If you are considering the purchase of a Spring Floor for gymnastics, cheer, or martial arts, there is some basic information you need to know to make sense of the terminology you will find. A great place to start is studying the diagram to the right. Most spring floors are composed of some combination of four separate parts - Springs and hardware for attachment, Wood, Foam and Carpet. Each of these choices will dramatically affect the price and performance of your floor.

There is a difference in Springs that are generally offered. Here are 2 of the more common, though there are several others. When you compare flooring systems, be sure you take note of the type of spring you will receive. The Palmer spring is a bit more, but we believe well worth it. It features a durable, oil-tempered 2" x 4" spring with patented plastic retainer caps that assure vertical alignment.

Springs are attached to the 3/8" to 5/8" BS Pine Plywood or Baltic Birch Plywood which will sit directly on the concrete. There is generally one spring per square foot. The springs are attached with T-nuts to the plywood. Some vendors offer floors with foam block instead of springs or a combination of both. Remember foam block will wear out (lose its height) far quicker over time under that constant weight than springs.

Attached to this (usually with velcro) is the top layer - generally 3/8" to 1/2" BS Pine Plywood, OSB (Oriented Strand Board) or Baltic Birch. These two layers are staggered. The wood part of your floor is not always sold with kits - so be sure you know what you are getting. This wood decking is important in the life expectancy and quality of your floor. If you like, you can purchase your wood from a local lumber yard (i.e., Home Depot, Lowe's, 84 Lumber, etc.), but beware. The quality, thickness and type of wood do make a tremendous difference. Most suppliers of quality spring floors are using the Baltic Birch (sometimes called Russian Birch). It provides superior strength and longevity. If you opt to go thicker it will become less likely that the springs are engaged during activity - especially for lighter tumblers. You can purchase a Mounted Spring Kit, like the one sold here, where the springs are already mounted on the optimal wood for spring floors. Some manufacturers offer floors in 4' x 8' panels, but most of the leaders in the field are going to 5' x 5' panels, as are we. They are much easier to ship and handle.

The top layer is covered by foam and carpet. There are two routes to choose from here. You can get the Foam separately and then purchase carpet to place over it. The much less expensive route is to get what is known as Carpet Bonded Foam (or Flexi Roll™). This is a carpet that is laminated to (usually) a Trocellen Foam making the top two layers one piece (see right). It is a remarkably durable product. (For more on these products see the Cheer Floors. Carpet Bonded Foam comes in several colors. Colors other than the basic royal blue usually cost a bit more. It usually comes in 1 3/8" or 2" thicknesses. If you go the route of foam and separate carpet, this is a more expensive way but makes for a more beautiful floor. The foam (usually Trocellen) is available in the same 1 3/8" or 2" thicknesses. There is also a EVA Enhanced Trocellen which is more expensive but has better response. It usually comes in 1.5" or 2" thicknesses. There are a lot of different colors of carpet available. You will find that a royal blue is the most readily available. When you price the carpet, make sure the price you get is with the velcro belts included. The carpet is shipped in usually 3 segments (depending on the size of your floor). You will need the velcro belts to attach the carpet segments. Many dealers will price these essentials separately. To avoid surprises, make sure this is included in your pricing.

Carpet Bonded Foam

With either of the foam/carpet products, tapered foam borders are an option. They allow a gradual transition to floor level if you are going with the carpet & foam as separate pieces (see above). The tapered border is somewhat expensive though and not absolutely necessary.

If you are leaning toward going with the Carpet Bonded Foam, you may consider using a Vinyl Skirting. This product velcros to the top of your CBF and hang to the floor, hiding the wood, springs, etc. and providing a nicer look. This is used to enhance the safety (no exposed wood or springs), and appearance of a floor. It also prevents things from rolling under the flooring and prevents dust bunny habitats. Other options include a Angled Carpet Bonded Border. You can check out these options on our Borders Page.

When you are shopping for a spring floor, read carefully what the provider offers. Some "Kits" with just be springs. Some will be springs and velcro. Others will be wood, spring and velcro - but you will need to drill and attach these. A standard spring floor will easily assemble in approximately 12 hours with instructions geared towards the booster club production line (depending on how many workers you have). If you get a Mounted Spring Kit you can cut that time to just an hour or so. We think this is the way to go.

What We Recommend
For flooring systems, we recommend (and provide) 3/8" Baltic (or Russian) Birch on 3/8" Baltic Birch. We have found that it provides a lively, fast and durable floor for tumblers from 60 to 200+ pounds. This also creates happy coaches. OSB, we have found, is a good product but does not supply the longevity of Baltic Birch. We will be glad to furnish you with a price for your floor (or strip). Just let us know what you have in mind. We can make any size. Just remember the foam product to cover it usually comes in 6' widths. So you might want to keep one dimension devisable by 6.
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