The Ohio Floor Company has a portable floor division that allows us to work with clients around the country and across the world. In the past, we have worked with NBA teams, the NCAA March Madness Tournament, Colleges and Universities, the Olympics, the FIBA World Cup, and other private clients in Africa. This division of our company has given us the privilege to be part of many exciting flooring projects. The fact that the floors are portable, and do not need to be worked on in the arena, allows our teams to work locally, helps with quality control, and allows us to expand our market reach.
One of the most recent projects we completed was the University of Florida’s main competition floor. In partnership with floor our manufacturer, Connor Sports, we supplied U of F with a brand-new portable floor. The floor is a 60’ X 120’ QuickLock Fusion portable floor and is made up of 232 individual wood panels that are locked together with the patented QuickLock system. Allowing the floor to be safe and stable when installed but easily removed when the arena is needed for other events.
The process starts with Connor Sports manufacturing the floor panels. The floor is made to the exact specs agreed upon by the University of Florida. It is then sent to The Ohio Floors Portable Floor Warehouse in Holmesville Ohio. Once the truck hauling the floor panels arrives in Holmesville it is unloaded into our warehouse and stored until the floor is ready to be completed. In the meantime, The University of Florida, Connor Sports, and The Ohio Floor Company work together to complete the exact layout of game lines, logos, and other artwork to be included in the floor design.
At the portable floor warehouse, the crews begin by installing the floor in one of our bays. Once the floor is installed our sanding crew gets to work sanding the floor making sure the playing surface is completely flat and safe for the future athletes that will be playing on it. Meanwhile, the graphics arts division is hard at work producing the patterns and stencils the painting crew will need to make the floor come to life. The team places the logos, lettering, and artwork and painting begins. The process can take multiple steps if “layering” of colors is required. After the paint is completely dry the crew walks over the entire floor performing any touch-ups that may need to be done. The floor is then cleaned and ready for the final coats of finish to be applied.
Our finish crew are the last ones to do any work on the playing surface. They coat the floor with an approved polyurethane product giving the court a durable and safe finish. Once the finish has had a few days to dry the floor is removed and the individual panels are put in our drying racks to let the finish cure. When completely ready the floor is loaded on a truck and sent to the University of Florida to be installed in their arena, in time for their basketball season.
Depending on what the needs of the arena may be, the floor can be installed, removed, and reinstalled multiple times throughout the season, giving the university the flexibility to use its arena for many different events.
So, if you get a chance to watch a Florida Gator basketball game on TV this season, remember that the floor was sanded, painted, and finished by The Ohio Floor Company.
