"Guy Gordon" wrote in message

Here's the deal: my sports fitness club has a damaged racquetball court,
and
they're too cheap to fix it. (No names please. I'm trying to work with
these
guys.)

So: Anybody got suggestions? Would you do it differently? Ideas about
where I
can get some scraps?

Thanks.

This is a commercial operation and you are going to donate your time? It
would be better spent on finding a new place to play as you will have to do
that anyway in a couple of months when they go belly up.

On 6/28/2005 3:12 PM Guy Gordon mumbled something about the following:
Hi y'all,

Anybody want to suggest a source for a small amount of 2 1/4 x 3/4 maple
flooring for repairs to a sports floor? I'll only need maybe 60 linear feet,
and only scrap lengths.

The problem is that it has to be somewhere between cheap and free.
Located near Atlanta so I can pick it up and not pay shipping also helps.

Here's the deal: my sports fitness club has a damaged racquetball court, and
they're too cheap to fix it. (No names please. I'm trying to work with these
guys.) Anyway, the previous owners let a roof leak drip water on the court,
with predictable results. The poor maintenance has driven away plenty of
members. Those of us remaining have tried everything we can to get the
corporation to repair the court.

Finally, I threw up my hands and said "All right. _I'll_ fix it." So I'm
donating my labor, and I have no budget. I'm going to end up buying the
materials myself, or raising the money amongst the members.

The floor was not done right in the first place, and this repair is going to be
a patch job. Matching finish is irrelevant. We just want to be able to play on
it without tripping.

The floor is laid directly on 16" oc sleepers which rest on concrete. The
sleepers seem to be 1 7/8 thick oak (I have no idea why.) The ends of the
flooring are not lined up on the sleepers. The water damage appears to be just
rotted and split ends that wicked up water. The sleepers appear to be in good
shape. (I haven't ripped up any large sections to look, but the floor is solid
over the sleepers.) A large area of the maple is crowned.

If there was a budget, I'd replace a 12x20 foot area. Since there is none, I'll
just replace the damaged wood. I plan to cut off the rotted and split ends
between the sleepers. Then I'll use that opening to insert one or two small
(12") supports that I'll turn parallel to the sleepers. Then I'll replace the
flooring with a piece cut to length, groove removed, and glued down.

So you can see that what I'll need is really just scraps. If all else fails,
I'll just use oak. (If the club wants their floor to look good, they can come
up with some money to replace it.)

I don't know what to do about the large crowned area. Maybe just live with it.
Anyway, I can make the patches first. Then if the crowning turns out to ruin
racquetball play, I can go back and try to sand it flat. I know this sounds
terrible, but the fact is that the court is closed right now and anything that
makes it useable is an improvement.

So: Anybody got suggestions? Would you do it differently? Ideas about where I
can get some scraps?

You're paying them to use the facilities, and they're not keeping it up?
Don't waste your time, they'll be gone shortly and you'll be looking
for a new place anyway. I don't give my time and resources away to
commercial enterprises, they have to pay me for my services.

--
Odinn
RCOS #7
SENS(less)
SLUG

"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never
worshipped anything but himself." -- Sir Richard Francis Burton

Reeky's unofficial homepage ... http://www.reeky.org
'03 FLHTI ........... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/ElectraGlide
'97 VN1500D ......... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/VulcanClassic
Atlanta Biker Net ... http://www.atlantabiker.net
Vulcan Riders Assoc . http://www.vulcanriders.org

rot13 to reply

On 6/28/2005 11:47 PM Guy Gordon mumbled something about the following:
Odinn wrote:


You're paying them to use the facilities, and they're not keeping it up?
Don't waste your time, they'll be gone shortly and you'll be looking
for a new place anyway. I don't give my time and resources away to
commercial enterprises, they have to pay me for my services.


I looked into moving. The problem is location and traffic. I just happen to
live right in between two brand new clubs that *don't* have racquetball. So
instead of driving 5 miles, I'd have to drive 15. And I would do it, except for
the traffic. At the time of day I like to work out, that 15 mile drive would
take me an hour.

So I've stuck with the club. It won't surprise me a bit when they go bankrupt.
As for donating my time, I've simply decided that I want the second racquetball
court back in use. I'm fixing it solely for my own benefit.



Believe me, I know about driving in the Atlanta area, I drive 40 miles
to work each day.

--
Odinn
RCOS #7
SENS(less)
SLUG

"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never
worshipped anything but himself." -- Sir Richard Francis Burton

Reeky's unofficial homepage ... http://www.reeky.org
'03 FLHTI ........... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/ElectraGlide
'97 VN1500D ......... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/VulcanClassic
Atlanta Biker Net ... http://www.atlantabiker.net
Vulcan Riders Assoc . http://www.vulcanriders.org

rot13 to reply