It is interesting that for all the talk about dance floors, there’s not really a lot of talk about what dance floors are actually made from. Maybe it’s because flooring materials are never far from the minds of the professionals here at Ozburn-Hessey, but we’re going to change the lack of discussion on the subject.
The Best Flooring for Dance Floors
Hardwood Flooring- Too Hard to Get Down On?
As one must occasionally do on the dance floor, the first material we will be looking at is a real throwback: hardwood flooring. For most of human history, hardwood flooring was the main flooring material used. Because of this, it is a pretty common material for dance floors; after all, the majority of hardwood floors are sturdy, meaning they can handle the rigors of dozens of dancing denizens. You want something that’s not going to crack under the pressure, or show all the scuff marks years of dancing will undoubtedly leave. Hardwood flooring, once it’s been properly sealed, is one of the easiest floors to take care of. It is for these very reasons hardwood flooring is found in gyms and on basketball courts across the world. The softer materials are the best for this sort of thing, so if you are in the process of building your own dance floor, look at using something such as pine wood. It’s sturdy, yet soft enough it won’t hurt to fall on.
Laminate Flooring- Smooth Moves
One of the main problems with hardwood flooring is that it can be a bit too rough. Even if you use wide planks, there is still the risk of humidity causing the flooring to buckle or otherwise warp. Humidity is a problem in Nashville already, and that’s before you add in the extra heat from moving, sweaty bodies. The easy way around this is to install a flooring material that gives you all of the design sensibilities of hardwood flooring and less of the safety hazards. Enter laminate flooring. The reason laminate flooring works particularly well for a dance floor is that it is probably the lowest-maintenance flooring material out there. You have to sweep it regularly, but you don’t have to worry about keeping it dry because the material is waterproof.
Vinyl Flooring: What the Pros Use
If you ask dancers themselves about what kind of flooring they are familiar with, there’s a very good chance the material is vinyl flooring. The reason for this is that most professional dancers use vinyl flooring, most commonly with a rubber subfloor. This kind of flooring is sure to soften the longest of falls, and the combination of vinyl flooring on top of rubber ensures that any errant water and moisture will have the most difficult time trying to seep its way into the lowest levels. Vinyl flooring might not be the correct call for every dance hall, but it is the best option if you’re concerned about slips and spills.
Dance floors are one of the fews places in the world where the spotlight is one the floor, and if you choose a hardwood, laminate or vinyl floor, you have nothing to sweat. Just be sure to have it installed by the professionals here at Ozburn-Hessey!
