England Squash Technical Services are frequently contacted for information on squash court floors, both new and for refurbishment Here we summarize the key points to look out for.

The majority of squash court floors in the UK and elsewhere are either maple or beech boards, as they are light in colour to give clear vision of the ball and also provide a 'spring' for player comfort and reduced leg strain. Whilst maple and beech are preferred, other materials have been used, such as MDF board, various hard woods and plastic materials. Over the years, the writer has played on all these surfaces, possibly the most unusual being a floor of parquet wood blocks (unsprung), in a herringbone pattern and almost black! It was an enjoyable game but tiring on the legs. which certainly emphasised the benefits of the modern court floor design.

The boards are laid along the length of the court and not across the court, as we have seen recently on two courts! Maple is laid in five-board widths with a 1mm expansion gap between each section and beech is supplied in two- board widths with a similar expansion gap every two sections.

Boards are tongued and grooved and laid on a sub-frame of semi-sprung battens, to which they are secret nailed - i.e. nailed through the side edge of the board so that the nail heads are below the playing surface. The battens are laid across the court at 300mm centres for maple and 411mm for beech.

Where damaged boards need replacing, the tongue on the new boards must be removed and both ends of the boards placed over a batten; additional battens must be laid where necessary. The new boards are nailed through the surface at an angle; for safety, the nail heads are punched below the surface and the holes filled.

The edge boards should not be secret-nailed but screwed to the battens using brass screws and cups countersunk 1mm below the surface of the floor. This will enable the edge boards to be easily taken up andtrimmed if expansion has occurred or replaced if they have contracted.

As every player is aware, the sidewall 'nick' gap is very much part of the game and it should be between 6mm and 9mm wide. This gap has a dual purpose, as it also provides ventilation to allow any moisture between the slab and the flooring to disperse and therefore should not be filled with cork or any other material.

The red lines on the floor should be painted using BS4800 colour code - 04E53 undercoat and topcoat. Red plastic tape is often used as a temporary measure but can easily get damaged, tear or curl up, causing players to trip. Sweat will make the tape slippery.

England Squash recommends that court floors are not sealed, lacquered. varnished or polished, in order to lessen the risk of slipperiness. If the floor is sealed, sweat (which contains a small amount of grease) will remain on the surface and not be absorbed into the boards as occurs with unsealed boards.

The sealing of court floors was introduced in the 1960s, when many players had to go outside in all weathers to reach the courts from the changing rooms and it was inevitable that dust and dirt was brought into the court on their shoes. However, with this dust and dirt and lack of cleaning, sealed floors quickly became slippery, resulting in injuries. Therefore, for safety reasons. there was a return to unsealed floors. In any case. today most players are able walk to the courts under cover via carpeted corridors - life was tough in the old days!

If courts are to be used only by school children, who do not sweat much but take all manner of items onto the court (e.g. food, drink and ink), and also use inappropriate footwear which marks the floor, it may be considered necessary to seal the floor in order to keep it clean. If this is the case, a single coat of clear sealant should be applied - 5 to 7 litres per court.

The court floor should be regularly swept using a V-mop. which has an impregnated cotton head that attracts dust. including rubber particles from balls. This type of equipment is standard in sports halls. A broom is not recommended, as it pushes much of the dust being swept back up into the air and it settles on the floor again. Do not use water or even a damp mop to clean the floor, as this will result in the floor becoming polished fairly quickly and this process will be accelerated if detergent (which contains oil) has been added to the water.

It is inevitable that. after a great deal of use, the floor will become slippery. This is the time to have it sanded. It is recommended that you employ a contractor with experience of squash court floors who will undertake the work using a Hummel Sander or similar machine, with a dust bag attachment and the appropriate grade of abrasive material.

The final sanding should be done with 60-grade abrasive to leave a slight 'nap' on the surface and so provide good traction for the players. Sanding should be along the length of the boards, not across or round and round, which has disastrous results, as we have seen! After a court has beensanded, wood dust will settle on the floor and this can best be dealt with by using a V-mop as described above.

Most players know the importance of wearing correct footwear, but courts are often marked by children and novices who have not been advised that only shoes specifically designed for squash must be used. We recently inspected six brand new glass-back squash courts at a large multi-purpose sports complex which had just opened only to find that some of the court floors were already covered with dark scuff marks and the walls streaked with black marks from rackets. We reported both matters to the administration and this resulted in swift action, including the offending loan rackets with no non-marking bumper strip, being disposed of as we stood there!

Repairs to squash court floors or to any part of the court should be carried out by an experienced court contractor. Contact details for such companies can be found in the England Squash Technical Information Sheet (TIS) No.10: The Maintenance List. Also related to this article are TIS No.3: The Installation of New Squash Court Flooring & Diagrams, and TIS No.4: How to Deal with Slippery Squash Court Floors. All this information is included in the England Squash, Squash Court Maintenance Manual (150 pages). covering every aspect of court maintenance. For details, please contact England Squash on 0161-231 4499.

It should be remembered that if a court is used for purposes other than squash, e.g. table tennis or aerobics, it can be expected that the floor will be in need of repair at a much earlier stage than if used only for squash. We have received many reports of flooring breakdowns in such circumstances.

The condition of squash court floors is important to you as a player, so make sure that those responsible look after them properly.