Improving the indoor air quality while recoating your gym floors can be a challenge. Recoating your school’s gym floors takes time. Oil-based wood floor coatings can take up to two weeks to fully cure. During the application and drying process, wood floor coatings can emit VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), odorous gases that can sometimes be dangerous to the health of employees or others in your school.

Limiting the amount of VOCs that are released can make a difference in the time it takes to recoat your floors. Even more importantly, it’s better for the health of employees and visitors. Reflections Coliseum^® oil-modified wood urethanes have limited VOCs and Arena^® water-based urethanes have some of the lowest VOC ratings of any wood floor coatings in North America. Because Arena coatings are water-based and emit less VOCs, their dry time is faster, allowing for play on gym floors only 48 hours after application.

There are other advantages to using Reflections wood floor coatings. Many well performing water-based products require the addition of a Polyfunctional Aziridine Crosslinker. This raw material is used to crosslink products for durability. However, it comes with many health concerns, including allergic reaction of the skin, lungs, and heart. With each exposure, health concerns only become greater. Reflections wood floor coatings don’t use hazardous crosslinkers, helping limit employee exposure to hazardous materials.

Preparation methods can also contribute to poor indoor air quality. Dry prepping floors can create dust that lingers in the air. If your gym floor is older, the Reflection wet screening prep method can eliminate dust. The Reflections^® Wood Floor Program can help you decide the best preparation method for your floors that keeps your floors looking their best and considers the health of visitors and staff.

The Reflections Wood Floor Program prioritizes manufacturing safer-to-use products that exceed the strict environmental rules that regulate wood floor coatings. The complete program provides top-of-the-line products and procedures that keep gym floors shiny and durable without compromising employee health and safety. To learn more about the Reflections Wood Floor Program, its products, and procedures, contact your local Buckeye representative. 

Newly installed wood floors must be handled with care. New wood floors are far more susceptible to water damage than their older counterparts. Because newer wood floors have not had time to fill with polymer protection, the wood absorbs water more easily. This water absorption can lead to cupping or warping. Due to seasonal fluctuation and acclimation it is recommended to dry screen and use solvent-based oil modified urethanes for the first two, three or four recoats because of its flexibility. Using water-based coatings too soon can potentially cause boards to bond together to create one large panel of wood. This is called panelization.

The Reflections^® Wood Floor Program offers oil-based wood floor coatings that are designed to give your gym floors excellent durability and brilliant shine. Reflections can extend the life of your gym floors, providing years of beauty, performance, safety, and durability.

Reflections oil-based wood floor coatings include Coliseum^® 450, Coliseum^® 350, Coliseum^® 275, and Super 40 Gym Coating. Each coating is extremely durable and can achieve high gloss with one to two coats. Reflections has VOC (volatile organic compounds) compliant oil-based wood floor coatings with less harsh odors. They are also not as viscous making them easier to apply.

Age isn’t the only factor in choosing a wood floor coating. Not all new gym floors are the same and other factors such as time and equipment availability play a part in the recoating process. The care put into a new gym floor can last for the entire lifetime of a floor. Reflections experts understand each component of the environment of your gym. Reflections provides the products and training that fit your facility and its staff members best. Because coating your gym floors is not the only thing needed to maintain them, Reflections has all the products you’ll need for daily and long-term maintenance.

Ensure your new gym floor is well taken care of with Reflections training. This includes in-person training from Buckeye representatives as well as online training through the Buckeye Honors^® Training Program. The Honors Custodial Training Program for schools and universities is available 24/7 with videos, PowerPoints, wall charts, and product literature to help staff members with wood floor care and more. Supervisors have the ability to assign videos and tests on various maintenance tasks to staff members. They can then view the results to ensure each staff member is up-to-date on maintenance procedures.

To find out more about how Reflections can be customized to fit your gym floor, contact your local Buckeye representative.

Wood floors are susceptible to water damage, especially if they are newly installed. Because new wood floors have not had time to fill with polymer protection, the wood will easily absorb water. Water can cause the boards to warp, which is why for the first two to three years of a wood floor’s life, oil-based wood floor coatings are the best option.

