President to assume day-to-day operational responsibility.

“We’ve made this exciting change because Robbins is built on strong values that focus on doing the right thing for employees, customers and vendors while strengthening the company legacy,” Stoehr said. “I’m confident that Dave’s addition to our leadership team will do just that.”

Fulton began work as Robbins President on October 31.

About Robbins, Inc.

Robbins, Inc. is a privately held family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Ishpeming and Kenton, Mich. and White Lake, Wisc. CEO Jay Stoehr is the fourth generation of his family to lead the company, which traces its roots to 1894.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsfloor.com, www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.

 

Congratulations to the Cleveland Cavaliers on winning their 1st NBA championship! In what is likely to be known as the come backCleveland Cavaliers, Quicken Loans Arena, Robbins All Star Portable Floor of the century, the Cavaliers lost three games in a row against the Warriors, and proceeded to win the next 4 games leading to their 1st NBA Championship title ever. LeBron James was named NBA Finals MVP after scoring an impressive 27 points. This is LeBron’s 3rd MVP award in his 13 year career with the NBA, and we are proud to say that he has played and practiced on a Robbins floor his entire career.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a longtime customer of Robbins dating back to 1974 when a Robbins portable was installed at the Richfield Coliseum. In 1994, the Cavaliers moved to their current home arena, Quicken Loans Arena, and currently play on a Robbins All Star portable floor. In addition, the Cavaliers practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft of Bio-Channel Classic flooring, one of the top floor choices of the NBA.

Robbins is extremely proud of all the NBA teams that train and compete on our floors. With more than half of the playoff teams competing and/or training on a Robbins’ floor, including the San Antonio Spurs & Miami Heat, it was no surprise that we brought home our 18th champion in the past 25 years! We congratulate the Cleveland Cavaliers on a remarkable season and come back that represents true athletic greatness.

Click here to learn more about the All Star Portable flooring system, or contact us at 1-800-543-1913 to speak with a Robbins representative in your area.

 

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces is the premier supplier of high performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to the arena, education, religious and fitness markets. In more than 60 nations around the world athletes compete and practice on millions of square meters of Robbins’ Sport Surfaces. Professional and amateur alike know that when they play on a high performance Robbins’ system they’ll be able to play at peak levels, safely and comfortably.

 

 

 

 

The Pete Mathews Coliseum at Jacksonville State University installed by Covington Flooring Company, is a featured jsu-the-pete-300x149finalist of the 2015 Sports Surface of the Year contest. The coliseum recently underwent a $2M renovation which included a new gymnasium floor. Robbins dealer, Covington Flooring Company, has had a good relationship with Jacksonville State since they installed a Sportwood gym floor in 1986, and for this reason was chosen to install the new floor. Jacksonville State selected the Bio-Channel SB for its low profile design, which is a perfect match for facilities with retrofit needs. The school also desired a high-performance floor with an upgraded graphical appearance. Covington customized the new floor with a combination of paints and stains on the 1st grade Maple backdrop. A total of 9,500 sq. ft. of new flooring was installed. The renovation was completed in September 2015, just in time for basketball season.

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to Jacksonville State University, and congratulate Covington Flooring Company on another fantastic job!

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Covington Flooring Company is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Jacksonville, AL and surrounding areas. For more information about Covington, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at http://covington.com/ or call them at 1-205-328-2330.

 

After several days of torrential rainfall poured onto the city of Eureka, MO in late December 2015, the Meramec River reached record levels, wreaking havoc on both the buildings and the residents EHS Flood-resized in Eureka, a city just outside of St. Louis. Among those affected was the Eureka High School athletic building including 2 gyms and 1 multi-purpose room used for both wrestling and aerobics. After the rain had stopped, about 1” of water covered the floors of the Eureka High School athletic building. As we all know, wood and water don’t mix. 28,000 sq. ft of athletic flooring was ruined.

The Rockwood School District went into emergency mode and contacted their insurance provider for approval to restore the flooring to their gymnasium.  Then, they contacted Alex Verseman at Missouri Floor Company, our local dealer in the St. Louis area, and invited him to visit the Eureka High School athletic building and assess the damage. When asked why they chose to contact Missouri Floor Company, Chris Freund, Director of Facilities for the Rockwood School District, explained “Missouri Floor Company has a great reputation for quality work in the St. Louis area. We knew Alex Verseman and had used him and his knowledge about sports flooring as a resource in previous years.”

