High-gloss maple gym floor with a red center circle and black and white painted lane

Best Way to Care for a Wood Gym Floor: Screening and Recoating

By John Scillieri Hours Published on

With proper care and maintenance practices, hardwood gym floors can last up to 50 years. When it comes to increasing the lifespan of your hardwood sports floor, screening and recoating is the most effective course of action.

Screening and recoating is essential for preserving and maintaining the floor and keeping it safe for athletes’ use.  So, what does this process include?  How long does it last?  How often should you screen and recoat your gym floor?  Read this page and learn everything you need to know.

What is screening and recoating for wood gym floor care?

Screening and recoating can save you a lot of time and money over the lifetime of your hardwood sports floor.  Hardwood floor screening is a light sanding process that involves using a screen disk on a buffer.  After screening and cleaning, the floor is recoated using a finishing agent that seals the wood.  In most cases, a gym floor contractor will use polyurethane to seal the hardwood during recoating. 

Over time, the friction of daily sports activities will slowly wear away at this protective plastic coat.  As its main job is to protect the hardwood below, the polyurethane layer gets thinner and more scratched each day.

If more than a year or two passes, the protective layer will deteriorate too much and expose bare wood to heavy foot traffic. 

You should avoid this at all costs, as it will speed up the floor’s deterioration and require sanding and refinishing before the planned period.  This is what makes screening and recoating different from other floor maintenance practices.  Unlike many other hardwood care activities, this one is preventative.

How often should you screen and recoat a hardwood gym floor?

Regularly scheduling screening and recoating helps protect both the gym floor and the athletes that use it day in and day out.  We recommend that you screen and recoat your hardwood gym floor once a year.  That said, if your sports floor sees a lot of daily traffic, you should consider screening and recoating bi-annually.

Screening and recoating also extend the period before your gym floor requires sanding and refinishing.  Sanding and refinishing is a much more in-depth process than screening and recoating.  It involves more time and labor to complete and also costs more.  With a proper annual or bi-annual screening and recoating plan, your hardwood floor will only require sanding and refinishing every 6 to 10 years.

Why You Should Screen and Recoat Your Gym Floor

There are many reasons to screen and recoat your gym floor.  The most notable ones include:

  • Removal of Scuffs and Marks — Wood gym floor screening and recoating revitalizes and restores shine to your hardwood sports floor.  It removes scuffs and marks from the surface and refreshes your floor’s visual appearance.
  • Improved Paint and Flooring Protection — Not only does screening and recoating remove any imperfections from your hardwood floor, but it also adds protective polyurethane layers that preserve the flooring and paint from wear and tear.
  • Increased Floor Traction — Screening and recoating removes any oily film buildup from your floor and improves traction.  If you’re hearing a lot of squeaking on your gym floor, it means that your users are getting the right amount of traction when running up and down the court.  Proper traction is crucial for player safety, as it protects them from slipping and falling during fast-paced activities.

How long does the screening and recoating process take?

All of the recoating solutions that we use are high-quality and MFMA-approved.  For screening and recoating, you don’t need to empty the entire facility and face scheduling problems.  Our experienced gym flooring contractors can usually complete the work in 1 day. Even if you run a busy facility with a packed schedule, screening and recoating won’t drastically impact your business and scheduling logistics.  But different recoating solutions come with different curing times. 

With our screen and recoat, plan on 1 day of work plus 3 to 5 days for the finish to dry.  With this in mind, it’s vital to pick a solution that won’t have a detrimental impact on your demanding schedule.  Using a freshly renovated gym floor before it fully cures can mar the screening and recoating quality.

At J&J Gym Floors, we are always ready to work with our clients around their schedule.  The work itself usually takes 1 day.  If you have a busy weekly schedule for your facility, we can start at the beginning of a weekend or a break so most of the 3 to 5 days of dry time falls when the gym is least used. We will tell you the exact day you can go back to your regular schedule.

The Best Daily Maintenance Plan for Hardwood Gym Floors

Screening and recoating, as well as sanding and refinishing, are all great ways to prolong the lifespan of your gym floor.  It’s also essential to have a proper daily maintenance plan to reduce the negative impact of regular daily activities and other factors that could cause the gym floor to fail.

The best way to maintain your gym floor is to sweep it with a dust mop daily to keep it free from dust and grit, which can scratch and damage the surface. 

When disinfecting, only use approved pH-neutral cleaning solutions and make sure to keep water off of the floor surface.

Ensuring your hardwood gym floor is properly maintained will make it look good and significantly contribute to its performance.  Timely screening and recoating is the key to a beautiful sports floor.

Does your floor need a screening and recoating service?  Not sure whether your hardwood floor needs more extensive mending?  Call us at (973) 801-7219.  Or contact us online to learn more about how we can help bring you hardwood gym floor back to top condition.

Based in Wayne, our team handles NJ gym floor refinishing, from yearly screen and recoats to full sands, and works up and down the East Coast.

John Scillieri

John Scillieri is the Founder and Managing Partner of J & J Gym Floors, bringing over three decades of expertise in hardwood flooring to the sports and fitness industry. Following in the footsteps of his father, a renowned hardwood floor professional, John launched J & J Gym Floors after graduating college, combining rich family tradition with innovative approaches to gym floor installation, maintenance, and customization.

With a passion for quality craftsmanship and a commitment to customer satisfaction, John has led J & J Gym Floors to become a trusted name in the industry. His hands-on approach and deep understanding of flooring technologies ensure that every project, from local school gymnasiums to professional sports arenas, receives the highest standard of care and attention to detail. When he's not transforming gym floors, John enjoys staying active and spending time with his family, always keeping an eye out for the next big trend in sports flooring.