One often-overlooked complication recreation center managers have to deal with is noise complaints. Whether from neighboring businesses or from your own gym users, excessive noise can be a serious problem for a recreation center. Perhaps the most effective means of overcoming the auditory challenge of a recreation center is by proactively preparing your center for the use of weights and exercise machines. Learn how installing the right flooring in your recreation center can help to manage excess sound problems with SFA.
Preventing Acoustic Issues with Flooring
There are many factors that can impact the way sound travels in your recreation center, but it is likely that nothing has a big of an impact as your chosen flooring material. Let’s think about some of the top sources of sound in a recreation center.
- Weight Drops – No matter how clear you are with your facility’s weightlifters, at some point or another people are going to drop their weights on the ground. These situations not only cause a tremendous amount of noise, but they can potentially damage your flooring.
- Cardio Machines – Because of the tremendous amount of movement required to use a cardio machine, they can be quite noisy. This is especially true of treadmills as the pounding of half a dozen people running at once can certainly add up.
- Running Tracks – Similar to cardio machines, the pounding of feet around a track can really add up to a lot of noise that a recreation center has has little to no control over.
The biggest issue with all of these scenarios, is the contact with the floor. However, with the right type of flooring material and design, you can minimize the impact of these factors to help keep your building’s noise at a reasonable level.
Noise-Dampening Flooring
New Technological advancements in flooring allow for products that are aesthetically pleasing and perform well acoustically. It can seem as if your choices in flooring are unlimited, but if we consider the specific needs of a recreation center, you can narrow down your selection based on a few considerations.
- You will need a resilient flooring material, such as cork or rubber, in order to not only mitigate sound but also protect your floor from damage.
- If you decide to use a hard or smooth flooring surface, you will likely need a performance backing or underlay composed of sound-mitigating material. Many recreation centers will also install extra material padding in weightlifting areas when hard flooring materials are used.
Contact the Experts at Sports Facilities Advisory Today
If you are considering a new recreation center or sports facility, contact Sports Facilities Advisory today. We have built an expert team in a multitude of categories to ensure our partners have access to the top minds in the sports facility field. Call our team today at 727-474-3845 to learn more.
