When purchasing martial arts mats and other equipment for your facility, you have a big choice to make: install it yourself or hire a professional to do it for you. While most Zebra customers install their own equipment – it’s not very hard – some choose to hire our team (or another) to do it for them.
Here are a few things to consider when making this decision:
Installing Equipment Yourself
Self-installs are the most common for a few reasons:
– It’s the least expensive option
– Only basic knowledge and a few tools are needed
– Most people know someone who is willing to help if you are not comfortable doing the install by yourself
– Zebra is happy to provide instructional guides, layout possibilities, and other help
Read our mat installation guide
If you are comfortable using, and have, a few simple tools, you should be just fine installing the equipment on your own. The few tools that would be required are a:
1. Cordless drill
2. Tape measure
3. Straight edge
4. Utility knife
5. Sharpie
If you have a concrete wall, you will need a hammer drill or a cordless drill with the hammer drill setting.
Hire a Professional
If you decide you do not want to install your own equipment, there are a few options:
– Hire a local flooring or general contractor. They will be able to give you an estimate based on the installation instructions. We will work directly with them and provide them with all the information they need to get the job done well. Since they are local, they would possibly visit your location and determine the scope of the work that needs to be done.
– Hire Zebra Athletics install your products. Depending on your location, Zebra will need to include all travel expenses when determining a price to install your equipment.
Installing Bags and Bag Racks
If you have purchased one of our martial arts bags or racks/trolleys, we recommend hiring a local contractor or someone who is very knowledgeable in mounting heavy steel products. A contractor will be able to advise on the best way to either sturdy up your existing wall or recommend the right fasteners best suited for your type of wall.
The choice is up to you! In either case we want you to be very happy with the final product and will do everything we can to assist you or your installers to make sure it is done to your satisfaction. If you have any questions about installing our products, get in touch with us right away.