Pit foam needs to meet certain specifications to insure durability, proper firmness, and to meet building code requirements regarding flammability. Our 6" pit foam blocks are blue, red, or black in color, and our 8" blocks are blue in color. Other sizes are available upon request. Call and we can recommend the size blocks that best suit your program. All of our pit blocks are combustion modified and meet California Bulletin 117. This is the code requirement for most areas.
We offer the very finest pit foam blocks on the market. They are 1.7 lb./40 ILD and provide great padding and durability. The density (lb.#) relates directly to the durability and the ILD to the firmness of the blocks.
We will be glad to assist you in pit design and determining your foam requirements. The ideal way to make loose foam pits is to build them very deep (7' or more), have about 24" thick soft prime polyurethane sheets on the bottom, and fill the rest of the space with blocks. An ideal setting is very expensive and few gyms can afford pits designed like this. However, larger athletes falling from greater heights and performing more difficult skills need pits closer to the ideal pit described above. Gyms with more average programs, smaller athletes, and more average skills generally build pits with some compromise of depth and cost of materials. Always build the safest, deepest pits you can afford! Safety must be our primary consideration.
A common pit design that maximizes safety and is still affordable is a 6' deep pit with 5" thick 1.6 lb./50 ILD polyurethane foam sheeting on the bottom and the remainder of the pit filled with blocks. We can calculate the material cost and freight to your location when you call with your pit dimensions and choices for design and materials. We have been doing this for more than 30 years and will be glad to help however we can.
A loose foam pit needs pit edging to pad the concrete top edges and sidewalls. Generally, people use carpet bonded foam along the top edge and plain cross-linked polyethylene foam for the sidewall. These materials can be glued to the concrete and are not very expensive. Call and we will help you figure what you need.
Bungee pits are the newest idea in pit design. A bungee pit combines a trampoline bed attached to the pit wall by hardwire and 5/8" bungee cord with pit foam blocks above the bed. This allows the pit to deflect or sag downward on impact. Generally a bungee pit uses about 3 ft. of foam blocks above the bed. You must have sufficient space under the bed for it to sag down when landed on or loaded heavily. This space will vary depending on the width span of the pit. We can help you with these calculations. On average, a bungee pit costs the same or less than a deeper loose foam pit because of the much smaller amount of foam needed. It is a good idea to have a sheet of 5" - 8" thick polyurethane foam under the bungee bed on the pit floor for safety in case the bed or cord ever failed. Remember no mat or pit regardless of design or materials used is a total solution for safety. At no time should an athletes land on the head or neck in a pit or on matting of any type. Common sense, proper skill progressions, trained coaches, and good equipment can lessen the chance of injury but not entirely exclude that possibility.
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