Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 78

Thread: Floors at venues

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    St. Albans
    Posts
    2,388
    Rep Power
    9

    Floors at venues

    (Mods please move to other section as appropriate).

    So last night at Hammersmith...........I have never experienced 2 more sticky floors (main room and Blue room). Everyone was talking about it - and it was causing physical pain/soreness etc - especially for the ladies. At first I though something was wrong with my shoes........then I realised it was the floor.

    To me this is not acceptable: the operator should take responsibility for ensuring a minimum standard of acceptable flooring.

    It really did detract from the enjoyment of the evening.

    And not just Hammersmith - apparently last night at Rugby, my sources tell me that the floor was very sticky in places - although it had some slippy parts as well (a bit like ijig at the Forum last time).

    What does it take for the operator to get a floor into an acceptable state?
    What are the barriers to making this happen?
    Do the operators care sufficiently about the floor?
    What happens if dancers suffer injuries to knees as a result?


    You'd think by now that established venues would have 'cracked it' - ie sorted out the basics of flooring/ventilation/sound system......

  2. #2
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    North London
    Posts
    9,918
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    17

    Re: Floors at venues

    My good friend Colin went home after just 30mins, as he said the floor had made him pull a muscle in his neck!

    I personally didn't stay till the end, as my shoes were covered in a sticky black tar, as were all my other friends and I could feel the strain on my knees and ankles, so I decided to call it a night early, rather than risk any serious damage.

    I was praying to find a secret stash of talc hidden somewhere
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
    "If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine

  3. #3
    The Dashing Moderator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Midlands
    Posts
    3,556
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by JiveLad View Post
    And not just Hammersmith - apparently last night at Rugby, my sources tell me that the floor was very sticky in places - although it had some slippy parts as well (a bit like ijig at the Forum last time).
    I was at Rugby last night - I believe something had been done to the floor surface recently, and when I arrived it seemed pretty slippy in most places.

    However a bit later in the night, those exact same places had got stickier.

    I had a theory on this - it was a pretty humid night, and all those bodies generate moisture, and I reckon the combination makes the floor sticky as the night goes on.

    If this is correct, it's difficult to see what organisers could do about it.
    Love dance, will travel

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Hartlepool
    Posts
    106
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Floors at venues

    Ive come across the black tar substance at a venue that used to run (closed now) I think it must be some sort of non slip application !?????? (health and safety????)

  5. #5
    Registered User Lost Leader's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Towcester
    Posts
    1,274
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by JiveLad View Post
    .

    And not just Hammersmith - apparently last night at Rugby, my sources tell me that the floor was very sticky in places - although it had some slippy parts as well (a bit like ijig at the Forum last time).
    The floor at Rugby was sanded and re-polished last week. To be fair I think a very good job has been done. Inevitably there were a couple of small areas that were a bit slippy but overall the floor was pretty much as good as it always is. Floors have to be re varnished or polished from time to time and when they are it can take a little while for them to get back to their best. For Rugby to be as good as it was so soon is a sign of a very good job - I've known other floors that have been revarnished to be virtually undanceable for weeks. Hammersmith sounds like a totally different ball game.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Sri Lanka
    Posts
    770
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Floors at venues

    Spent 7 years every Friday dancing on carpet at a Ceroc venue. NOT EASY!!!!!

    It was not uncommon for girls to wear through soles in an evening.

    Oddly though almost everyone that danced there regularly wishes they still could. Not for the floor though but for the crowd and the ambiance.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Minnie M's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Hove Actually
    Posts
    7,924
    Rep Power
    14

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Prian View Post
    Spent 7 years every Friday dancing on carpet at a Ceroc venue.........
    Where was that ???

    On the reverse, our very beautiful and fabby Hove Town Hall, (BritRock venue) has the reverse - the floor is sooooooo fast, organisers have to 'wash' it to slow the floor down before dances. I love a fast floor, but without this added treatment you can slide from one side to the other


    --ooOoo--
    Age is a question of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter
    Leroy (Satchel) Paige (1906-1982)

    Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, Minnie, made her film debut, along with Mickey, in "Steamboat Willie" on November 18, 1928.
    That date is recognized as her official birthday.

  8. #8
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    3,756
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy Razzle View Post
    Ive come across the black tar substance at a venue that used to run (closed now) I think it must be some sort of non slip application !?????? (health and safety????)
    had this at a venue I used for Red Hot & Blue in Edinburgh. Irene used to spend the whole night dusting the floor with talc...Was a fab venue though...pity about the floor

  9. #9
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Sussex by the Sea
    Posts
    9,276
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Minnie M View Post
    On the reverse, our very beautiful and fabby Hove Town Hall, (BritRock venue) has the reverse - the floor is sooooooo fast, organisers have to 'wash' it to slow the floor down before dances. I love a fast floor, but without this added treatment you can slide from one side to the other
    As one of the organisers who has mopped this floor I can tell you that it's a very big floor! It's not really washing as the floor is usually clean and shiny. What we have to do is apply a fairly strong solution of wood floor cleaner and let it dry. However, if you get the strength wrong it makes the floor too slow.

