It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce our new Vice President of Manufacturing, Rick Lovorn, as he officially stepped into the role this week upon the retirement of John Williams.

Originally from South Carolina, Rick joined the Robbins family in 2021 and relocated to our facility in White Lake, Wisconsin to begin learning the inner workings of Robbins, and preparing to take over the role as Vice President of Manufacturing. Throughout his career, Rick has served in senior management positions and focused heavily on the implementation and improvement of LEAN manufacturing and automation. In his time at Robbins thus far, Rick has been working to present ways to improve the flow of the workplace, reduce waste, and encourage a workplace culture that focuses on the operation of the company as a whole, rather than each individual step in our process.

One of the key concepts that Rick has been working to integrate at Robbins is the idea of root-cause problem solving. He notes that in the year he has been here, there has already been a cultural shift in the way that team members view the Robbins process, and utilize critical thinking skills to develop new, innovative ways to make improvements and sustain the gains that have been made. Rick is optimistic about the future of Robbins and is looking forward to see the continuation of employees learning, growing, and challenging the status quo, as well as continuing to improve our cost and growing market share.

Rick states that his favorite aspects of working at Robbins are the comradery, positivity, and family atmosphere, the driving forces that make Robbins a great team to be part of. Congratulations, Rick! We are so lucky to have you on Team Robbins.

From left to right: Jairo Vargas, Robbins International Sales Manager; Pat Folz, Robbins CFO; John Ficks, Robbins Global Sales and Marketing Manager; Jay Stoehr, Robbins Chairman and Owner; Jim Remmel, Robbins Finance; Kimberly A. Reed, Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Chairman

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed presented an Exporter of the Year award to Robbins, Inc. a family-owned small business headquartered in Cincinnati that manufactures sports flooring systems featuring hardwood maple flooring, and toured the company’s facilities.

Robbins, established as a flooring installation company in 1894, manufactures high-performance maple and synthetic flooring systems for sports and performing arts venues that can be found in 70 countries.  Robbins’ flooring systems are used by National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional teams; National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
programs; and thousands of school, college, university, and recreational facilities across the United States, Canada, and the world.

“Robbins Sports Surfaces is an Ohio small business success story that also makes jobs possible in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where the strong maple hardwood trees that comprise these beautiful floors are grown and harvested. Be it your local elementary school gymnasium, your favorite N.B.A.  team, or a nationally recognized performing arts center, the high-performance sports floor very well could be Robbins. EXIM’s export credit insurance helps bring these high-quality ‘Made in the USA’ systems—made by U.S. workers—to floors in countries around the world,” said Chairman Reed. “As a 2020 Exporter of the Year, Robbins Sports Surfaces exemplifies how EXIM supports innovative small businesses as they compete in the global marketplace and support American jobs.”

To access new markets abroad, Robbins has relied on EXIM’s export credit insurance for its international sales strategy since 2003. EXIM’s insurance enabled the company to offer customers favorable payment terms needed to secure new projects and grow international sales. That allowed Robbins to further increase sales in its original markets and expand into new countries. EXIM supports approximately 50 percent of Robbins’ international sales, and exports sustain the jobs of the entire workforce of 180 employees. Since 2014, EXIM has supported exports valued at more than $7 million.

“Robbins is a small family business operating in a global market. The assistance provided by EXIM allows us to compete at a higher level when meeting demand for athletic flooring systems for projects around the world,” said John Ficks, Global Sales and Marketing Manager for Robbins. “EXIM makes it possible for Robbins to extend payment terms to our export customers who are often small businesses with limited access to credit. Our ability to compete internationally not only assists Robbins in our success but supports the entire community of working Americans involved in the hardwood forestry community.”

ABOUT ROBBINS:  

Established as a flooring installation company in 1894, Robbins manufactures high-performance maple and synthetic flooring systems for sports and performing arts venues that can be found in 70 countries.  Robbins’ flooring systems are used by National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional teams; National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs; and thousands of school, college, university, and recreational facilities across the United  States, Canada and the world. Robbins has been celebrated as a true game-changer in the sport industry. They lead the way with remarkable new, first-to-market, flooring innovations that are changing the way  the same is played.  www.robbinsfloor.com  

ABOUT EXIM: 

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency’s authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt. www.exim.gov

Robbins has launched a new digital tool to make it easier for users to find the best suited sports floor for their facility. The new Floor Selector tool takes users through a series of questions that will help them focus on the needs of their facility, and narrow down the results to match those needs.

According to Jamie Darpel, Marketing Manager for Robbins, there are an overwhelming number of sports flooring options in the sports surfacing industry and knowing which floor is the right fit, isn’t always an easy task.

“It is very easy for our customers to get overwhelmed and to not know if they are choosing the right product or not”, says Darpel. “We wanted to build a tool that helps guide our customers so they can have a customized experience as they search for the right floor. Installing a new floor is a big investment and a time consuming project. We want them to be confident in the choice they make.”

Robbins new Floor Selector considers several factors when taking users through the process. Facility type, primary activity, as well as safety and performance requirements are just a few of the questions users are asked.

Upon completion of the questions, users will be presented with up to 4 product recommendations. Results can be downloaded in a pdf and will also be emailed to the user for their records. They will then have the option of speaking directly with a Robbins dealer about the recommended products, who can also perform a full assessment of the facility and provide users with a quote.

“The recommended products will get users off to a great start in the floor selection journey. However, there are a lot of variables involved when selecting the final product. Slab depression, heavy load requirements, environmental conditions, are just a few of the variables that can affect the final floor selection. Due to these variables, users will most definitely want to consult with their Robbins dealer after they receive their results to get a thorough analysis of their facility prior to making the final decision”, says Darpel.

The new tool can be accessed on the top navigation on the Robbins website, or by going directly to floorselector.robbinsfloor.com.

When Tony Rewa contacted Foster Specialty Floors last summer for a quote on a new gym floor, not only did he wind up getting a stunning new sports surface, but he also formed a long-term partnership for the future.

Rewa, facility director for PrepNet, a charter high school system network in Michigan, needed to replace an old, outdated, peeling vinyl gymnasium floor at Taylor Preparatory High School. He found Foster Specialty Floors, an exclusive Robbins dealer, through an online search.

“The floor that was in there was a vinyl sports floor and it just had reached its peak in life,” Rewa said, noting the 28-year-old vinyl was bubbling, tearing and separating, making the floor unsafe. “I had gotten numerous quotes from all over.”

But it was Foster, winner of last year’s Robbins Sports Surface of the Year (SSOTY) Award for their installation for the Michigan State Spartans, who helped find the perfect floor for the project. Vice President of Sales Jordan Foster, part of the fourth generation of the family-owned business, walked Rewa through all the options and presented him with a floor that would best fit Taylor Prep’s need for a multipurpose surface while respecting budgetary constraints. Jordan took his time, detailing the pros and cons of the various floors including hardwood and vinyl surfaces.

They ultimately selected the synthetic Pulastic® Classic 90 sports floor system, a high-performing seamless synthetic flooring system that is durable and versatile. The poured urethane surface won’t peel or bubble like vinyl, is easy to maintenance, and lasts for decades.

“Pulastic is poured as a liquid so it gives you that nice seamless, smooth look,” Rewa said. “It also worked out with all my doorway transitions so we didn’t have to change any of that. And if the floor ever was damaged, chipped, stained, whatever, they can always come in and they can cut a little chunk out and replace it and basically flow it back together with almost a seamless look.”

Rewa said in the sports world everyone wants a wood floor, but for the Taylor Prep Tigers there were too many obstacles with a hardwood surface. Rewa said Jordan reassured him that the Pulastic system would meet and exceed his needs based on performance, aesthetics, cost-effectiveness and ease of maintenance. Rewa wanted to install the right product so the floor would last. Plus, with a 25-year warranty, he couldn’t lose. Now nearly a year later, he is still thrilled with his choice.

“He felt really strongly that I would be pleased with it and the warranty system on it, how it reacted, and the budget,” Rewa recalled. “It’s been an impressive floor in many different aspects. It’s really a floor that you kind of set it and forget it. There’s really not a lot of upkeep for us and with the way they did all the painting on there, it’s really pretty hard to tell that it’s not that old traditional wood floor.”

Jordan said they have Pulastic installations that are 30 years old and still in great shape because Pulastic can be refurbished to extend the floor’s life.

“You can kind of always resurface it or make it last more or less forever,” Jordan said. “It doesn’t wear out like a vinyl floor would. Even with a wood floor, if you were sanding it and refinishing it, eventually you’d sand through all the wood that was there and with this one you wouldn’t. You would resurface it, pour more of the resin on top, do repairs, repaint it, do whatever to keep the base mat intact and still resurface the top.”

The 8,800-square-foot installation took three weeks and features a main basketball court with two cross courts and a main volleyball court with two cross courts, and is now the pride of the school. Not only do the Tigers’ basketball and volleyball teams love the floor, but so do visitors. Rewa said he gets compliments on the comfort and look of the floor all the time.

Rewa was so satisfied with the project that Foster is currently working on another gymnasium install for Rewa at Westfield Preparatory High School. The building, set to open in the fall, will feature the very first installation of the new Robbins VCP II system, an anchored hardwood maple system featuring Robbins Continuous Strip® XL.

Rewa said he will rely on Foster and Robbins for his flooring needs for the schools he oversees from now on, and Jordan describes the partnership as the ideal customer relationship.

“We worked really well together on the Taylor Prep project and everything’s been going really smoothly at the Westfield project,” Jordan said. “It’s exactly the type of business-customer relationship that we like to have. There’s a level of trust there, we can meet his needs and when he’s got an issue we’re going to take care of it. This Taylor Prep job really laid the groundwork for that and I think as long as we continue to deliver quality services to him, I’m sure he’s going to continue to call us.”

This project has earned Foster Specialty Floors a shot at this year’s SSOTY Award. Winners will be announced next month.

Most of the time, Dude Perfect’s insanely impressive trick shots are met with a deluge of high-fives and creatively choreographed celebrations. That wasn’t the case, however, when a stunt last fall resulted only in a deluge of water, destroying the dudes’ basketball court – a necessity for the group’s Texas-based sports entertainment business.

With over 37 million YouTube subscribers and a hit show on Nickelodeon, the uber-popular band of friends who specialize in sports stunts were flooded with problems when the coupling on a hose busted inside their warehouse while filming one of their famous trick shots.

“With Dude Perfect’s business, we’re filming for our clients constantly,” Dude Perfect Business Manager Jeff Toney explained. “We’re also filming Season 3 of our television show on Nickelodeon, so we really only had a short window of opportunity to kind of basically rip the old flooring out that was damaged from the flood and replace it with brand new flooring, because we had to put it in use quickly.”

Keeping on track with their production schedule is important, so when things went awry in the Dude Perfect world, they turned to Robbins and Ponder Company, an exclusive Robbins dealer in Texas. Toney said Ponder and Robbins came highly recommended because of their work at area high schools and universities.