The Reflections^® Wood Floor Program provides oil-based wood floor coatings that are extremely durable and achieve high gloss after only one or two coats. They are VOC (volatile organic compounds) compliant and hold up well to scuffing and scratching. Traditional oil-based wood floor coatings are usually accompanied by harsh odors. Reflections oil-based wood floor coatings have less harsh odors, are less viscous, and are easy to apply. To cater to the needs of all facility types, Reflections provides a variety of oil-based coatings. Coating options include Coliseum® 450, Coliseum® 350, Coliseum® 275, and Larry’s Super 40 Gym Coating.

A lot of factors go into coating selection, including budget, facility location, and overall maintenance program. The choices and technical questions can seem endless when it comes to recoating your gym floors. This is why many facilities use contractors when it comes time to recoat. It may seem as if facility staff members are not qualified to get the job done.

The Reflections Wood Floor Program is designed with those concerns in mind. Recoating a school’s gym floor in-house can result in savings of 35% or more. Reflections representatives have the knowledge and expertise to educate the staff of any facility on products and procedures. Buckeye’s local distributors are trained to overcome any concerns surrounding your school’s gym. Backed up with Buckeye’s dedicated corporate sales team and top-of-the-line research department, Reflections is the perfect solution for any wood floor.

Local representatives give your staff hands-on training, answering questions and demonstrating techniques that make it possible to get the job done quickly and easily. In-person training is coupled with online resources like the Honors® Custodial Training Program for Schools and Universities. Honors provides wall charts, PowerPoint presentations, training manuals, and product literature as well as step-by-step videos meant to walk staff members through the recoating process. Honors’ online tests ensure staff members are prepared and refreshed on procedures before big projects like recoating your gym floors.

Recoating your gym floors can seem like a monumental task. Whether your wood floor is new or old, Reflections has the wood floor coating to fit your needs and the expertise to answer your questions. Contact your local Buckeye representative to see which coating is right for your facility.

The Reflections^® Wood Floor Program is designed to protect wood floors of all ages. Exposure to water can negatively impact newer wood floors. However, for older wood floors, Reflections provides water-based wood floor coatings that come with added benefits.

Once you have had your wood floor for 2-3 years and the boards have had time to fill with polymer protection, graduating to a water-based wood floor coating may be the best option. After 2-3 years, the wood is no longer at risk of absorbing too much water and warping.

Reflections’ Arena^® water-based wood floor coatings can speed up the recoating process. They are quick-drying, allowing sports play only 48 hours after application. Reflections Arena 300 and Arena 50 emit less volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than oil-based urethanes. VOCs are odorous gases that can sometimes be dangerous to the health of employees or others in your facility.

Arena water-based wood floor coatings enable you to wet-prep and coat your floors in the same day. They have quick cure times and respond well to burnishing. They are not flammable and Arena 300 is one of the most environmentally friendly coatings in the industry, with an NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) rating of 0 for Health, Fire, and Reactivity.

With fast drying times and less VOCs, water-based coatings are the perfect fit for any facility that needs a quick turnaround. For schools, Arena wood floor coatings make it possible to recoat gym floors throughout the school year.

The Reflections Wood Floor Program comes with all the training needed for your staff to finish the job quickly and accurately. Contact your local Buckeye representative to find out if water-based wood floor coatings are the right choice for your facility.

If you’re recoating your wood floors this summer, hot weather may impact the recoating process. When the weather turns hot, a host of challenges can crop up.

Before applying your wood floor coating, bring your floor coating into the facility and allow it to adjust to room temperature. Never apply a coating that is warmer than the floor. Applying a hot coating to a cool floor can create millions of tiny bubbles. If your floor coating has been stored in a truck or sitting in the sun, it can reach temperatures of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If you apply the hot coating to a cold floor, the coating will dry extremely quickly. As the warm coating penetrates the wood, it heats up air pockets in the wood, causing them to bubble as the coating quickly dries.

