Atec Spine, Inc., a medical technology company focused on developing new standards for spine surgery, sought out the best possible floor covering for a fitness center developed within their state-of-the-art medical technology facilities in 2020 in Carlsbad, California. The fitness room spanned more than 1,800 square feet and demanded the highest level of performance, durability and eco-friendliness.

The team at ATEC Spine consulted with Christopher Nolan and Rob Hailey of Howard’s Rug Company, a San Diego, California-based flooring installation provider, to spearhead the project. They subcontracted the services of O’Sullivan Floor Covering, a team of installers led by Paul O’Sullivan. An experienced commercial flooring installation firm, Howard’s Rug recently won a 2022 Starnet People’s Choice Award for a flooring installation they completed at another healthcare facility in the San Diego area.

With so many options brought to market in recent years, and with such stringent performance needs to consider, the decision on which sports flooring product to install was not an easy one. The project required flooring that was high impact, shock absorbent, slip resistant, comfortable underfoot and visually consistent with the branding and design of the rest of ATEC’s facilities.

Ultimately, it was DriTac’s 8400 PowerTread series that managed to exceed all of these standards. Available in a wide range of thicknesses, colors, and in roll or tile format, PowerTread afforded the closest match to ATEC’s branding without sacrificing the physical attributes expected of a world-class facility. Andrew Tarango, a design professional at Smith Consulting Architect recommended a 9mm custom green color in DriTac’s PowerTread Intensity Series to round out the installation of durable sports flooring in the employee fitness center of the ATEC building. These custom colors typically have enhanced EPDM or fleck percentage built into the tile, which allows for a denser and longer-lasting product. These types of higher EPDM products are often utilized for commercial-grade projects. Additionally, PowerTread, made from up to 100% post-consumer waste, was in keeping with ATEC’s environmentally-conscious approach.

O’Sullivan and his crew of 10 installers said they were impressed with how easy high-performance rubber sports flooring was to install thanks to the interlocking tile format. To serve as a border for the installation, O’Sullivan used strips of PowerTread in roll format to create a perimeter within which the full spread of interlocking tiles were added without trouble.

“PowerTread was refreshingly easy to lay out and install. Floating the tiles was a breeze!” O’Sullivan said. “Once down on the floor and interlocked, the tiles’ seams were essentially invisible. The finished installation looks like a solid floor.”

In less than two days, the install was completed and ready to accommodate a variety of fitness equipment and activity. No sealer or other supplementary product was needed. The teams of Howard’s Rug Company and O’Sullivan Floor Covering both emphasized that PowerTread displayed remarkably little tabbing or ledging between the male and female tile. Although the requirements of this fitness center within ATEC’s facility initially seemed daunting, DriTac 8400 PowerTread rose to the occasion and proved to be a seamless fit engineered to endure for years to come.