“We got in touch with them and actually were very impressed with not only their crew, but their creative design and some of the things that we could do with our floor that we hadn’t even thought of,” Toney said.

Abby Mitchell, chief operating officer at Ponder Company, said since there is no slab depression and the court sits directly atop concrete, they opted for a Robbins Bio-Channel® LP (low-profile). The Bio-Channel LP would fit seamlessly in the facility and offers better performance, better deflection characteristics and better floor uniformity than the previous Junckers floor. Because a quick install was a must, Ponder brought in pre-sanded XL maple to save time and cut down on dust.

But it was the total redesign of the floor graphics that took the dudes’ court to a new level. Mitchell suggested amping up the look of the previous court to reflect the awesomeness of Dude Perfect. What better way to do that than a one-of-a-kind GameTime Wrap?

GameTime is a Robbins partner company specializing in permanent vinyl graphics for sports floors, and other surfaces like vehicles and walls. GameTime has the most advanced design and printing capabilities in the market, so any graphic or center court logo imaginable may be printed. Not only are the graphics capabilities, detail and uniformity unmatched with a GameTime Wrap, but for a project like this where time is of the essence, it’s a lifesaver. Traditional painted and stained logos and graphics can take several days to hand paint and dry, so the time and labor savings is a great benefit.

“The fact that we can pretty much do an unlimited array of graphics – things you really can’t paint even if you had time to do it – you still can’t produce what we could do in a day and a half,” said Bob Sahr, owner of Arkansas-based GameTime Wraps.

Sahr said working with Dude Perfect, Robbins and Ponder was seamless.

“They (Dude Perfect) were extremely nice and helpful and Abby’s group, Ponder, is always incredible to work with,” Sahr related. “We have really good relationships with many of the Robbins dealers and it seems to always go that way.”

The collaboration between GameTime and Dude Perfect resulted in a honeycomb graphic with a grey stain and Dude Perfect mint green that looks amazing next to the gradient in the design. And the entire project took two weeks, about half the normal time.

“They worked with our schedule and actually worked straight through the weekends and did a fabulous job,” Toney extolled. “It’s a real conversation piece and obviously we’ve got a 30,000-square-foot facility that we use to film and play, as some people would say. It’s just something that is really kind of eye-catching and looks good but also performs well.”

Not only has the floor been used during filming, but the athletic dudes also use the floor for regularly scheduled weekly basketball games.

“You can definitely tell the difference,” Toney continued. “The floor seems to be an upgrade in terms of, not only the look, but the professional feel of the floor and its responsiveness.”

The new court, as well as the stunt that resulted in the flood, will be featured on Nickelodeon during Season 3, which premieres Feb. 8. It has also been nominated for a Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

Mitchell submitted the project for SSOTY nomination due to the quick turnaround and stunning results for such a high-profile client. Plus, the dudes, known to be generous with their time and finances donated the old floor so that it could be repurposed into toys for children who are patients at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

When it was time to replace the athletic court at the Icardo Center, officials at California State University, Bakersfield knew who they could trust and where to turn – Robbins Flooring and Pacific Floor Company. After all, Pacific, an authorized Robbins dealer, had performed maintenance work at CSUB for some time.

“They’ve really been our go-to person for any type of repairs that we’ve done on our floors for a number of years and they’ve always done a great job,” said CSUB Senior Associate Director of Athletics Karen Langston. “We’ve always really relied on them to keep the courts that we had in as good of shape as they could possibly be.”

The choice was clear not only because of their previous work, but also because Robbins is an approved vendor of Sourcewell, the national cooperative purchasing program formerly known as NJPA. Every four years Robbins must submit a bid to be considered and selected as an approved vendor. Sourcewell members, like Robbins, are thoroughly vetted so it’s easier for schools and other organizations to choose a trusted vendor when it comes to making a major purchase like a new gym floor.

Sourcewell ensures public bidding requirements are satisfied and the contract is awarded to the vendor of choice, not simply the lowest bidder, as prices are preset. Because the Robbins/Pacific track record was outstanding, CSUB decisively chose Robbins over Connor Sports, Robbins’ competitor and another Sourcewell vendor.

“Using Sourcewell, they didn’t have to go search out Connor,” said Sales Manager and Estimator at Pacific Floor Company Mark Herthel. “We had a relationship with the university already and I think they certainly wanted to work with not only Robbins, but certainly Pacific Floor Company.”

Plus, the CSUB Roadrunners had a bit of a unique situation, and they knew Robbins and Pacific could get the job done right. Not only was the old, original standard sleeper flooring system with 33/32″ maple still in place, but there was also a refurbished portable sitting atop the original floor that needed replacing. The portable functioned as the Runners’ center competition court, but was elevated three inches higher than the rest of the floor. Big, black ramps were installed to ease the transition, but there were still safety concerns.

“The portable court was also starting to lose its performance,” Langston said. “We knew it was important for our student-athletes who compete on that floor – men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball … to have the very best tools to have them be as successful as possible, and to make sure that we’re being conscientious about their health and their ability to perform at the highest level.”

No question, the lifespan of the two floors had expired. Neither offered the resiliency and support needed for athlete safety and success or for the success of the program itself. But, it wasn’t in the budget to replace all 25,000 square feet of gym flooring. Herthel was able to offer a solution that was cost-effective and resulted in an entire floor that looked and felt brand new.

Herthel removed the portable and replaced just the main court of the original floor underneath with a 7,300-square-foot Bio-Channel® Classic. The rest of the floor had enough life remaining to sand to bare wood, refinish it and paint it with the signature solid blue court and graphics, to tie it in seamlessly with the new court.

