What’s the Straight Dope on gym floor lines? Are they some kind of tape, or some kind of paint, or can they vary? How do people create such long and often curving lines so precisely and neatly, and how is it that there’s no texture to them? Is the whole gym floor covered with a layer or resin or lacquer or some other substance that’s thick enough to smooth over the lines completely? If so, how is that top surface applied to such a perfect result and why does it hold up so well?
Thanks for the try, Enright3. Those links do address the quality of the paint, but not the methods by which they make those lines so perfectly straight, and those curves so perfectly curved. That’s what I’d like to know!
When they painted the floor at my new school’s gym (way back in the 70’s) they painted the wood flooring before it was varnished. It’s possible there was a varnish coat down then the lines painted then mor evarnish coats on top. The circles for the jump ball at the center and around the foul shooting area were painted with a stencil placed on the floor. I didn’t see them painting the straight lines.
Basically, they mask off the lines and paint them by hand. If you want to know in great detail, read this eight-megabyte PDF document from a company that sells the paint and the gizmo for laying out the masking tape. It includes detailed instructions for laying out a basketball arena.
Note that I found the link from the ones previously mentioned by Enright3.