Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Is the new, $500,000 floor at Karl Ward Gym sagging?

Haines Borough facilities director Carlos Jimenez this week wrote to the firm that installed the floor last summer that there were a few spots along the gym’s east wall where there was a “little bit of a roll” in the floor.

“It is my understanding that because it is a wood floor, there is always the likelihood of expansion and contraction. This is one of the reasons to leave it a couple of inches short of reaching any wall or door, which your crew did,” Jimenez wrote to Alaska Industries. “It may be that along that wall had some irreparable highs and lows,” he wrote.

“Fortunately, (the roll) is not on the court itself,” Jimenez said in an interview. He said he would measure the deviation in the floor using a laser, and check it again in about a month.

The floor’s construction allows for an eighth of an inch of variation per 10 linear feet, Jimenez said. This week, a marble rolled several times at a spot near the gym’s far wall went forward about two feet, slowed, then rolled backward toward its point of origin.

Jimenez asked Alaska Industries if there is an amount of time the floor can be expected to “settle.”

Installation of the new floor started with removal of the previous one and grinding of high spots on a cement base.

A layer of “ardex,” a specialty cement, was put down, followed by a vapor barrier and then a piece of plywood with rubber pads on its down side. The finish layer of maple hardwood went on top of a second layer of plywood.

The floor was manufactured by Robbins Sports Surfaces, a firm whose products are used in arenas nationwide.

At the time of the floor installation, Jimenez was supervisor for North Pacific Erectors, the company that won the bid for the gym work. The firm subcontracted the job to Alaska Industries. Jimenez said he could remember no major issues about the level of the floor at the time of installation. “It was great working with those guys.”

Jimenez said this week he understood there to be warranties on the installation work, as well as on the floor itself.

The previous floor was replaced in order to add a cushioning effect in the wake of concerns about athletes suffering concussions.

Jimenez said he hoped to get two more coats of finish on the floor this summer. It now has two coats of finish, he said.