In the midst of the basketball and wrestling season, the Rockwood School District set a goal to have the gymnasiums restored before basketball season was over. Missouri Floor Company and Robbins was up for the challenge. While another contracted company began the removal process of the damaged floors, the Robbins manufacturing plant in White Lake, Wisconsin worked additional shifts to ensure the materials were produced and shipped to meet the deadline. 21,700 sq ft of Robbins Bio Cushion Classic with MFMA Northern Hard Maple was ordered for 2 gyms, Eureka HS Gym- After- Resizedas well as 6,500 sq. ft. of Pulastic Classic 110 ECO for the wrestling and aerobic room. The main gymnasium was successfully restored and was used for the girls last game of the season on February 25, 2016. “Alex has been a pleasure to work with. He clearly understands the importance of getting things done in a timely manner. With a project like this, the gym floor was not the only thing being replaced. He did a good job at coordinating with other contractors and the school to make the installation as seamless as possible.”

Because of the dedication from the Missouri Floor team, the girls’ basketball team walked away with a win that night, both on and off the court. The reaction from players, coaches, and parents about the new floor has also been very positive.  “I had a coach pull me aside the other day and was raving about how nice the new floor is. The reaction from parents and players has been amazing. We are thrilled with the new floors!”

Robbins and Missouri Floor Company was honored to be a part of the process that not only restored the gymnasium, but also restored the many activities that are conducted in the athletic building by the students, coaches, and community in Eureka, MO.

 

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Robbins Sports Surfaces is the premier supplier of high performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to the arena, education, religious and fitness markets. In more than 65 nations around the world athletes compete and practice on millions of square meters of Robbins’ Sport Surfaces. Professional and amateur alike know that when they play on a high performance Robbins’ system they’ll be able to play at peak levels, safely and comfortably. For more information about Robbins sports flooring systems, please contact a Robbins representative at 1-800-543-1913, or complete the online contact form.

 

 

 

 

What is the definition of a “good” sports floor? Is it the fancy logos or graphics that grab everyone’s eye? Or maybe the sound it makes when shoes squeak or balls bounce? For the avid sports Chicago Bulls- Training Facility- MVP- 2014_225x300fanatic, or even the not-so-sports-fanatic, these are all very important features that help identify not only the team, but the sport itself. But believe it or not, for players, coaches, and athletic trainers, there’s more important features to consider. Beneath the surface of a shiny hardwood floor with gamelines and school logos, is a well engineered subfloor consisting of just the right amount of mechanical features that provide protection for the athlete. The subfloor build-up is critical to the longterm health of the athlete since the floor can have a significant impact on joints, muscles, and endurance during game play. Proper construction of the floor is a science, and with over 100 years of continued improvement to the mechanics of our floors, Robbins understands what is necessary to achieve a floor that not only looks great on the surface, but also improves performance and enhances endurance of the athlete.

10 years ago in a top secret laboratory, the R&D team at Robbins began to develop a revolutionary sports floor known as the MVP (Maximum Vibration Performance). Vibration control in a sports floor is an important factor because it can have such an impact on the athlete. And with athletes starting as young as 2 years old these days, expecting more out of a sports floor has never been more critical. A low quality sports floor can have negative effects on the athlete that result in fatigue and an increase in injuries, which overall may reduce the length of the athlete’s career. In 2006, Robbins launched a plan to develop the only floor on the market that is biomechanically researched and tested to achieve maximum vibration protection for athletes. Utilizing the expertise of human performance/biomechanics expert, Dr. Benno Nigg at the University of Calgary, Dr. Nigg measured the performance results of the MVP system and determined it is “in a special category by itself“ and the difference in MVP “was substantial with respect to damping time, vibration frequency, and uniformity”. After thorough research and testing, iIn 2008, the MVP was officially launched and on the market.

Fast forward 10 years later, we revisited the 1st NCAA school to install the MVP in their gymnasium to learn more about the difference the MVP has made in their athletes. In 2008, Amber Warners, the Head Volleyball Coach at Calvin College, visited The Robbins Institute at Robbins headquarters in Cincinnati, OH, along with the Head Basketball Coach, Kevin VandeStreek, to learn about the various flooring options for their new basketball and volleyball facility. After testing out several different sports floor systems, they instantly noticed the difference in the MVP system and was sold. The installation of the new floor was completed in December 2008 by our dealer, Foster Specialty Floors. The facility features 18,000 sq ft of Robbins MVP with MFMA certified maple hardwood in the main gym, and 12,000 sq ft in two auxiliary gyms. The volleyball program at Calvin has had tremendous success. They were ranked No. 1 in their division at the end of the 2015 season, and have won 2 national championships in the last 6 years. They have also seen a reduction in player injury & fatigue which they attribute to the quality of the floor. According to Coach Warners, “since the floor helps prevent fatigue and soreness, our volleyball players aren’t wearing down as easy and they stay fresh. Fatigue is what increases the risk of injury. Since I don’t have to worry about fatigue I can push them harder because they can take more.”

