Building A Dance Floor

Heya all,

I absolutley love to dance, and have recently been inspired to construct a small portable dance floor in my spare room to practice on. Ive done some rudimentry research and found out about dance floors called "sprung floors". These are essentially a grid of wood of choice, with a layer of carpet and/or foam rubber and then a 3rd layer of hard wood which can be polished/waxed/whatever to achieve a nice smooth non-sticky surface to dance on. The idea of the foam rubber is that it reduces impact on joints by absorbing some shock, and also gives a little spring back, making dancing far more comfortable and less tiring (I had the honor of dancing on one of these floors in the past and omg it made a huge difference to the solid ground of most dance areas). Id like my floor to be approx 2m x 2m. the height of it matters little, although if it wasnt too heavy that would be a great bonus. also im unable to bolt it into the ground, so it will have to be free standing.

Anyways, a few questions:

1. Does anyone know what kind of material i should use for the middle layer so that it is hard wearing, but acts a little more like a spring that a sponge when absorbing impact from jumps? id very much prefer not to actually use springs, because i want the entire surface to give a very even resistance.

2. Does anyone have any recommendations for the types of wood i should use for the base and for the dance surface itself?

3. Can anyone recommend how to treat the surface of the floor so that it becomes transformed into a beautiful not-too-sticky not-too-slippery cloud of dancing pleasure? (many of the better floors ive danced on have been coated with a fine layer of dust from a dry mop, but id prefer not to have to resort to any quick fixes like powders)

4. Will i need any kind of vapor/moisture block to prevent the wood from soaking up unwanted moisture if i take it outside on the back lawn?

5. Has anyone else had experience with innovative floors in whatever venues they've been to that could used as a good idea for my floor? or for that matter, horror stories related to horrible surfaces?

thanks for the help!
-timedrane

woah, looks like you know way more than i do no idea sorry

1 the foam used in yoga/pilates mats ideally
but for a more cost effective solution the foam that is available to place under floating floors

2-surface-ply wood -perhaps marine ply pref smooth, wont be affected by moisture

5-I personally am happy with wood painted with flat black paint

Seal the wood with a timber sealant or a varnish this will protect it. Use ply as jase said its strong and reasonably light and very durable. Do a few coats on the dancing surface as it will protect beter and last longer. Periodical re application may be necesary but should last a fair while. good luck would love to see it when done. Great idea.

Go to clark rubber for the under side material they have HEAPS and different densities too. you will find somehting there garunteed!

Couldn't hurt to ask event promoters to find out where they got their shit from. I personally liked the kryal castle wood floors as they were hella springy making it easier to flow from one move to another - they also took quite a beating from all the syncronized shuffling..