“You can’t even tell a difference when you look at the floor,” Langston said. “There’s no indication of where the break is from the main floor that was replaced to the floor that was refinished. I know where it is because they showed me and I recognize where it is because I was part of the project, but there isn’t another person who’s walked in there who does. Most people think we replaced the whole floor.”

The one thing everyone did recognize was the difference in the performance and comfort of the floor. The court was unveiled mid-August and Langston said athletes noticed the major improvements immediately. Before, it felt like playing on concrete. Now the comfort and resiliency were striking.

“Our basketball coaches have talked about recovery time and the guys feel so much better after practice,” Langston said. “It makes a huge difference.”

The upgraded, high-quality floor will reduce injuries, which can affect an athlete’s playing time and future career in sports. Herthel said while the method was unconventional, the results were extraordinary.

“Usually you tear out the entire floor,” Herthel said. “But this worked fine and they’ve got an excellent floor to play their games on now.”

According to Herthel, the Bio-Channel Classic is an engineered sleeper system, but it’s steel encased and anchored with a high-performance pad.

“Compared to the old 2 by 3 sleepers that would have been on a 3/8 neoprene pad which don’t last very long,” Herthel said. “This is still a sleeper system, but it’s much more advanced.”

Top programs such as Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, the Wizards, the Lakers, the Timberwolves, the Magic and the Cavaliers all use the Bio-Channel Classic. So, the CSUB Roadrunners are in good company with their new Robbins floor, dubbed Kern Schools Court.

The school is extremely satisfied with the new floor and the project was nominated for the Robbins Sports Surface of the Year Award.

Robbins sashayed into the dance business in 2015 when they premiered a new sprung flooring product line engineered specifically for the performing arts market. Although Robbins was already a proven industry leader in sports flooring, with millions of square feet of flooring canvassing 65 nations on six continents, they were not by any means, newcomers to the dance market and had been designing stage and fitness flooring for decades. However, designing a specialty floor line just for dancers was unchartered territory for Robbins.

In true Robbins fashion, they didn’t delve into this specialty lightly, however. In fact, the research and development team at Robbins worked for years to learn what a performer needs in a floor versus what, say, an athlete on a basketball court needs. The experts at Robbins collaborated with top theater consultants and dancers to assess a performer’s needs, injury rates, how much vibration control is necessary, how hard or soft a floor should be, the various shoes dancers wear, and a multitude of other factors resulting in the most advanced professional, highest performing sprung dance floor systems in the field.

While Robbins may not be the biggest name in dance flooring – yet, their products are top notch and are often far superior to those of the top sellers, including Harlequin, according to Abby Mitchell, chief operating officer at Ponder Company, a Texas-based exclusive Robbins dealer. Mitchell said one of the biggest differences is that anyone can install a Harlequin floor. Not so with Robbins.

“A lot of times you can buy direct from Harlequin and they’ll just outsource the labor to put the floor in, so they really don’t have control over who’s putting stuff in,” Mitchell explained. “Robbins has a dealer network and they are very selective about who gets in, and everyone is trained on their floors.”

Mitchell said time and again she’s seen competitors’ floors installed improperly, with faulty materials or missing a moisture membrane entirely, resulting in a product akin to a cheap basketball court, spelling trouble for users of the floor. With Robbins expertly trained and vetted installers, Mitchell says customers know exactly what their getting.

And Mitchell knows dance flooring. Not only is indoor sports flooring her livelihood, it’s also her passion. As the mother of four girls, spending up to 20 hours a week each in the dance studio, Mitchell wants only the best for her daughters, and she expects nothing less for her clients. Proper engineering means less fatigue for dancers like her daughters. It also means dancers can perform longer and more safely, preventing injury.

“Making sure you have a good floor to protect that body is crucial because if you have a hard floor without the resiliency, the knees, the hips, all the joints are going to suffer,” Mitchell said.
When her daughters’ home studio, Legacy Dance Center in Frisco, Texas, was constructing a new 10,000 square-foot facility in 2015, Mitchell was instrumental in the installation of a Robbins Le Lena B vinyl sprung floor in their six studios. The triple layer resilient sprung subfloor dampens vibration and provides spring and comfort for almost any dance activity, which is crucial at Legacy, where dancers perform everything from tap to ballet to hip hop.

Scott Purcel, who along with his wife Pamela, owns Legacy, said vinyl allows for multipurpose use, as well as easy maintenance.

“We have productions and usage 355 days out of the year,” Purcel detailed. “The other ten days of the year we’re not in there we’re probably at a theater performing somewhere. We just want a floor that’s very reliable, that ‘s multi-use, and basically is safe for the dancers.”

Purcel said the Robbins floor has been a great fit for his dance center and he would definitely buy from Robbins and Ponder again.

“For me it’s really not about the marketing.” Purcel indicated. “You know a lot of these other companies have marketing and trucks and everything with their name on the side of them. That’s not us. We’re about safety for the dancers, and that dancers are able to dance on all types of floors.”

But Robbins has a multitude of floors to meet the needs of every facility. In the case of Texas Christian University, Ponder installed a Robbins Le Lena B wood sprung dance floor with a maple surface after flooding occurred on their previous floor.

“TCU’s Facility Services/Physical Plant selected Robbins and Ponder to replace our flooring after a significant flood damaged the original,” said Professor and Director of Classical and Contemporary Dance at TCU Elizabeth Gillaspy. “The new flooring was installed in October 2017 in a space that houses our Pilates conditioning equipment and serves as a warm-up/rehearsal space for our dancers. Abby, our representative from Robbins and Ponder, was terrific to work with; keeping us apprised every step of the way during installation.”