Calvin is not the only college to jump on board with the MVP revolution. Other colleges including: Creighton University, Texas A&M, Hillsdale College, Loyola Marymount, and many more are now believers in the MVP system and having substantial success with their programs. The NBA is also taking notice. The Toronto Raptors, OK City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, and the Minnesota Timberwolves all make the list of recent NBA teams to install the MVP in their training centers.

Because of the excellence we strive for in building the best floor system on the market, at Robbins, we not only build floors, we build champions. We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to such a variety of great sports program on the college and professional level. Even more so, we are excited to hear how pleased our customers are with the MVP and how its making a difference in the health and well being of their athletes!

Watch the video and full interview with View Coach Warners here:

 

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Robbins Sports Surfaces is the premier supplier of high performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to the arena, education, religious and fitness markets. In more than 65 nations around the world athletes compete and practice on millions of square meters of Robbins’ Sport Surfaces. Professional and amateur alike know that when they play on a high performance Robbins’ system they’ll be able to play at peak levels, safely and comfortably. For more information about Robbins sports flooring systems, please contact a Robbins representative at 1-800-543-1913, or complete the online contact form.

 

 

Robbins is happy to announce another Featured Facility and Sports Surface of the Year Finalist goes to the Ocotillo Village Health Club & Spa, installed by Stout Hardwood. The new state-Village-Ocotillo-BB-court-300x281of-the-art fitness facility opened in April 2015 in Chandler, AZ, making it the 4th Village Health Club & Spa location to open in the Phoenix area. The impressive 82,000 sq. ft. health club & spa features an indoor basketball court and running track, 2 racquetball and 2 squash courts, cardio, weight & functional training rooms, 2 yoga studios, and group fitness studios, in addition to many other amenities. Stout installed 12,000 sq. ft. of Robbins Bio-Cushion Classic in the gymnasium, 2,800 sq. ft. of Bio-Cushion w/ 3/4″ CP pad in the racquetball, squash, and dance studios, and 2,500 sq. ft. of Pulastic Classic 110 for the elevated running track.

Stout was chosen by Sundt Construction as the supplier and contractor for this project based on a proven history as being a reliable source for sports flooring.  This project had a short completion window that occurred over the holiday season in late 2014. Stout’s relationship with Sundt ConstructionVillage-Ocotillo-BB-court-241x300 allowed for collaboration on design challenges and quick implementation in the field. In addition to being on a tight timeline, other delays affected the completion date including a leaky roof and a sprinkler malfunction that caused damages to the installed flooring. The materials for the Pulastic Classic 110 elevated running track and Bio Cushion in the upstairs dance studios had to be hoisted and maneuvered through a window opening 30 feet up. The 12,000 sq. ft. basketball gym floor features stained 3 point areas, custom paint, and detailed logos. The Stout Hardwood crew worked through the holidays to meet the completion deadline and despite several delays, the flooring was installed and completed on time.

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to Ocotillo Village Health Club & Spa, and congratulate Stout Hardwood on another fantastic job! We wish them luck as a finalist in the Sports Surface of the Year contest!

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Stout Hardwood is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Phoenix, AZ and surrounding areas. For more information about Stout, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at www.stout-hardwood-floors.com or call them at 1-575-527-4143.

 

Robbins is happy to announce another Featured Facility and Sports Surface of the Year Finalist goes to the Duke Center for Living Facility at Duke Medicine, installed by Foster Specialty Floors. The facility was recently renovated to include over 30,000 sq ft of various Robbins flooring specially customized by Foster for each area and application. The first floor of the facility is the health and fitness center equipped with an aerobics & dance floor, a walking track, a free weight area, and cardio equipment. This floor features almost 23,000 sq ft of custom Strata Sport, Galaxy Classic, Sportwood UltraStar, and Continuous Strip XL pre-finished Maple. The second floor houses the exam rooms and rehab center and features almost 6,000 sq ft of Strata Sport and Strata Commercial. In addition, the Wallace Wing was also renovated and now includes over 2,000 sq ft of Galaxy XTreme and Strata Sport on biometric plates in the Coach K Human Performance Lab.

