Temporary (indoor) Dance Floors - Parquet, Laminates, etc.

[straycat]

My God, can you imagine the gloat fest coming from Rocky if they did?

I'm sure Jon and Wes are perfectly capable of finding their own flooring and lets not forget, they did get a new floor this time due to complaints the last time, it's trial and error. I'm sure after more complaints this time, they'll try something better next time.

Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

Slightly off-topic, (but why not?) at a Lindy event we went to over Christmas (is there such a term as a 'weeker'?) they had some nightmare flooring issues, which they managed to solve just before the event started.
They had a huge main room (similar floor size to the main dancefloor at Southport), to be used in six nights of consecutive dancing. At an event designed to attract some of the world's best, and most insane speed-freak Lindy Hoppers, so a sub-par dancefloor was absolutely not an option.

The room was carpetted - and when they drove out to test the temporary dancefloor they'd booked - as you can imagine, temporary flooring for a room that size does NOT come cheap, they found it woefully lacking, and they cancelled it. They ended up buying, of all things, a good quality (but heavily discounted) parquet floor to cover the whole room.... and eight of the organisers laid it, without adhesives, in a day. The plan being to take it up again at the end, and use it again next year.

End result - it was one of the best floors I've ever danced on.

It'll be interesting to see how it fares again next year...

Moved back "inside" again from the More JA vs Ceroc thread - DavidY

[Lory]

(is there such a term as a 'weeker'?)

<u Spell checker doesn't even like the term 'weekender'

They ended up buying, of all things, a good quality (but heavily discounted) parquet floor to cover the whole room..

I've got laminate in one of my rooms at home and its great to dance on.

I don't have a clue how much it was but I've seen similar in places like B&Q and IKEA and its not a fortune, you don't need glue to fix it, so it'll probably be re-usable (except I think the edges have to be secure?)

Laminate's harder wearing than real wood and less temperamental with different degrees of humidity

[straycat]

I've got laminate in one of my rooms at home and its great to dance on.

The surface was wonderul - they'd picked a wood-effect one with a slight texture - an incredible amount of slide, but still some grip when you needed it. I think it helped that it was sitting on carpet - there was just that tiny bit of give in the floor which meant it wasn't too hard on the knees.

I don't have a clue how much it was but I've seen similar in places like B&Q and IKEA and its not a fortune, you don't need glue to fix it, so it'll probably be re-usable (except I think the edges have to be secure?)

They said it was a little more expensive than hiring a floor - but if they reuse it, they recoup the investment next year.

[Cruella]

The surface was wonderul - they'd picked a wood-effect one with a slight texture - an incredible amount of slide, but still some grip when you needed it. I think it helped that it was sitting on carpet - there was just that tiny bit of give in the floor which meant it wasn't too hard on the knees.



They said it was a little more expensive than hiring a floor - but if they reuse it, they recoup the investment next year.

I wonder if the fixings on a laminate flooring would allow for taking up and relaying, it doesn't seem very strong.

[David Franklin]

Moved back "inside" again from the More JA vs Ceroc thread - DavidY

If we're moving posts back inside, any chance of moving this one:

http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/s...3&postcount=22

I don't think I've ever seen a post with more 'thanks' attached, and it seems a crying shame for it to end up in the forum equivalent of Siberia.

[CJ]

If we're moving posts back inside, any chance of moving this one:

http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/s...3&postcount=22

I don't think I've ever seen a post with more 'thanks' attached, and it seems a crying shame for it to end up in the forum equivalent of Siberia.

[stewart38]

Why is it so hard to get a floor right ?

Is it cost etc ? Do people go cheap

Size of floor, location , heat of room etc

[Lory]

Why is it so hard to get a floor right ?

Is it cost etc ? Do people go cheap

Size of floor, location , heat of room etc

I don't know but I'll have some good guesses.

1. the cost must come into it for sure
2. whats underneath - carpet, old lino, bumpy surfaces, grass etc
3 how it reacts to fluctuating temps and humidity
4. workmanship
5. how it wears during the weekend, when hundreds of people have been dancing on it for hours
6. how transportable it is - you might have a great floor 'initially' but it suffers badly when lifted and transported

[Filthy Monkey]

Given how the floor differed in certain parts of the room, I would say that what was underneath was the biggest factor there. I'd like to go back and check out at some point, but it's, eh, Butlins and I just couldn't bring myself to go there for anything other than a dance weekend!!

[geoff332]

Why is it so hard to get a floor right ?