They say beauty is only skin deep. That goes for flooring, too. It doesn’t matter if you have the most magnificent maple or a simply stunning synthetic – looks mean nothing if what’s underneath is ugly.

The foundation of any flooring is critical. Without the proper base, a floor, no matter how aesthetically amazing, will incur problems, not perform well, be a safety hazard for users, and will need to be replaced well before it should, costing more money in the long run.

Concrete plays a significant role in the sports flooring industry due to the majority of sports floors – both hardwood and synthetic – being installed over concrete. While concrete can provide a good solid surface for flooring, it can also be a detriment if not installed properly. If not completely cured or dried or if leveled improperly, the quality of the sports floor can be affected greatly and cause delays in your project or require major repairs for an existing floor.

Robbins, the sports flooring specialist, knows concrete inside and out and is dedicated to ensuring your project is a success, standing by their product, workmanship and installation from top to bottom.

“When we are installing a system, the expectation of that system is that it is going to last and last,” said Lisa Szczupaj, Robbins account manager at Sika USA, owner of the Sika Netherlands manufacturing plant, producer of Robbins Pulastic synthetic sports floor systems. “From the bottom up you want to ensure that everything about the installation of the system is built in a way that it is going to last a lifetime – 25 years plus without any issues. If it starts letting go at the slab you’ve got a problem from the bottom up that sacrifices your system ultimately.”

Why is moisture in concrete so important?

Szczupaj, an expert in the chemical composition of concrete, says that a major culprit in faulty concrete substrate is moisture content within the concrete.

Concrete mix design is of utmost importance when building a slab to ensure longevity. The concrete mix design is the process of selecting appropriate ingredients and their proportions for a concrete mixture.

“Part of what comes with that is using the right amount of water in the mix,” Szczupaj said. “Mixing concrete is just like making a cake. You don’t want too much liquid but if you don’t put enough it’s not going to turn out, so there’s a sweet spot.”

For a fluid applied urethane product like Pulastic, Szczupaj said moisture levels in the slab can affect adhesion. Urethane, by nature, reacts with moisture, so minimizing the moisture that comes into contact during application and cure of the product is important for the floor to stay put, according to Szczupaj.

And it’s widely understood that moisture negatively affects wood. Typically, wood floors are floating systems that do not seal off the slab, rather the wood lives off the ambient conditions that are caused by the environment, Szczupaj said. For instance, a concrete floor that’s not sealed has a high level of moisture, so the gap between the slab and the maple floor built on top could have a potentially damaging amount of relative humidity. While wood naturally expands and contracts, excess moisture can cause wood to be pushed beyond its limits, resulting in buckling, warping and splintering. It can also result in mildew or mold growth.

Causes of moisture problems

• Leaks – busted pipes, ceiling leaks, roof leaks.
• Major flooding, natural disasters.
• High humidity or drastic environmental changes.
• No moisture barrier or a faulty barrier installed beneath the concrete slab.
• Alkali-silica reactions.
• Improper curing or drying time for concrete.

Solving moisture problems

• Prevent leaks with regular maintenance and inspections. Any type of top-down moisture can wreak havoc, with wood floors in particular.
• When major fluctuations in humidity exist in a facility, flooring systems can suffer. Pulastic tends to hold up better than wood, regardless, controlling the environment is critical. “It’s very important that the environment is in what you would call “at-use” conditions,” Szczupaj said. “If you’re in a new construction situation, you don’t want to install a floor before the point that the heating and air conditioning goes live. You want the environment to be stable and you want it to be what the day-to -day environment will be when that floor is in use. Making sure that the facility is in at-use conditions prior to the installation is one of the best ways to ensure a quality, long-lasting floor installation.”
• If a high level of slab relative humidity exists, an epoxy or cementitious urethane can be applied to the slab as a moisture barrier for Pulastic systems. For wood systems, Robbins uses a VersaShield® Moisture Suppression System for situations with high concrete moisture.
• Make sure a 10 mil impermeable plastic liner beneath the concrete slab is installed to prevent ground moisture from coming up through the slab. If that liner is not present or is faulty, mold or mildew can result and create pressure underneath the flooring system, allowing pockets of moisture to rise.
• Ensure the proper concrete mix is utilized, and minimize moisture in the slab. When highly alkaline concrete mix reacts with moisture and silica present in the aggregate, an alkali-silica gel results. The gel will cause the concrete to fail, as the floor pops off or adhesion issues arise.
• Allow the concrete to properly dry or cure. Cure time and moisture are positively correlated. Sometimes contractors give cure rates as 30 days per inch of slab, but that’s not about the concrete drying or curing off or moisture being released, according to Szczupaj. “In our industry we basically say it’s not about time,” Szczupaj explained. “It’s about the current state of the slab.” Szczupaj said to steer clear of anyone who quotes any hard and fast rules associated with curing time. Many factors, including ambient and exterior conditions come into play. Robbins relies on a Tramex moisture meter for accurate results. While Robbins always operates in the most timely manner, they will never skimp on quality to rush a job.

Properly installing a flooring system can be detailed, labor-intensive and often times challenging right down to the concrete. Robbins prioritizes doing what’s right for your project to ensure longevity and quality, beginning even before the flooring system is installed.