Foster Specialty Floors was chosen by Duke Medicine due to their extensive product knowledge, and ability to customize a floor solution to meet the various needs of their physicians, staff, patients, and members. Nancy Magiera, the Interior Designer at Duke Medicine, commended Foster by stating that “Mr. Foster, exclusively, possessed the unique combination of skills that we needed to make our very challenging project successful – an extensive knowledge of his product line in conjunction with a comprehensive command of the physical science underlying sports flooring requirements. Mr. Foster took into account not only our aesthetic concerns for the facility but also spent a great deal of time custom designing flooring systems that would address different dynamic performance characterizes, our unique friction requirements, as well as the embedding of biometric plates with in the flooring systems. His ultimate design was a perfect blend of art and science and all of the groups utilizing the building have been very positive and enthusiastic in regard to how their specifically designed sports flooring suits their unique needs. Throughout the installation of the project, Foster Specialty Floor’s tenacious attention to detail and concern for the end user’s finished product was evident on a weekly basis. The project’s extremely tight schedule was met in spite of construction complications. In the end, the flooring systems designed and installed by Foster Specialty Floors at Duke Medicine are truly One of one“.

The facility reopened after renovations in January 2015. The flooring was completely finished and installed in June 2015. The facility itself is a unique concept since it is open to the public for memberships, but many of the clients are patients from Duke University Health System with customized exercise programs to help match their health situation. They take pride in creating a low-pressure atmosphere that provides patients and the local community a place to improve their health and wellness.

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to Duke Medicine, and congratulate Foster Specialty Floors on another fantastic job! We wish them luck as a finalist in the Sports Surface of the Year contest!

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Foster Specialty Floors is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Durham, NC and surrounding areas. For more information about Foster, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at http://www.sportsfloor.org/ or call them at 1-919-368-9324.

 

Robbins is happy to announce another Featured Facility and Sports Surface of the Year Finalist goes to the Prairie View A&M Prairie View-AM-resized_1Student Recreation Center, installed by NAH Sports Flooring. The new 92,000 sq ft facility was completed in early 2015 and features over 22,000 sq. ft. of Robbins rubber flooring products. The new student recreation center includes a three-court basketball gym and elevated running track, weight training and fitness, multipurpose studios, a climbing wall and office spaces.

Of the 22,000 sq ft of Robbins installed products, the elevated running track features 9,200 sq. ft. of Durathon Elite, 4,500 sq. ft. of Galaxy Fit, and 8,650 sq. ft. of Galaxy Ultra in the weight training and fitness area. Prairie View needed a resilient rubber floor that was durable enough to withstand the high traffic and regular usage from its 8,000 + students and staff.  This new facility is a high end Prairie View-AM-resized_3recreation center that will provide a competitive advantage to Prairie View when recruiting new students, as well as athletes.

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to Prairie View A&M, and congratulate NAH Sports Flooring on another fantastic job! We wish them luck as a finalist in the Sports Surface of the Year contest!

 

 

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NAH Sports Flooring is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Prairie View, TX and surrounding areas. For more information about NAH Sports Flooring, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at http://nahsportsflooring.com or call them at 1-713-956-2700.

 

Robbins is happy to announce another Featured Facility and Sports Surface of the Year Finalist goes to the The Griffin Elite Sports & Wellness Complex, Griffin-Elite--Bio-Channel-Star-2015- 300x234installed by Cincinnati Floor Company. The new state-of-the-art 125,000 sq ft facility opened its doors to the public on October 25, 2015 and is located in Florence, KY. 22,000 sq. ft. of Robbins Bio-Channel Star was installed to create 3 full size basketball courts that can also be converted into volleyball courts. In addition, the weight room & wellness center features 7,500 sq ft of Pulastic GT100.  This is a high end sports training facility that will focus on the development of skills, strength and agility for athletes of all ages, along with offering conditioning and injury recovery programs. Griffin chose Robbins Bio-Channel Star for uniformity and performance, and Pulastic GT100 seamless weight room flooring for appearance and cleanability.

In addition to basketball and strength training, Griffin also has a large artificial turf field with four 40-yard running lanes, a yoga studio, a licensed chiropractic doctor who specializes in a pain relief treatment known as Active Release Techniques (ART), and cryotherapy treatments. Griffin will offer memberships to the community, as well as local organizations like the Special Olympics, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky and Wounded Warriors Project.

