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Timber is the benchmark every other sports floor is measured against, and for good reason. A well-built wooden sports floor gives the truest ball bounce, the most natural feel underfoot and a lifespan measured in decades, because unlike synthetic surfaces it can be sanded and resealed again and again.
Courtship Flooring has installed solid and engineered timber sports flooring across the UK since 1987, working with the industry’s most trusted systems from Junckers, Boen and Havwoods. From a single school hall to an international-standard arena, we build the sub-floor, lay the timber, apply the seal and finish with line markings for every sport you play.
Already have a wooden floor that has seen better days? Our refurbishment service will almost certainly save it, and save you a great deal of money against replacement.
All of our systems and installations meet Sport England requirements and exceed BSEN14904 and German DIN 18032 for Sport Surfaces.
With 30+ years of experience and a broad range of flooring options available we can cater for a huge range of sports related wooden floors.
Our wooden floors are perfect for:
We install both solid wood and engineered wood options to suit your needs. Choose from:
We offer 4 different grades and can include sports lacquer in gloss, matt, and silk.
Timber choice is not decoration. Hard maple is the traditional choice for basketball because it is dense, pale and extremely consistent, giving predictable ball response and a bright surface that court lines read well against. Beech, the timber Junckers built its reputation on, is slightly softer underfoot with excellent stability and a warmer tone. Ash offers a good middle ground, and oak, while beautiful, is rarely the right answer for a sports hall.
Grade matters as much as species. We offer four grades, and the difference is largely in the amount of natural character, knots, colour variation and grain, visible in the finished floor. A performance hall usually wants a cleaner grade; a community or multi-use space often looks better and costs less with more character in the boards.
We talk all of this through before you commit, because it is far cheaper to change your mind at specification stage than after delivery.
What is under the boards decides how the floor plays. A cradle system suspends the floor on resilient pads for high shock absorption, well suited to serious sport. A standard sports batten build-up is the reliable all-rounder for school and community halls. Pad and board is shallower, useful where build height is limited. A duo batten system doubles up for greater resilience and consistency across the whole area, while our sport performance build is specified where a hall is expected to meet the higher end of BS EN 14904.
The right choice depends on the sport, the level of play, the height available and the budget. All of our systems and installations meet Sport England guidance, and we will explain honestly where a cheaper build-up will serve you perfectly well rather than upselling a specification your hall does not need.
Here is the argument for timber that rarely makes the brochure: it is the only sports surface that can be taken back to new condition again and again. A vinyl or polyurethane floor can be cleaned, repaired and resealed, but eventually it is replaced. A timber floor can be sanded and resealed through several cycles across its life.
That changes the economics completely. A timber floor installed today, given a recoat every few years and a full sand and seal roughly every decade, can still be performing in forty years. Very few building components can say that, and it is why so many of the halls we refurbish were originally laid before anyone working on them today was born.
Yes we do. It is important that wooden sport floors are regularly maintained to uphold their performance and stunning appearance. We offer maintenance and aftercare for all of our sports floors, giving you complete peace of mind.
Ensuring that your floor is regularly cleaned with products designed for wooden sports floors and regular treatments can be a great way to maintain your wooden floor. However, if you would like the regular maintenance carried out by experts, give us a call. We can also offer you a refurbishment of your current floor to bring it back to its former glory.
Wooden sports floors are the traditional and classic option for a range of sports. They also offer a stunning finish over other alternatives. However, synthetic flooring options are easier to maintain and typically last longer. With that being said, a synthetic floor will never have the aesthetic appeal of a wooden option and with a professional installation, proper care and regular maintenance, your wooden floor will last for several years.
Hard maple is the traditional and usually the best answer: dense, pale, and consistent enough to give predictable ball response, with a bright surface that court markings read clearly against. Beech and ash are perfectly capable alternatives, often at a lower cost, and we will explain the trade-offs for your specific hall.
Decades, with sensible care. Because timber can be sanded and resealed repeatedly, a well-installed and properly maintained floor can serve forty years or more. Many of the floors we refurbish today were laid in the 1970s and 1980s and have plenty of life left in them.
For most halls, yes, and sometimes better. Engineered boards are more stable in fluctuating humidity, which matters in coastal or poorly ventilated buildings, and the wear layer still allows sanding. Solid timber offers more refinishing cycles over a very long life. We fit both and recommend on the building rather than the price list.
For a solid or engineered wood sports flooring installation, please get in touch.