What Type of Flooring Suitable For Dance Studio?

When choosing the suitable flooring for your dance studio or ballroom, you have to take note of how the flooring is going to affect your dancers; things to notice are the consistent dancing traffic, the impact on the flooring as well as the “softness” of the floor. Hence, the flooring material for your dance studio floors should have high level of scratch resistance, strong ability to withstand heavy weights and traffics, have non-slip features as well as a comfort feel with great sound insulation.

Sports Wood / Sprung Wood

For dance studio owners who have large initial capital outlay, they can consider sprung wood flooring or commonly known as sports wood flooring. Sports wood has built in resilient layers which act as a moisture barrier, impact and sound absorbent for the flooring. The top layer is made up of real wood. Beech, maple and oak are three common wood species that are used as the surface layer of the sprung flooring. Sprung wood flooring can also be used in the construction of games courts, sports hall, gyms as well as indoor stadiums.

However, sprung wood flooring may not be cost efficient especially for newly start-ups dance studios owners because of the skyrocketing investments involved. On top of that, the owner may need to be disciplined enough for maintaining the sprung flooring, making sure the flooring is dry and clean at all times with no liquid spill. Scratch marks may be unavoidable due to characteristics of wood. Every year or two, there is a need to engage a wood maintenance specialist to give the flooring a layer of coating for protection.

Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is one of the best options for dance studios owners. Laminate flooring is more cost efficient to the newly start-ups. On top of that, it has a variety of designs and colors; thus making your dance studio standing out in character.

However, the owner needs to understand that not all types of laminate flooring are suitable for dance studio. He or she will need to do research and ask the vendors on various aspects of the flooring especially on scratch resistance, impact on flooring and sound insulation. For dance studio flooring using laminate flooring, the underlay is very important. Often recommended by some contractors here, is to use a solid step underlay to absorb shock and sound echoes, prevent moisture and creating a “soft” effect. Rule of the thumb is to choose a reputable laminate flooring brand and to ask the vendor for dance studio projects references if any. Laminate flooring is easy to maintain.

Other types of Flooring

Dance studios can also use linoleum, high end resilient flooring or any types of resilient flooring. Things to be advised, is firstly the height of the flooring should be at least 5mm, and also whether it has any insulating characteristics. Usually such resilient flooring has greater resistance to sweat and stench. However, when in doubt, the dance studio owner always needs to ask the flooring contractor before deciding on the right material for your dance studios.