Lake Taylor High School

Project Strategy

'Believe, achieve, succeed' has been a long-time motto for the Norfolk Public School system. This belief holds true at Lake Taylor High School, which opened it's doors to students for the first time on September 5, 1967. Since then, the school has experienced exponential growth with regards to both academia and athletics- including recognition as a top 1,000 high school in the United States by the US News and World Report, along with numerous state championship titles.

Lake Taylor boasts a collegiate size gymnasium totaling approximately 18,000 square ft. Unfortunately for the school, the gymnasium floor was impacted by a major pipe leak causing damage beyond repair. Fortunately for the school, this allowed them a chance to procure a high performing gymnasium floor system with an upgraded look.

Their initial idea was for us to match the existing floor finish; however, they took advantage of our recommendation to update and complete a redesign of the space. We incorporated bright school colors, tinting of wood to differentiate the 3-point circle, and updated logos and lettering.

We are proud to have successfully delivered a finished product in the gymnasium that will once again allow these student-athletes to 'Believe, Achieve, and Succeed'.

Unique Installation Challenge Strategy

WC Carpenter was asked to quote this project in early April; the quote was turned around and approval was sent back within 2 weeks following the initial price request. The completion deadline provided by the school system was July 30, which was approximately 6 weeks from the allowed start date. When demo commenced, we determined the gymnasium had multiple roof leaks and was not properly acclimated due to HVAC concerns. Fortunately, we had our FloorCloud installed and were able to monitor job site conditions.

The demo of the existing sleeper system and maple flooring exposed cement grout throughout the entire space that required removal. After demo and mechanical preparation of the substrate was completed, the school continuously pressured our team to get started with existing site conditions. Our FloorCloud, along with numerous site visits, provided our team confidence in pushing back on the school by letting them know these conditions were unacceptable.

The job site concerns we brought to their attention were not addressed or completed until November. Our scheduling team coordinated numerous installation crews after the site was ready in an extremely efficient manner, to include: subfloor preparation, material delivery for acclimation, installation of new sleeper system and floor, moving of bleachers, painting of logos and game lines, and installation of vented base. This project was successfully delivered in 5 weeks, which proved the initial timeline expectation that was provided was successfully met.