After a pipe burst last September at Mandaree High School in North Dakota flooding the gymnasium, it looked like the Warriors’ entire basketball season would literally be under water. Luckily school officials wasted no time in turning to the professionals at Anderson Ladd, an authorized Robbins dealer, whose quick action rallied the Warriors from a near catastrophe and set them on the path to a winning season.

Anderson Ladd was able to remediate the water, demo the existing floor and reinstall an 8,300-square-foot Robbins Bio-Cushion® Classic with Continuous Strip® XL maple flooring in less than two months – just in time for the start of the basketball season.

The fact that Mandaree Schools immediately contacted Anderson Ladd instead of calling a flood restoration company or local flooring contractor – both of which have no expertise in gym floors – not only speaks volumes of Anderson Ladd’s reputation, but saved valuable time in remedying the problem. It was that trust and the partnership between Robbins, Anderson Ladd and Mandaree Schools that got the project off to a running start and completed expeditiously, according to Brandon Larson, Dealer Salesperson and Facilities Solutions Specialist at Anderson Ladd. The project was also named a Sports Surface of the Year Finalist.

“Robbins helped me out tremendously with all the materials that were needed, Mandaree School was great on communication,” Larson said. “All in all it’s just a picture-perfect absolute disaster story that turned into a brand new beautiful gym floor that they were able to use for their first home basketball game.”

But most incredible was the integrity of the previous floor that was damaged by the floodwaters. The roughly seven-year-old floor was the same Robbins Bio-Cushion Classic with XL maple that Mandaree reinstalled after the flooding.

“Water and wood do not mix…usually with a random length gym floor if it experiences any flooding, it will expand and usually break the tongue-and-groove on that maple,” Larson explained. “The XLplus maple held up tremendously. It (the floor) actually raised up about two feet in the air, but the joints and the tongue-and-grooves never broke on the floor which is a story in itself.”

Larson said despite the immense pressure of the water, the performance of the maple exhibits the product’s longevity and quality, and shows why it’s a good option for flooring.

Robbins Maple Product Manager John Puening attributes the success of the Bio-Cushion Classic to the sheer length and strength of the XL maple. According to Puening, Robbins finger joints anywhere from two to five random length boards together to make a premium product seven foot long board, replacing traditional end joints with seams that are significantly stronger. “The XL is straighter, stronger and longer compared to random length flooring,” Puening said.

The weakest part of any floor, according to Puening, is the groove to groove intersection. With the XL boards, there are less groove to groove intersections and up to 70 percent fewer end joints, resulting in less weak spots and a stronger flooring system. Independent research conducted at Purdue University indicates that, when compared to systems using standard strip, systems using Continuous Strip XL tend to be up to three times as strong.

Additionally the product’s strength eliminates the need, and cost, for an added layer of plywood, which is necessary in other types of flooring. The boards are also easier to sand, therefore less material is removed when leveling the playing surface. That means a longer lasting flooring system.

“If I can have a floor that will get me one more sanding, and typically it’s ten years between sandings, then I can have a floor that lasts ten years longer,” Puening explained.

Vinyl might be good for siding or records, but not for basketball courts. At Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, they discovered that the hard way. The school, one of South Florida’s largest Christian schools, was forced to throw good money after bad constantly repairing a hazardous vinyl gymnasium floor until parents and administrators decided their students deserved the best – a premium Robbins maple floor installed by Robbins Dealer Impact Sport Surfaces.

“They (the vinyl installer) used the wrong glue to put the floor down and it was bubbling, so at the seams it was ripping and then there would be bubbling underneath and we would have them repair it every year for like 1200 bucks,” says CCA Athletics Director Keith Huisman. “We were just dealing with constant performance issues in terms of it being a trip hazard.”

One bubble was 15 feet long running between the basket and the 3-point line right in the middle of play. The repair involved cutting the floor and reapplying glue. But, as soon as one bubble would be fixed, a new one would pop up.

The 10-year-old floor needed to be replaced before a major injury occurred. The 2017 State Champion CCA Eagles, some of whom were being scouted by colleges and universities nationally, as well as the school’s volleyball players, needed a safe, quality playing surface.

Robbins officials said this scenario is all too common and is a main reason they refuse to install a subpar vinyl flooring product for their customers.

Safety and Performance
There is no comparison between a vinyl and a high-quality maple basketball court. For Robbins, athlete and user safety is of the utmost concern. That’s why Robbins has a dedicated full-time research and product development staff that is committed to maximizing player safety.

“The best thing you can do on a floor system to prevent injuries is make the floor system as uniform as possible, that means every step the individual takes is performing the same,” explains Robbins Maple Product Manager John Puening. “With our wood floor it’s basically going to be one monolithic surface.”

That’s not so with a vinyl floor, according to Puening, who holds a degree in Manufacturing Engineering. For the last two decades Puening has worked at Robbins and done research and development building, designing and testing product samples.

According to Puening, vinyl is manufactured in rolls which are laid upon a concrete surface with adhesive. The rolls are then seamed together. Puening said in artificial athlete testing, there is great variation between the center of a roll versus at the seams – a big safety risk.

In the case of many vinyl floors like the CCA floor, the adhesive failed, leaving the floor prone to bubbling and tearing, which could be catastrophic for athletes.

Robbins floors are designed to be resilient and comfortable. They are tested for force reduction and deflection properties. For instance, a Robbins Bio-Channel SB will have a force reduction, or shock absorption, of about 60 percent, whereas a vinyl floor ranges from 20 percent to 40 percent, at best. Additionally, the deflection capabilities, or how far the floor moves up and down, are far superior on a wood floor.