Is it cost etc ? Do people go cheap

Size of floor, location , heat of room etc

A permanent dance floor is very hard to get right. It needs to be built well and have enough spring in it to help the dancing. Then it needs to be maintained - swept daily, cleaned regularly and waxed and buffed frequently. It takes time for a floor to settle into the frame and for the wax to impregnate the wood and create a smooth and consistent surface. As part of this, the joins between the timber get sealed and you have a smooth, flat floor and never notice the joins.

If you take an adequately built wooden floor and look after it, it can be pretty good. In most cases, better than a well made but poorly maintained floor. Most floors, even if well built, are not well maintained today, which is a real shame. When you find an exception, it's magnificent. With a bit of skill, you can adjust the speed on a floor day to day without ruining the floor.

Temporary floors are a lot harder even if you have lower standards. The biggest issue is that the floor is made out of different segments (usually squares). Each segment is likely to have a different surface and been subject to different care. And the joins are never going to be as smooth as a permanent floor. And whatever frame is underneath it is not going to be as good as a well built floor. This means the spring is going to be inconsistent and the joins are going to be even less even.

If a temporary floor is done extremely well, it can be close to a poorly made and unmaintained permanent floor. It'll never be close to a well maintained floor. And if the floor is properly built as well, then it's completely different.

The stresses people put on surfaces are are quite extraordinary. The Millennium Bridge in London got into trouble because people fell into lock-step with the sway, creating an amplifying oscillation. That sort of thing has When dancing, you'll have most of the weight of the dancers hit the floor on the beat, then lift off again only to land again on the next beat. Combine weight and velocity and you have quite literally tonnes of force slamming into the floor.

[scotttwin]

A bad dance floor can ruin your night, it's not only temporary floors that can be a problem.

I now carry three different types of dance shoe with me (leather, suede and rubber) and I have found that this really helps.

[straycat]

I wonder if the fixings on a laminate flooring would allow for taking up and relaying, it doesn't seem very strong.

Well - I'll be able to tell you the answer to that one in the New Year, when I get back from Snowball 2009/2010 (those Swedes certainly know how to hold a dance event).

The floor did suffer over the week, it's safe to say - gaps appeared in a couple of places (near edges), and they were doing some maintenance on it over the week. On the whole, though, it held up incredibly well, especially considering that it had to endure six nights of dancing (around 6-8 hours a night)

My guess is that when they came to take it up, they would have had to do so with a great deal of care. I'll ask the organisers about that when I next see them.

[cgull]

without wishing to hijack this thread - can anyone recommend a product for laying out a small area at home - what are the options and what works best? needs to be something easy to store that can come out and be a passable dancefloor for practicing. I've seen the ones that kind of jigsaw together - are they any good? and where can you get them from? Or is there something that you can simply roll out like a rug?
thanks

[Minnie M]

without wishing to hijack this thread - can anyone recommend a product for laying out a small area at home - what are the options and what works best? needs to be something easy to store that can come out and be a passable dancefloor for practicing. I've seen the ones that kind of jigsaw together - are they any good? and where can you get them from? Or is there something that you can simply roll out like a rug?
thanks

found this from Lory at the beginning of this thread ..........

I've got laminate in one of my rooms at home and its great to dance on.

I don't have a clue how much it was but I've seen similar in places like B&Q and IKEA and its not a fortune, you don't need glue to fix it, so it'll probably be re-usable (except I think the edges have to be secure?)

Laminate's harder wearing than real wood and less temperamental with different degrees of humidity

[cgull]

found this from Lory at the beginning of this thread ..........

thanks - but sounds like Lory's is permanent. I am looking for something to stick behind the sofa when not using it

[Astro]

The stresses people put on surfaces are are quite extraordinary. The Millennium Bridge in London got into trouble because people fell into lock-step with the sway, creating an amplifying oscillation. That sort of thing has When dancing, you'll have most of the weight of the dancers hit the floor on the beat, then lift off again only to land again on the next beat. Combine weight and velocity and you have quite literally tonnes of force slamming into the floor.

That's why a commander will tell an army to break step when crossing a bridge.


Is there an easy way to tell if a floor is sprung or not - or do you have to wait till the next day to see if you have aches and pains or not?

A bad dance floor can ruin your night, it's not only temporary floors that can be a problem.

I now carry three different types of dance shoe with me (leather, suede and rubber) and I have found that this really helps.

But I don't want to lug 3 pairs of shoes (that's 6 shoes) around on trains, tubes and buses.