Drying Conditions

A properly dried wood floor coating means that enough solvents have been removed from the coating to allow the polymer chains to entangle. Entanglement enhances adhesion, durability, and overall beauty of a coating. In dry winter conditions, one concern is flash drying due to very low humidity. In the summer, air exchange is important. The outside air is typically humid, and adding solvents or water to the air inside makes it even more saturated, slowing the drying and curing, so you should exchange the air in the room with fresh air. You don’t, however, want this happening directly on a freshly applied and still tacky finish. You don’t want to stir up dust from the rafters.

For best results in hot, humid, summer conditions, be prepared to turn down any airflow while the finish is being applied, and be prepared to get it turned back on several hours later. Air movement and circulation is the most important factor in drying any wood floor coating.

Temperature

Increased temperature can impact drying time in multiple ways. Higher temperature can increase the air’s capacity to carry vapor which can speed up drying, but only if air is circulating. High temperature can also increase the curing rate of solvents in the floor coating.

However, you do not want your wood floor coating to dry too fast. If it does, there may be some combing lines in the coating. Therefore, in low circulation conditions, more time must be taken before allowing regular traffic and moving furniture back onto the floor. When you have low circulation conditions and hot and humid summer conditions, it is especially important to allow more time.

It is always important to consider air circulation, temperature, and dry time when recoating your wood floors. Representatives from Buckeye’s Reflections^® Wood Floor Program have the knowledge and expertise to help you determine when and how to coat your wood floors. Representatives can help train your staff in proper coating applications and procedures.

Contact your local Buckeye representative to find out more information about the Reflections Wood Floor Program and the training that accompanies it.

The Buckeye Reflections^® Wood Floor Program will help you get brilliant shine and excellent durability out of your wood floors. Buckeye has data to back up these claims, but the best way to learn about Reflections is through a Reflections seminar.

With a Reflections seminar, you not only get to see the products in action, but you get the chance to participate in the prepping and recoating process.

Day 1

Buckeye representatives will walk through the process of prepping your wood floor, explaining each aspect as they begin to prep your floor. They will do the same as they scrub and tack, and apply Gym Bond with flat mops.

Afterwards there will be time for questions and a quick introduction to recoating your wood floors.

Day 2

Day 2 is more hands-on. Reflections offers great products, and one of its greatest assets is the MFMA (Maple Flooring Manufacturer’s Association) approved training your staff members will receive from Reflections representatives. Staff members will first learn about prepping procedures in a classroom setting and then will accompany Buckeye representatives in prepping the rest of the wood floor.

Once the floor has been prepped, staff members will have the opportunity to learn about recoating wood floors. Buckeye representatives will present the difference between oil-based and water-based wood coatings, the equipment needed to recoat your floors, the application process, and various maintenance procedures.

To conclude the presentation, staff members will begin to apply their knowledge by recoating the wood floor alongside Buckeye representatives. At the end of the day, all participants will have the opportunity to ask additional questions. Each participant will also receive a Certificate of Training.

Finished Product

By the end of a Reflections seminar, your staff will be fully trained on the preparation and recoating processes for your wood floors as well as additional maintenance procedures. Your wood floor will be completely recoated, giving you the opportunity to fully evaluate how Reflections products can have a long-term impact on your facility.

When asked about the Reflections Wood Floor Program a high-school Facilities Manager had this to say: “I could not believe the amount of pride my staff took in the wood floors once we implemented the Buckeye Reflections Program. For the first time we were receiving compliments on our wood floors instead of complaints. The Buckeye staff came and hosted a training with my staff on the upper wood floor. A year later they did a second training with my staff on the lower wood floor. Shortly after the second training my staff did the upper wood floor on their own and it turned out excellent.”

See how a Reflections seminar can have an impact on your facility and your staff by scheduling a seminar today.

“To preserve the beauty and life of your maple floor, the MFMA (Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association) recommends that recreational surfaces receive periodic refinishings. Facility use, abuse and maintenance will determine the appropriate refinishing schedule. Most gymnasium floors should be annually recoated.”¹

Wood floors are the foundation of your school’s gym but refinishing them is often costly and time consuming. However, properly recoating your wood floors is necessary to increase their shine and overall durability. Annually recoating a wood floor can extend its lifetime and protect you from the costly expense of replacing it before it has reached the end of its useful life.