Griffin-Elite--Pulastic-GT100--2015-300x232We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to The Griffin Elite Sports & Wellness Complex, and are truly grateful for their commitment to the health and well being of our young athletes. We congratulate Cincinnati Floor Company on another fantastic job and wish them luck as a finalist in the Sports Surface of the Year contest!

 

 

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Cincinnati Floor Company is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Florence, KY and surrounding areas. For more information about Cincinnati Floor, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at http://www.cincifloor.com/ or call them at 1-800-886-4501.

 

Robbins is happy to announce the Featured Facility of the Month for October and Sports Surface of the Year Finalist goes to the The Walther Center at West Coast Baptist College, West Coast Baptist College- AC Star 2015 (63)-300x225installed by Pacific Floor Company. Construction of the new facility began in 2014, and was recently completed this past August. It is equipped with 17,000 sq. ft. of Robbins Air-Channel Star with MFMA maple flooring. The 54,000 square foot facility includes 2 full size basketball courts for the men’s basketball team, that also converts to a volleyball court for the women’s volleyball team. The sports surface area also doubles as an event space for hosting gatherings, athletic events, and more. In addition, the large facility also has a student fellowship center, a restaurant, and a separate worship center.

The college and associated church, Lancaster Baptist, chose Robbins and Pacific Floor Company based on a strong relationship with a Robbins dealer in Michigan, Foster Specialty Floors. Through their trust in Foster’s reputation as a quality installer with high integrity, West Coast Baptist College was referred to Pacific and ultimately chose them to install the Robbins Air-Channel Star. They have been extremely happy with both the performance of West Coast Baptist College- AC Star 2015 (59)-300x225the floor and the quality of the installation.

The Walther Center was named in memory of Leo Walther, a dedicated member of Lancaster Baptist Church, and strong supporter of the college and its students since the college opened in 1995. According to Pastor Paul Chappell, “when we broke ground on this building last June we chose to name it “The Walther Center” in  memory of our dear friend. There never was a man who loved his Lord, his pastor, his church family, and  the students and graduates of West Coast Baptist College more than Leo Walther”. To read  more about the legacy of Leo Walther and his contribution to the students at WCBC, visit http://www.paulchappell.com.

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to The Walther Center at WCBC and wish them much success in their future volleyball and basketball seasons. We also congratulate Pacific Floor Company on another fantastic job and wish them luck as a finalist in the Sports Surface of the Year contest!

 

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Pacific Floor Company is the Robbins Sports Surfaces dealer in Lancaster, CA and surrounding areas. For more information about Pacific Floor, or to view additional completed projects, visit their website at http://pacificsportflooring.com or call them at 1-818-775-0438.

We sat down with Amber Warners, Head Volleyball Coach at Calvin College, to discuss her experience and satisfaction with their Robbins MVP floor that was installed almost 7 years ago. Calvin College was the 1st NCAA school to install the MVP floor, which was a new innovation developed by Robbins at that time. In 2008, Coach Warners visited The Robbins Institute at Robbins headquarters in Cincinnati, OH, along with the Head Basketball Coach, Kevin VandeStreek, to learn about the various flooring options for their new 30,000 sq ft facility. After testing out several different sports floor systems, they instantly noticed the difference in the MVP system and was sold. The installation of the new floor was completed in December 2008 by our dealer, Foster Specialty Floors. The new facility features 18,000 sq ft of Robbins MVP with MFMA certified maple hardwood in the main gym, and 12,000 sq ft in two auxiliary gyms. Fast forward 7 years later, the volleyball program at Calvin has had tremendous success. They are currently ranked No. 5 in their division, and have won 2 national championships in the last 5 years. They have also seen a reduction in player injury & fatigue which they attribute to the quality of the floor.

View Coach Warners full testimonial here:

We are honored to be chosen as a supplier to such a great sports program and a college with a distinguished reputation. Even more so, we are excited to hear how pleased they are with the floor and how its making a difference in the health and well being of their athletes! Thank you to Foster Specialty Floors for doing such a wonderful job in the installation and finish of the floor, and being a true partner to ensure the quality of the floor installation is always top notch.

Calvin College is located in Grand Rapids, MI and is a Division III school with an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students. They have won a total of 10 volleyball NCAA championships. To learn more about the volleyball program at Calvin College, visit their website at http://www.calvinknights.com.