Maintenance & Care

The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA) provides a six-step daily maintenance checklist designed to preserve the performance, appearance, and structural integrity of hardwood athletic floors. Each step is engineered to help your basketball court, gymnasium floor, or multi-purpose sports surface perform at its highest level while extending the life of the flooring system.

Because hardwood sports flooring is naturally porous, it continuously absorbs and releases moisture in response to indoor humidity conditions. To accommodate this movement, hardwood gym floors are installed with specialized expansion features and subfloor systems that allow for controlled expansion and contraction without compromising the integrity of the floor.

To better understand how to protect and maintain your maple basketball court or hardwood athletic floor, we encourage you to watch this short educational video from the MFMA, which outlines industry-approved maintenance and care practices for long-term floor performance.

Since all hardwood sports flooring expands and contracts in response to changes in indoor relative humidity, it is critical to control environmental conditions to maintain floor performance and dimensional stability. Maple gym flooring and hardwood athletic courts are manufactured at a moisture content optimized for environments maintained between 35% and 50% relative humidity, which is the ideal range for basketball courts, gymnasiums, and multi-purpose athletic facilities.

Because geographic climate conditions and HVAC system capabilities vary by region, each facility will experience different temperature and humidity profiles. To protect hardwood basketball courts, volleyball floors, and gym flooring systems, facilities should maintain no more than a 15% variance between the highest and lowest average indoor relative humidity levels. Keeping humidity within this controlled range helps minimize board shrinkage, expansion, cupping, and gapping, preserving the structural integrity, playability, and long-term performance of sports flooring.

To maintain the performance and appearance of your hardwood gym floor or athletic court, dry dust mop the surface daily to remove grit, dust, and debris that can act as abrasives. High-traffic facilities and competition courts should be dust mopped two to three times per day to prevent premature wear and surface scratching.

All liquid spills, moisture, and standing water must be removed immediately using a soft, thoroughly wrung cloth or mop lightly dampened with an approved sports floor cleaner. Prompt moisture removal is critical to protecting maple hardwood flooring, court finishes, and subfloor systems.

To eliminate rubber burns, black marks, and aggressive scuffing, gently wipe the affected area with a clean cloth dampened with manufacturer-approved hardwood floor cleaner, ensuring the surface remains dry and residue-free to maintain proper traction and appearance.

Significant point loads and area loads can directly impact the performance, structural integrity, and long-term durability of hardwood athletic flooring and subfloor systems.

Point loads occur when heavy weight is concentrated on a small surface area, such as chair legs, table feet, stage supports, bleachers, or equipment casters. These concentrated loads can cause localized compression, surface indentation, finish damage, and stress to the maple planks and subfloor components.

Area loads are distributed over a larger footprint, allowing weight to be more evenly supported across the floor system. Examples include maintenance vehicles, scissor lifts, rolling staging, and event flooring systems. While area loads are more stable than point loads, excessive or improperly supported rolling loads can still damage hardwood gym floors, athletic subfloors, and shock-absorbing systems if floor load limits are exceeded.

Proper load management is essential to protecting basketball courts, gymnasium floors, and multi-purpose athletic facilities.