Finding a hardwood floor at a great price is not always easy. Sometimes, the wood that you find is out of your price range. If you find wood in your price range, it might not be the right color, wood species, or in the right amount. That’s why many people are turning to less conventional hardwood sources for their flooring. A few examples are basketball courts, bowling alleys, and racquetball courts. Many of the older varieties of these surfaces, and some of the current ones, are made from quality hardwoods.
Basketball Courts
Basketball was invented in the early 1920s as an indoor sport that kids could play when it was too cold to play outside. The floor at that original YMCA was a maple floor. That wood was treated as standard and is still used to this day. Most hardwood basketball courts are made of planks of maple.
If you see a school, church, or a YMCA remodeling, you should ask if they’re remodeling their basketball court. If so, you should ask what they are doing with the wood from the court. Oftentimes, they’ll just be throwing it away. You should ask for it. Even if you pay for it, you’ll likely pay less than you would for an equivalent amount of new maple. There are over 4,000 square feet in a basketball court; so, that is a lot of wood.
There are also other woods used in hardwood court construction. Rubberwood from rubber trees that no longer produce sap is a common source of ecologically friendly courts. Also, less expensive hardwoods are often used.
Bowling Lanes
A bowling lane is typically 63 feet long. It is made of 41 feet of pine and 22 feet of maple. If you’re repurposing the wood for your own flooring, you should focus on the maple. Maple is a solid hardwood that makes a great floor. Each bowling lane will yield you about 60 square feet of quality maple.
Racquetball Courts
A racquetball court often has a maple floor much like a basketball court. In fact, they’re often build beside basketball courts and feature just an extension of the same floor. A racquetball court is 40 feet by 20 feet. Therefore, every racquetball court yields 800 square feet of finished maple.
Maple is the most popular hardwood used for sports largely because it was the wood used in YMCA gyms of the past. Some gyms, especially those in churches and schools, use different hardwoods. Whatever the case may be, they’re great sources for large amounts of hardwood.