16 Dec Specialty Flooring Installation For A Dance Studio!

We recently were contracted to remodel a basement that we had already finished several years ago. One of the changes that the homeowner had requested was to replace the flooring in the existing fitness room with a special type of floor system that is typically found in dance studios. Our particular application of this floor system was on a concrete slab which is probably the most common application for this type of floor.

A Keystone Dance Studio!

The homeowner had already picked a company to purchase the flooring material from with a little help from her daughter’s dance instructor.

The company that we purchased the flooring from is called Stage Step Flooring and they specialize in the manufacture and sale of all types of stage and dance flooring. The product that we used is called Bravo 2 flooring. It is essentially a thin rolled vinyl product that has an almost rubber like texture that prevents ballet shoes from sliding on it. The Stage Step Flooring Company provides detailed installation instructions for their flooring. Since our application was on a concrete slab, a cushioned sub floor had to be installed first.

Here are the steps that we took to install the flooring: First we put down a 6 mil polyurethane sheeting directly on the concrete floor for a vapor barrier (this is to prevent any moisture from penetrating the concrete slab and causing problems with the sub floor).

Then we took ½” thick foam blocks (purchased from Stage Step Flooring) and attached them to the bottom side of sheets of ½” plywood. The foam blocks have a peel and stick adhesive on one side for ease of installation. The plywood we used was an A/C grade. The A side is very smooth which is essential since the thin vinyl flooring is glued directly to the surface. The plywood sheets were then placed foam side down onto the floor with all edges butted together tightly.

Then a second layer of ½” A/C plywood is put on top of the first layer and is run perpendicular to the first layer so that the joints do not line up. Next the top layer of plywood gets screwed down to the bottom layer using 1” long galvanized decking screws (it is very important to counter sink the screw heads).

Then the screw heads and plywood joints are filled with a prep filler that you can find at any flooring supply store. The filler was then sanded smooth and we were ready to install the Bravo 2 flooring. A vinyl floor adhesive was applied to the smooth plywood surface with a 1/16” trowel. The flooring was rolled out onto the adhesive and rolled smooth with a heavy vinyl floor roller which can be rented from a tool rental store.

The finishing touch was to add shoe moulding around the perimeter of the room to hide the cut edges of the flooring. The homeowner and her daughter were very happy with the finished product and I am told that the floor is used daily and is holding up very well.

Email us today to learn how we can do a specialized project for your home!