Croft Beck Floors replaces faulty competitor’s floor, with durable Robbins Bio-Channel SB

A quality wooden gymnasium floor might be a costly expenditure, but it can also be worth every penny as an immense asset and a source of pride for schools and sporting venues. But what happens when that flooring system is faulty and doesn’t perform well? Then that asset turns into a pricey mistake.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened at Southern Utah University’s America First Event Center in Cedar City. That is, until Croft Beck Floors, an exclusive Robbins dealer, solved the problem by replacing the subpar floor with 7,350-square-feet of a Robbins Bio-Channel SB flooring system last July. The project earned Croft Beck a nomination for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

“The support system underneath was giving too much, allowing it to flex too much so the boards would crack, especially the tongue-in-groove areas. We had a lot of cracked boards,” said the Center’s Director of Custodial Services and Sustainability Ralph Savage.

When Croft Beck replaced the defective floor last year, it was fourteen years old, but the floor started experiencing problems just a few years after being installed. Every time the NBA-style stanchions were rolled onto the floor, boards inevitably cracked under the pressure.

“We were having to do repairs every year because of the way they were cracking,” Savage explained. “It was getting to the point it was not going to be safe anymore. We understand a floor should last a lot more than 14 years so we were looking for something that would hold up to the weight … and ultimately be a safe venue for our athletes.”

Savage said the university hired an architect to find a floor that would hold up to the weight of the stanchions and better meet the needs of the SUU Thunderbirds. The architect recommended a Robbins flooring system. Two companies bid on the project – Robbins and a competitor and installer of the previous floor. Robbins won out.

Robbins Regional Manager Jim Colla previously worked with the architect and suggested Croft Beck Floors over the competitor.

“Croft had been around for a long time and they have a wonderful reputation in their market area,” Colla said. “They (SUU) had a competitor’s floor that had not performed to their expectations and they were still giving them an opportunity to play in the game so-to-speak. I said if you give us a chance I think you’ll be very happy with the work that Croft Beck does.”

They opted for Robbins and they were very happy.

“They love it,” Savage exclaimed. “The players like the look and feel of the floor.”

That’s due in large part to Croft Beck Floors Owner Gary Beck. Beck visited the university multiple times over the course of three years to fully investigate the issues and formulate a plan of how to provide SUU with a good flooring system.

Beck found the installation was incomplete and there was moisture throughout the underlying concrete slab. Coupling those issues with a floor that is incapable of handling high point loads resulted in a disastrous floor for SUU.

He recommended the Bio-Channel SB, a high-performance anchored floor that holds up under heavy loads. The self blocking technology and continuous interwoven subfloor design is durable, maintains structural integrity, and was exactly was SUU needed. It would resolve all of the unacceptable conditions and provide a state-of-the-art, aesthetically pleasing athletic floor with outstanding longevity. Plus, Croft Beck corrected the unforeseen moisture issue through a moisture mitigation system in an expedited fashion, keeping the project timeline on schedule.

Now the floor is the perfect venue for the Thunderbirds’ needs – basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, stage productions, commencements and other events.

“They were just great to work with through the whole process,” Savage said.

As an authorized Robbins dealer, Croft Beck is an expert in sports flooring. They don’t farm their work out to inexperienced installers. They carefully study each case to learn the needs of the facility and direct the client to products that meet their needs. The right product is installed correctly for each individual job.

Sometimes Robbins isn’t always the cheapest, but it is the best and in the long run, the product will outlast the competitors, making it more cost-effective in the long run.

“Robbins has had floors in for 60-plus years,” related Croft Beck Floors Administrative Assistant who worked on the SUU project. “It just depends on how they maintain it and treat it.”

Croft Beck’s hard work, integrity and quality service resulted in a nomination for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

“It makes us proud of the work that we’ve completed and we take pride in providing owners with floors that are going to last them a long time,” Dial expressed. “We do it right so they’re happy with it.”

Croft Beck previously won a Sports Surface of the Year Award for a combination Pulastic® and wood floor project.

“It makes us feel validated that we’re doing a good job that makes our customers happy,” Dial said.