Buckeye’s Reflections^® Wood Floor Program has the products, procedures, and training materials to best maintain your wood floor. Access to the proper training and equipment to get the job done make it possible to recoat your floors in-house. With Reflections, you can recoat your floors using many of the items you already have in your facility. Reflections uses the same tools used to strip and refinish VCT hallways and classrooms. This means no added equipment costs. You can coat your floors with your staff on your own time. With Reflections, you don’t need to wait for summer vacation. Recoating your gym floors can be done during winter or spring break.

Reflections couples readily available tools with hands-on training from Reflections representatives and web-based training approved by MFMA. Reflections representatives are experts in their field. They can make your wood floors last by helping you choose the right preparation method and wood floor coating.

“Our gym floors are the most expensive floors in our schools, so we have to be confident in the products we use. The Buckeye Reflections Wood Floor Program is a complete program, not just products, and the training is phenomenal! Now we can do our gym floors in-house and save money, and still get results like this!” – Francis Howell School District, St. Charles, MO

Buckeye’s Reflections cost calculator can show you how much your facility can save by comparing the cost of the Buckeye Reflections Wood Floor Program to your current wood floor maintenance costs. It factors in the size of your gym floor, how many coats your floor will need, and the cost of all products and supplies.

For more information on the Reflections Wood Floor Program, click here.

Contact your local Buckeye representative to find out how much your facility can save with the Reflections Wood Floor Program.

¹MFMA Industry Recommendations – Sanding, Sealing, Court Lining, Finishing & Resurfacing of Maple Gym Floors. (March 2008). Retrieved from http://www.maplefloor.org/TechnicalInfo/Sanding-and-Sealing/Annual-Maintenance-Refinishing.aspx

Cure time. Floor prep. Safety. A lot can factor into coating your wood floors. Here are some things to consider before deciding which wood floor coating is best for your facility.

A Floor’s Age

Simply put, oil-based wood floor coatings are the only choice for newly installed wood floors. Because wood is composed of cellulose, it is porous enough to absorb water. This is why wood often expands when the air is moist in the summer and contracts when the air is dry in the winter. Over time, wood develops polymer protection against water. Until floors have been coated at least 4 times, it’s best to use an oil-based wood floor coating.

VOCs and Cure Time

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are odorous gases that can sometimes be dangerous to the health of employees or others in your facility.

While curing, oil-based wood floor coatings often emit more VOCs than water-based wood floor coatings. Oil-based wood floor coatings can take 2 weeks to fully cure. This means, for places like schools, wood floors must be coated in the summer to give them enough time to cure and disperse any VOCs emitted.

For water-based wood floor coatings, cure time is much quicker. Gym floors coated with a water-based wood floor coating can be played on within 2-3 days and are fully cured within a week. They also emit less VOCs while curing. Because of this, a school’s gym floor can be coated with a water-based coating over a long weekend or during spring break. This gives staff the flexibility to choose when to recoat the floors and keeps heavy odors away from teachers and students.

Burnishing

Oil-based wood floor coatings do not respond well to burnishing. However, some water-based wood floor coatings can be burnished to bring back gloss and traction to a wood floor. Buckeye’s Arena 300 responds well to burnishing, helping you regain the shine and durability of your wood floor without having to completely recoat.

Prepping the Floor

There are two ways to prepare a wood floor before coating it, wet prep and dry prep. Dry prepping your floors is not ideal because it leaves behind lots of dust. However, if you plan to use an oil-based wood floor coating and wish to prep and coat your floors on the same day, dry prepping is the only option. This is especially true for new wood floors. Wet prepping new wood floors can cause the floor boards to expand and lead to cupping and peeling. If your wood floors are new, dry prepping them before applying an oil-based coating is the best way to coat your floors.

With older floors and water-based wood floor coatings, you can wet-prep and coat the floor on the same day. This eliminates dust and saves valuable time.

Environmental Safety

Water-based coatings are not flammable. Buckeye’s Arena^® 300 is one of the most environmentally safe coatings in the industry, with a NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) rating of 0 for Health, Fire, and Reactivity. Also, when you have finished coating your floors with a water-based wood floor coating like Arena 300, all tools used during the process can be cleaned with water.

