Busted Pipes in HS Gym Doesn’t Mean Busted Season for Team

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.