Rob’s mention of basketball courts and arenas reminded me that my alma mater installed a new floor in the field house a few years ago. The requirements on the surface are different, but the need for shock absorption for the track and the basketball courts is very similar. The company that did the work was Beynon Sports. They advertise a range of products.
Hi,
From my experience working for New York ballet and modern dance companies and from doing the folk dancing we talk about here, I'd offer that the key word is "sprung" and I'd suggest researching portable and temporary sprung dance floors.
See:
Unacceptable: wood or wood-like flooring installed directly on concrete, without springing. This is as hard, unforgiving, unpleasant and injurious as concrete.
Sometimes a search for "dance floors" turns up "marley," which is floor covering, only. It is non-slip vinyl that makes an underlying sprung floor safe for stage dance.
There are soft and hard versions of marley designed for styles of dance and footware. Again, marley alone doesn't make a concrete or a non-sprung floor ok, but it can be quickly rolled out onto an "okay" residential wood beam constructed floor for dancing. An advantage to this route is that, for low cost, it will protect the surface of, say, a basketball court enabling a multi-purpose floor.
One might also research the floors for basketball courts which have the same requirements of being wood, but soft.
As an aside, your challenge reminds me of the floors of large event arenas, which might have to be changed from a basketball court to an ice rink to a stadium floor, etc.
Sometimes, also, a hard floor problem can be solved with footwear. Yours might become a sneaker dance on a concrete floor, just as sneakers are used for street dance (e.g., hip hop).
Sounds like an exciting project.
Best wishes,
Rob
Hey Organizers,
My home town, Columbia, MO, is building a welcome/community center for multiple uses. Our contra group has asked them to consider something other than smooth concrete for the floor.
The City parks and rec people were initially resistant, but since a lot of the funding for the building will be coming directly from the community, they seem to be softening their stance, but not to the point of approving a hardwood floor. So the architect has done some research on alternative flooring options that might be comfortable and safe to dance on, but also have many of the conveniences of concrete floor for multiple uses and maintenance.
Two products are listed in the attachments below. Unfortunately, the only known installations are 300-450 miles from us in Indiana and Kansas.
Have any of you out there in dance land run across either of these kinds of floorings, or maybe know of other alternatives to hardwood that would meet low maintenance requirements of the City?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Jim Thaxter
Columbia, MO
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From:
Robbie Price
Date: Tue, May 9, 2023 at 9:12 AM
Subject: RE: Community building floor
To: Jim Thaxter <
jathaxter47@gmail.com>
Dear Jim:
With a pure dance floor out of the question (too much friction for your purposes and too expensive), I am looking for floor which gives you the cushion you need and the durability to resist table and chair scratches, dropped equipment, and food spills. My rep from Tarkett, one of the largest flooring companies in the U.S. have a sports/recreation flooring division, Zoche, which may work. He recommends their Omnisports system “Multi-use” or the Lumaflex without the wood subfloor. Please find the spec sheets on these two products attached.
I am also interested in an industrial wood flooring product which may prove to be a possible solution – end grain wood blocks. It traditionally is used in industrial applications with 3” – 5” thick,creosote impregnated wood blocks which take all manner of abuse. Today they do away with the harmful chemicals and hazardous materials and use oils and some polyurethanes to finish them. It could be a beautiful floor and stand up to any abuse if only it is acceptable to the dance community. Here are websites for your review: Old Wood LLC. - End Grain Flooring , END GRAIN | Kaswell Flooring Systems
I need to do so more research on this. Please let me know what you think. Thank you for any input you can provide.
Cordially,
Robbie
Robbie Price AIA, LEED AP +
573.443.1407
Architect / Associate
soa
Architecture Interior Design Planning Sustainability
P Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Hi Robbie,
Thanks for being willing to consider a floor of something other than smooth concrete. Keep us up to date on what you’re looking at.
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