Flooring for agility.
Submitted by daval on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 1:50pm.
Could anyone help, please? We are having a "heated" discussion on what is considered safe/unsafe flooring for agility practise/competition? Any input would be appreciated. Many thanks, Dave
Re: Flooring for agility.
We use AgileFlex matting at our new building and we LOVE it! We have 8,000 sq. feet of matting in a 32,000 sq foot industrial building. It's soft AND durable, and even the fast dogs don't slip on it. We have people drive 2+ hours to attend our run throughs because they like it so much. The only thing is we need to keep pads under the A-frame because it will leave indents if we just leave it on the matting.Â
Katie
Re: Flooring for agility.
Re: Flooring for agility.
http://www.groupsummit.com/agiliflex.htmlÂ
Katie
Re: Flooring for agility.
we use a 1/16" textured solid-rubber skin over top of 1/2" EVA foam tiles (basically the same as the AgiliFlex, just not quite as thick). We bought the foam tiles in bulk from Sam's Club (EVA tiles are marketed for child play-area flooring among other things; you can buy them dozens of places, online or real-world), and the rubber skin we use is X-Derm from RubberCal (near the Long Beach airport). Imagine a surface that is textured with tiny pebble grain like a sanded contact surface, but is actually solid rubber (not the small bonded chunks with gaps that you see in most "rolled rubber"; it is durable, no leak-through of liquids, and very grippy). A "hybrid" surface like this (thin rubber on top of foam tiles) is being adopted by several clubs in our region as offering the best of both worlds - grip and durability with fantastic cushioning underneath. The bare EVA foam tiles can tear easily if you move contact equipment around a lot or aren't careful. Dog toenails can rip it up as well (yes, we tested this while evaulating what to buy). So far we haven't been able to damage the X-Derm surface even when deliberately trying to... and when people have tripped over their own feet, they've just "bounced" on this with no significant bruising at all (we have a concrete subfloor underneath).
 link for X-Derm: http://www.rubbercal.com/X_Derm.html
Re: Flooring for agility.
How do I get samples and prices for this flooring. I am thinking about using it over concrete in my house. How much does it weight and how easy is it to install.
I am also looking for light weight for several horse stalls
Re: Flooring for agility.
We are setting up an indoor agility training area right now and are very interested in your approach to the flooring. Am I correct in assuming that you glued the EVA tiles to the concrete floor and then used the PSA coated X-Derm on top of that?
Is there any advice you have for the installation of the floor?
Also, in your experience would there be any benefit to using a slightly thicker rubber skin such as Z-Grip from the same maker?
Thanks