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| Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association, Inc. 111 Deer Lake Road, Suite 100 Deerfield, IL 60015 888/480-9138 Fax: 847/480-9282 |
MFMA Maple - Today's Preferred Sports Surface
MFMA Manufacturers
Complete grading rules for Random Length Strip, Finger Jointed Strip and Parquet flooring are published by MFMA for reference by architects and specifiers. Grading permits selection of MFMA maple flooring according to use and budget. MFMA offers a library of information on the manufacture, installation and maintenance of MFMA maple flooring. Literature is available at no charge to architects and specifiers. DVDs are also available for a nominal fee.
"Playing For Keeps" "Your Next Sports Floor, Things You Should Know"
AIA/CES Northern Hard Maple Flooring – The Multipurpose Surface
Sports flooring differs immensely from floors designed for any other purpose. Because the needs of athletes come first, performance, safety and comfort are inherent characteristics. Floor design can focus on a specific activity, say aerobics versus basketball, or on multiple purposes to suit the exact need of a facility or application: gymnasiums; handball, squash and racquetball courts; basketball and volleyball courts; health and fitness clubs; international Olympic facilities; professional sports arenas; aerobic/dance exercise facilities; dance floors; auditoriums and convention centers; church and religious facilities; primary and secondary schools; colleges and universities; corporate exercise facilities; YWCA/ YMCA's; family life centers; roller skating rinks; theater and performance stages; or commercial, industrial and residential applications. Time and time again, athletes, performers, coaches, trainers, owners and architects who design floors cite maple as their preferred sports surface. In fact, maple shows up on 70-percent** of the sports floors installed in the U.S. And, the most preferred variety, northern hard maple from MFMA manufacturers, accounts for 58-percent** of all U.S. sports floors—over 17 million square feet—installed each year. Northern hard maple has been called nature's perfect flooring surface. MFMA maple is produced from trees grown north of the 35th parallel where shorter growing seasons produce maple with closer, more uniform grain. In a floor, northern hard maple exhibits flexibility, resilience, durability, finishability and low-demand maintenance. Athletic performance is enhanced by its hard— but—resilient character. Resilient subfloor systems enhance maple's natural shock absorption and area of elasticity. And, the surface provides dependably uniform grip and traction to the athlete. Safety is vastly enhanced by these same characteristics as documented in a study*** which showed that athletes were 70-percent more likely to sustain a floor—related injury on a synthetic floor than on a maple floor. MFMA maple's life cycle cost is surprisingly less than that of synthetics.* Life cycle cost comparisons reflect original installed price plus manufacturerrecommended maintenance over a 30 year floor life: Northern hard maple........... 79˘ / sq. ft. / year A maple surface requires considerably less maintenance and most of it can be done "in-house" without special equipment. Northern hard maple was first used in sports flooring nearly 150 years ago. From the beginning, it was evident, however, that even "nature's perfect flooring" needed a little help if consistently outstanding floors were to be built. Consistent quality became the mission of a handful of producers who, in 1897, formed the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association — the Kansas University, Connor Sports Floors–Rezillchannel Michigan State University Breslin Center, Horner Flooring Company— Horner Pro-King Portable System MFMA Maple: Today's Sports Surface MFMA. Their purpose was to research and develop the best procedures for the selection and grading of the wood. Over time, a set of strict, self-imposed manufacturing standards evolved for members which they adopted in pursuit of consistent quality. The association established itself as the authoritative source of technical and general information on sports flooring. Equally important, the MFMA established installation and maintenance standards to help its contractor members deliver and assure a product that lives up to its promises. More than 150 MFMA Sport Floor Contractor members and distributors worldwide follow procedures affecting the handling, storing and installation of MFMA maple. MFMA Mill Manufacturers continuously develop and test various subflooring systems in order to maximize athletic performance on maple sports surfaces. To top it all off, the MFMA publishes a list of tested, recommended floor finishes which are designed to optimize athletic performance while enhancing the legendary durability of the maple playing surface. MFMA Sport Floor Contractors are uniquely equipped to assist architects and facility owners with the design and construction of new athletic facilities, renovations and sports floor replacements. An MFMA mill number is embossed into the back of every strip of MFMA maple. It is your guarantee that strictly enforced MFMA grading rules and quality standards have been painstakingly followed in the production of each strip of flooring. It assures the wood has been kiln dried to 6-percent to 9-percent moisture content which makes it dimensionally stable before manufacturing begins. It assures that the finished maple strip has been milled to consistently exact tolerances as mandated by the MFMA. * 1994, Ducker Research Company, Inc.
2008 Beijing Olympics - Capital Gymnasium
Download a PDF of the Today's Preferred Sports Surface brochure. Printable Version |