Vinyl floors are notorious for using closed-cell foam pads for their resilient aspect of the floor, as well. “What happens with closed-cell foam is, if you can imagine like a bubble wrap, once you pop the bubble basically the protection that bubble wrap provides is gone,” Puening explains.

Puening said it’s not unusual for the vinyl floor to become depressed under the basket and in the lane, the more heavily used parts of the floor.

With Robbins Bio-Channel SB, an open-cell foam is used, which is a sponge-like material that bounces back and regains its shape time after time, keeping the wood floor uniform throughout its 40-year life expectancy.

Cost
While the upfront cost of a wood floor is slightly higher than vinyl, on average $106,000 versus $80,500, the cost over the lifetime makes the wood floor a much better value. A wood floor will last 40 years, whereas a vinyl floor is lucky to make it to the 15-year mark. Considering the maintenance and repair costs, a wood floor averages $131,850 over 40 years, with a vinyl floor coming in at a steep $313,230 over the same time period – nearly 2-and-a-half times the cost!

Annual maintenance on a wood floor includes abrading or lightly sanding the floor, then putting on a coat of finish to make it pop and look brand new. Every ten years, it is recommended to sand down to bare wood, where graphics can be changed up, also.

“You can change the whole personality of the floor with different game lines and colors and logos,” Puening says. “Where a vinyl floor, in order to kind of change it up some, you would have to actually remove it.”

If the vinyl floor is fading, installing a new floor is the only option to fix the problem.

“The biggest thing is a wood floor on that particular job site (CCA) as far as life cycle costs, will be a lot less and the uniformity over time is going to be a lot better for every person that’s on that floor. With a uniform floor, the risk of an injury is going to be less,” Puening details.

Solving CCA’s Vinyl Problem
For CCA, a Robbins wood floor would project a professional, high-quality look, while ensuring player safety. CCA officials received bids for the job and wasted no time in contacting the winning bidder Darin Aarnio, one of the owners at Impact Sport Surfaces. Huisman knew what quality work Aarnio did, as they worked together previously.

“When it comes down to it, it’s people that I trust and Darin is one who whenever I talk to him he’s a straight shooter and I know he’s an expert from the floors he’s done,” Huisman said. “I trust Darin and Darin trusts Robbins, so therefore I trust Robbins.”

Aarnio recommended the Robbins Bio-Channel SB, which meets and exceeds all third party industry standards for safety and performance. Getting rid of the old vinyl and installing the 12,400 square-foot top-of-the-line product was just what CCA needed. The floor was completed in the fall of 2017 and the results were stunning, earning Impact a spot as a Sports Surface of the Year Award Finalist.

“Visually it’s just beautiful,” Huisman says. “From the logos and the print and everything it speaks volumes.”

Huisman says the students love it and it looks, feels – even sounds more like a gym. The cost was roughly the same as the vinyl floor. But most importantly, it’s safer for the athletes.

“For those who are dealing with shin splints and impact injuries, they love it,” Huisman said. “Our boys’ basketball program won a state championship last year so we obviously have a program of high caliber and now we have the facility that matches it. It’s hard to explain unless you go onto a vinyl floor versus a wood floor. It’s just completely different.”

Robbins Sports Surfaces kicks off the New Year by adding yet another team – the Philadelphia 76ers – to the list of NBA franchises whose games are played on a Robbins floor. That means half of the 30 NBA teams currently play their games on a Robbins floor, and an astonishing 24 teams either practice or play their games (or both!) on a Robbins floor.

The 76ers already practice on the patented MVP system by Robbins, but also chose the portable All-Star™ Plus with RapidLatch™ locking system game floor for the Wells Fargo Center. The new floor installed on December 13th and marked the beginning of a new era for Robbins and the 76ers.

“We were all ecstatic. The 76ers had never played [their games] on a Robbins floor so this was a big deal for us,” says Portables Sales Manager Greg Pierce. “We always like to add a new one to the list. It’s wonderful to replace Robbins floors, but you get a little extra satisfaction when you know you’re replacing a competitor’s floor.”

Robbins and the 76ers had been in discussions for over a year, and the 76ers ultimately decided the proprietary design of the All-Star Plus with RapidLatch lock, which is meant to speed up changeovers for efficient and quick event transitions, would best meet their needs. After all, the All-Star Plus is easy to install, disassemble and store – a must for the team.

Once the decision was made, it was off to the races for Robbins. The purchase order arrived Nov. 6 and the experts at Robbins’ Ishpeming, Michigan plant got busy manufacturing, sanding and finishing the floor for a Dec. 11 delivery. Installation began two days later, and couldn’t have gone any smoother. A dozen or so crew members installed the court in a few hours, finishing up before noon.

“It’s generally a two to three hour process the very first time and it only gets faster from there,” Pierce explains. “They set the floor up with the 76ers logo, then they pulled it apart to a degree so they could put the second logo in with the Liberty Bell set up just enough that that was surrounded, and then they were done. Then, they were going to pick the floor up and store it until they set it up for the game on Friday.”

Despite the time crunch, everyone was happy with the entire process. Pierce received an email from one of the 76ers operations team members stating, “Everything went perfectly yesterday. Court was much faster and easier than any we’ve worked with before.”

Another successful Robbins project in the books – and another NBA team playing on a Robbins floor.

Fresher, bolder and more striking – that’s the Indiana Pacers’ new look at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. For the start of the franchise’s 51st basketball season, the Pacers wanted an updated image which paid homage to Indiana’s basketball roots, and they nailed it – with the help of Robbins Sports Surfaces.