    In my experience the sticky black tar come from spilt drinks which haven't been properly mopped. The floor looks shiny, but it's still got a thin, sugary syrup coating - this gets worse as sweat or wet weather increases the humidity.

    Getting the speed of dance floors right is a black art involving incantations, burning incence and an elixir made from the fermented toenail clippings of virgins - it's not for amateurs!

  10. #10
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    North London
    Posts
    9,918
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    17

    Re: Floors at venues

    If I had to choose between a sticky floor and a slippery floor, I think I'd always opt for the latter!

    A change of shoes can sometimes help to cope with a floor that's too slow but if you can't use talc, there not much that can be done on the night with a sticky floor
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
    "If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine

  11. #11
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Sussex by the Sea
    Posts
    9,276
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Lory View Post
    A change of shoes can sometimes help to cope with a floor that's too slow but if you can't use talc, there not much that can be done on the night with a sticky floor
    I think there's a big difference between a slow floor and a sticky floor. Talc would stick to a sticky floor.

  12. #12
    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Nr Cambridge
    Posts
    3,696
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Floors at venues

    Hammersmith downstairs was the worst floor I can ever recall trying to dance on. Upstairs was also much stickier than usual there as, indeed, was the floor at the WCS freestyle I attended before Hammersmith (and that floor is usually OK too) suggesting that the humidity of the night may have played a part.

  13. #13
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Floors at venues

    I'm very precious about my knees.

    And to my mind, sticky floors are more dangerous than fast ones, overall, because the strains you get from sticky floors can cause you real long-term injuries, but those problems are "hidden".

    Unfortunately, there's an incentive for organisers to make floors slower, as they're unlikely to be sued for knee strain, but might well be sued (or be liable) for visible "falling-over" types of accident.

    If Hammersmith had really been as bad as people say, I'd have left, and probably demanded my money back. Yes, humidity makes floors slower - Chiswick used to be a prime example of that - but it sounds like the problem was something else in on Saturday.

    Maybe the tar-like substance (P.S. ewwww) was varnish of some kind?

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Sri Lanka
    Posts
    770
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Minnie M View Post
    Where was that ???
    It was a private Ceroc venue run by the Cronins, where the proceeds went to charity. It was actually in a church. South Kensington. Not sure anyone here remembers it.

  15. #15
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Prian View Post
    It was a private Ceroc venue run by the Cronins, where the proceeds went to charity. It was actually in a church. South Kensington. Not sure anyone here remembers it.
    Yes, I went there a few times.

    Yes, OK, it was carpet, but it was actually pretty smooth carpet.

  16. #16
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Sri Lanka
    Posts
    770
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    Yes, OK, it was carpet, but it was actually pretty smooth carpet.
    Well as I said I do miss the place and as you say it was quite smooth.

    I certainly preferred it to the floor with the slope in it on board the HMS President

  17. #17
    The Forum Legend
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Nottingham
    Posts
    10,672
    Rep Power
    14

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Prian View Post
    Not sure anyone here remembers it.
    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    Yes, I went there a few times.
    Wrong again. That'll be at least 2 of us who were there (on a reasonably regular basis too).

  18. #18
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    an elixir made from the fermented toenail clippings of virgins
    That's probably the black tar-like substance.

    Yes, I know, ewww. Thank you, that is indeed my coat.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Sri Lanka
    Posts
    770
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by TheTramp View Post
    Wrong again. That'll be at least 2 of us who were there (on a reasonably regular basis too).
    Super. Does that mean you remember me? I taxied there during Cliff's tenure.

  20. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    London, United Kin
    Posts
    3,896
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Floors at venues

    Quote Originally Posted by JiveLad View Post
    So last night at Hammersmith...........I have never experienced 2 more sticky floors (main room and Blue room). Everyone was talking about it - and it was causing physical pain/soreness etc - especially for the ladies. At first I though something was wrong with my shoes........then I realised it was the floor.

    To me this is not acceptable: the operator should take responsibility for ensuring a minimum standard of acceptable flooring.

    It really did detract from the enjoyment of the evening.


    You will be pleased to know that your protests were heard and the floor was actually quite slippery last night but what an improvement on last time.

    Or it may just have been that it was nowhere near as humid yesterday

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Which venues are HOT in London during the week?
    By Wouter in forum The Land of a 1000 dances
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 20th-July-2010, 03:27 PM
  2. Sprung Dance Floors
    By Whitebeard in forum Intermediate Corner
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 12th-July-2010, 03:59 PM
  3. Free Tap Water at Dance Venues
    By Bubble in forum Let's talk about dance
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 16th-April-2010, 08:45 PM
  4. Fast Floors
    By geoff332 in forum Intermediate Corner
    Replies: 25
    Last Post: 15th-July-2009, 06:26 PM
  5. Relocation! Matlock - Local Dance Venues?
    By Keefy in forum Chit Chat
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 27th-November-2008, 09:06 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •