Existing channel retrofit floor and method

Abstract

A new athletic floor resiliently retrofit to a worn athletic floor. The worn floor includes a plurality of elongated raised channels spaced from one another and connected to a ground substrate. The new athletic floor includes at least two elongated subfloor panels. At least two elongated raised channels are spaced from one another and have a first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels located therebetween. At least one elongated raised channel is spaced therefrom and has a second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels located therebetween. A resilient pad is positioned between each elongated subfloor panel and the ground substrate. A new flooring is located on the first and second sets of elongated subfloor panels, covering at least one elongated raised channel, and a bottom surface of the new flooring is spaced from a top surface of the elongated raised channel by a gap.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A new athletic floor resiliently retrofit to a worn athletic floor comprising a plurality of elongated raised channels spaced from one another and connected to a ground substrate, the new athletic floor comprising:
 at least two elongated subfloor panels, each elongated subfloor panel
 (i) connectable to the ground substrate, 
 (ii) comprising opposite shiplap ends, and 
 (iii) adjoined to at least one other elongated subfloor panel at the opposite shiplap ends to form a first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels; 
   at least two elongated raised channels spaced from one another and having the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels located between the two elongated raised channels spaced from one another;   at least one elongated raised channel spaced from the at least two elongated raised channels and having a second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels located between two elongated raised channels spaced from one another;   a resilient pad positioned between a bottom surface of each elongated subfloor panel and the ground substrate; and,   a new flooring located on the first set and the second set of elongated subfloor panels and covering at least one elongated raised channel, wherein a bottom surface of the new flooring is spaced from a top surface of the elongated raised channel by a distance of between about 2.3 millimeters and about 5 millimeters when the new flooring is in an unloaded condition.   
     
     
         2 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein at least one ground substrate anchor connects the elongated subfloor panel to the ground substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein the resilient pad comprises two resilient pad members spaced apart from each other. 
     
     
         4 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein the top surface of the elongated raised channel is spaced from the ground substrate by a distance of about ten to fifteen millimeters. 
     
     
         5 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein the distance is between about 2.5 millimeters and about 4 millimeters. 
     
     
         6 . The new athletic floor of  claim 5 , wherein the distance is between about 2.7 millimeters and about 3.5 millimeters. 
     
     
         7 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein the new flooring is connected to the plurality of elongated subfloor panels. 
     
     
         8 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , comprising a new athletic floor system, including:
 the plurality of elongated raised channels connected to the ground substrate;   a plurality of elongated subfloor panels located between each pair of elongated raised channels; and,   the new flooring resting on and connected to the plurality of elongated subfloor panels and covering each of the elongated raised channels.   
     
     
         9 . The new athletic floor of  claim 1 , wherein each elongated subfloor panel is connected to the ground substrate. 
     
     
         10 . A method to resiliently retrofit a worn athletic floor to have new wear life, the worn athletic floor comprising a plurality of elongated raised channels spaced from one another and connected to a ground substrate, comprising the steps:
 adjoining at least two elongated subfloor panels to each other at opposite shiplap ends to form a first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels;   locating the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels on the ground substrate between two elongated raised channels spaced from one another;   locating a second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels on the ground substrate and between a third elongated raised channel spaced from the two elongated raised channels;   positioning a resilient pad between a bottom surface of each elongated subfloor panel and the ground substrate;   locating a new flooring on the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels and the second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels and covering at least one elongated raised channel; and   spacing a bottom surface of the new flooring from a top surface of the elongated raised channel by a distance of between about 2.3 millimeters and about 5 millimeters when the new flooring is in an unloaded condition.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step removing a worn athletic floor portion before doing the step connecting the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels to the ground substrate between two elongated raised channels spaced from one another. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein locating the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels on the ground substrate further comprises securing a ground substrate anchor to the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels and into the ground substrate. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein positioning the resilient pad comprises locating two resilient pad members spaced apart from each other between the bottom surface of each elongated subfloor panel and the ground substrate. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein spacing is by a distance of between about 2.5 millimeters and about 4 millimeters. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein spacing is by a distance of between about 2.7 millimeters and about 3.5 millimeters. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein locating the new flooring on the first set and the second set of elongated subfloor panels comprises connecting the new flooring to the first set and the second set of elongated subfloor panels. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising creating a gap between the first set of elongated subfloor panels and the two elongated raised channels that the first set of elongated subfloor panels is located between. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least the following steps are performed in the following order relative to each other: removing the worn athletic floor portion, connecting the first set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels, connecting the second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels, locating the new flooring on the first set and the second set of elongated subfloor panels, and spacing the bottom surface of the new flooring from the top surface of the elongated raised channel. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein locating the second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels on the ground substrate further comprises securing a second ground substrate anchor to the second set of adjoined elongated subfloor panels and into the ground substrate.