The state-of-the-art All-Star™ Plus portable flooring system, manufactured at Robbins’ Ishpeming, MI plant, finished and installed by Robbins, features a rebranded design for the Pacers including a larger center court logo and a new secondary logo – the Pacers basketball inside a graphic of the state of Indiana. The sidelines, now a commanding Pacers blue, are emblazoned with a sunburst pattern and most noticeably includes the phrase, “WE GROW BASKETBALL HERE.”

The project, which took just a few short months from start to completion on Sept. 21, is the latest in a long line of installations for the Pacers, who are long-time Robbins’ customers. According to Portables Sales Manager Greg Pierce, the alliance predates the current facility, extending back to the Market Square Arena days.

“I’ve been here 39 years and as far as I know it goes back at least 39 years,” Pierce recalls. “We’ve had a wonderful relationship with the Pacers over the years.”

Pierce and his colleagues assisted the Pacers with samples, pricing and held numerous meetings to achieve the very best product for the team. For Pierce, if that meant taking a middle-of-the-night phone call, no problem. Around the clock dedication is how Robbins does business.

Every Robbins’ NBA team plays on the top-of-the-line portable model, the All-Star™ Plus, which is head-and-shoulders above the rest in aesthetics, portability and comfort. “If you have athletes on there that you have a lot invested in, you definitely want to go with the All-Star™ Plus,” Pierce recommends. “These players, they’re all worth millions and millions of dollars.”

Comfort is key, so a well-engineered subfloor with mechanical features to provide the ultimate protection for the athlete is critical. The All-Star™ Plus features a three-layer padded system on sleepers with a little more than one pad per square foot on each panel for extra resiliency. “It’s there for the comfort of the players so the panels flex as they’re playing on it,” Pierce explains. “They get that resiliency so it’s not like coming down on concrete, so you don’t get all that abuse to their ankles and knees and hips and back.”

Additionally, the proprietary ZIP® design and RapidLatch™ locking system allows for easy portability. With an experienced team of a dozen people, the floor can be unlatched and easily stored for event changeovers in less than a couple hours. For major arenas like Bankers Life Fieldhouse, which has various events including Pacers basketball, sports tournaments, performers like Katy Perry and family favorites such as Disney on Ice, that’s important.

Aesthetically, the system is superior because simply tightening the latch in the RapidLatch™ system keeps the seams and panels tight during the natural expansion and contraction of the premium maple flooring due to changing climate conditions. Plus, Robbins floor expansion joints are built into the panel throughout resulting in smaller gaps, rather than having larger gaps every few boards.

“You basically have seams in the floor that you can’t really see from a distance,” Pierce says. “If you look at the Pacers floor, if you’ve ever seen it on TV, unless you’re really looking very closely you can’t hardly tell that there are panels. It looks like one solid floor.”

The new floor is a win-win, garnering exceedingly positive reviews from players and fans alike, taking Pacers basketball to the next level.

Robbins Sports Surfaces, an international leader in sports flooring, is celebrating its 100th anniversary at its White Lake, Wisconsin manufacturing plant. Originally a sawmill carved out of the upper Wisconsin wilderness in the early 1900’s, the plant now – 100 years later – offers sustainably harvested hardwoods used in world-class sports.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jay Stoehr remains CEO of family-owned flooring company, adds proven leader as part of succession plan

CINCINNATI, OH, NOVEMBER 3, 2016 – Robbins, Inc., an international leader in sports flooring systems, has hired Dave Fulton as President to oversee all manufacturing, sales and service functions.

James (Jay) Stoehr III, the fourth generation of his family to lead Robbins, had been serving as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. He will retain his other leadership roles, and Fulton will report to him.

Fulton had served as Manufacturing Leader for Cincinnati-based Shepherd Color Company, a multi-generation family-owned color pigment business, since 2014. He previously was President of Dayton, Ohio-based Hohman Plating & Manufacturing from 2008 to 2014.

Fulton received two degrees from the University of Cincinnati: a Bachelor’s of Science in chemical engineering and an MBA in finance. He is a resident of Lawrenceburg, Ind.

“Dave is a transformational business leader with a wealth of experience growing and leading family-owned manufacturing businesses,” Stoehr said. “He understands the manufacturing process as well as its role in driving business growth. I’m counting on him to bring his formidable skills to bear to focus on strategic planning, operational excellence, organizational development and financial results.”

Robbins is based in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin. The privately held company’s main business unit is Robbins Sports Surfaces, the premier supplier of high-performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to professional and college athletic programs as well as fitness, religious and performing arts.

Athletes in more than 65 nations on six continents compete and practice on the company’s sports surfaces. More NBA teams use Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors — including the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, who have played home games on a Robbins floor since 1974.

Stoehr credits a 20-year relationship with the Goering Center for Family & Private Business, based at the University of Cincinnati, with helping him plan for succession in a family business and prioritize business success ahead of personal interests or ambitions. Working with Robbins’ Board of Advisors, Stoehr developed a succession plan that led to the decision to hire a President to assume day-to-day operational responsibility.

“We’ve made this exciting change because Robbins is built on strong values that focus on doing the right thing for employees, customers and vendors while strengthening the company legacy,” Stoehr said. “I’m confident that Dave’s addition to our leadership team will do just that.”

Fulton began work as Robbins President on October 31.

About Robbins, Inc.

Robbins, Inc. is a privately held family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Ishpeming and Kenton, Mich. and White Lake, Wisc. CEO Jay Stoehr is the fourth generation of his family to lead the company, which traces its roots to 1894.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsfloor.com, www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.