For oil-based finishes, this is not the case. Oil-based coatings are flammable and once you have finished coating the floor, the tools used to complete the process must be cleaned with flammable mineral spirits. Oil-based wood floor coatings often have more significant warnings on safety data sheets and, as mentioned, emit more volatile organic compounds into the air.

Room Temperature and Humidity

Fluctuation in room temperature can often cause wood floors to expand or shrink, causing cracks and air pockets to form between boards. The Maple Floor Manufacturing Association recommends that maple wood gyms be kept at a relative humidity of 35-50% and a temperature between 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit year round. While no coatings are immune to the problems that come with changes in temperature and humidity, oil-based coatings tend to resist cracking better than water-based coatings. If your facility has difficulty regulating its temperature or relative humidity, an oil-based coating may be the best choice.

Overall Savings

In addition to the features mentioned above, oil-based wood floor coatings are often less expensive to manufacture and therefore cheaper for the end user. They also only require 1-2 coats in comparison to the 2-3 required for water-based wood floor coatings.

In contrast, the overall savings offered by water-based wood floor coatings can make a difference in your facility. Water-based coatings can save staff time when prepping the floor. Their quick cure time can make the most of your gym floor year round.

Buckeye’s Reflections^® Wood Floor Program has oil-based and water-based urethanes depending on your facility’s needs. To find out more about Reflections and which wood floor coatings are right for your facility, contact your local Buckeye representative.

Gym floors are some of the most expensive floors in your facility. Finding a cost effective way to maintain them can be difficult. Buckeye’s Reflections^® Wood Floor Program can reduce costs, provide excellent durability, and extend the life of your wood floors.

One of the simplest ways the Reflections program saves money is through the training it provides. With Reflections, employees can be trained to prep and recoat gym floors. For daily, weekly, and as-needed procedures, the Reflections Maintenance Wall Charts guide employees in proper gym floor maintenance procedures. The program provides comprehensive in-person and online training with tools like the Reflections Maintenance training videos. These videos provide employees with valuable information, covering topics like burnishing wood floors and vacuuming mats.

Buckeye uses the most innovative methods to help save time and money. When you’re ready to coat your gym floor, the Buckeye Reflections Wood Floor Program covers the proper techniques for applying both oil and water-based wood floor coatings including recommended product coverage, dry times, cure times, recoat windows, and more. With Buckeye’s latest and most innovative preparation method, the Gym Bond/Autoscrubber prep method, facilities can save up to 60% of the typical time and labor spent on prepping wood floors.

Buckeye knows that every gym floor is different. Reflections products include both water-based and oil-based wood floor coatings, as well as other wood floor maintenance products. These products hold up well to scuffing and scratching. They are easy to apply, less viscous, and don’t have harsh odors. The Reflections Wood Floor Program and its products can be customized to fit your facility needs, ensuring the improved durability, shine, and life of your gym floors.

Find out how much you can save with the Reflections Wood Floor Program using the Reflections Cost Calculator. Contact your local Buckeye representative for more information.

On September 11-14, 2017 Buckeye will join the entire cleaning industry at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America Trade Show and ISSA Convention, the largest industry trade show of the year, in Las Vegas, NV. ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America is where new strategies, insights, and products are on display. While there, discover opportunities to achieve greater profits and improved efficiency for your company.

Buckeye will be at ISSA to discuss the advantages of programs like our Eco^® Proportioning Program, Reflections^® Wood Floor Program, Hard Floor Care Program, and Symmetry^® Hand Hygiene Program. Learn about these programs and new products from Buckeye at booth #3943.

Join us and 16,000+ professionals in the cleaning industry including distributors, building service contractors, facility decision makers, and residential cleaning companies. Exhibitors from over 25 countries will be participating to showcase the latest products and services. ISSA/INTERCLEAN will have 60+ education seminars and training workshops as well as over 700 suppliers and equipment manufacturers.

Visit us in Las Vegas to share market insights and discover the value of Buckeye programs and products.