Flooring contractors faced with the task of installing sports flooring onto a concrete surface are likely to learn a lesson from an unanticipated issue that Kiefer USA encountered during a job for the magic city of Minot, North Dakota. The flooring was glued to a concrete surface poured during the 1950's with composite materials including a mineral and sedimentary rock.
These composite materials caused the flooring to detach from the surface. Slight imperfections above that resemble poorly installed windshield tinting are likely to raise liability issues, a cause for concern for the city of Minot.
Minot’s recreation department has decided to replace the floor installed in the old armory portion of the Civic Auditorium for the third time. Recreation Director Scott Collins informed the Minot City Council’s Finance and Improvements Committee Tuesday that this third attempt at installing the new flooring should solve problems that have plagued the building since 2011. “We have a brand new floor that we have used for four years that’s been nothing but problems. Besides the aesthetics of it, it’s becoming a liability for the city,” Collins said about the bubbling rubber floor.
The committee recommends the council spend $62,780 to replace the floor. Auditorium II is used for youth and adult recreation, children’s Fun Zone activities and is rented for wedding receptions and private parties. The city initially replaced the floor in November 2011. Collins said they soon noticed seams coming apart and determined there was a defect in the product.
Kiefer USA initially installed the floor and relaid it in May 2012. But the same defects developed. The troublesome floor was replaced in August 2012, only to present more problems. Tests later showed a reaction between the flooring glue and the pyrite and siltstone in the concrete used when the building was constructed in the 1950s. An analysis in May 2014 found the concrete was detaching from the glue. The engineer at the time determined it was a situation the company could not have anticipated. Learn more at Kiefer Local.
The Recreation Commission has worked with the company since then to seek a resolution to what is an ongoing issue. Kiefer agreed to install a floating wood floor system over the Mondo rubber floor and contribute $19,720 to leave the city with a bill of $62,780 for the $82,500 floor; paid with cash reserves in the recreation/auditorium budget.
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