Dance floor DIY. How to build a floating floor. 

Thank you very much. It's very nice to have the positivity because it keeps me wanting to create content so thank you again!

+So you want to be a Contractor? Yeah, much better than concrete

@@VanDamArtisan Hi im from india i run a dance school here in chennai , my studio is in the second floor and its located in a residential area .. the problem now when more than 4 or 5 people the jumping sound so disturbing in the first floor and groundfloor does this method arrest the sound completely .

Not completely but it will certainly help. I'd recommend insulating beneath the subfloor also if noise is a concern.

@@abbysdiaryofficial I did some looking into soundproofing a few years ago for a friend's band practice space. Everything I read said that for soundproofing floors, it's much, much more effective to hang soundproofing on the ceiling below, rather than trying to lay it on the floor above. Soundproofing is all about decoupling the surfaces so the sound vibrations don't propagate through them. Soundproofing on top of the floor has to work against gravity trying to press the two layers together, making vibrations propagate more effectively from one to the other. Hanging soundproofing below the floor (on the ceiling of the floor below) gets to work *with* gravity, pulling the two layers apart and making it harder for vibrations to cross the gap between them. You *may* also get some advantage by filling any gaps between the joists in the floors, so the empty spaces don't act as resonators. But that should be in addition to the other measures. Also, if you do put in a sprung floor, try to figure out a way to anchor the sprung floor that does not connect to the walls. If you connect to the walls, they will will carry vibrations down to the lower floors. I have a house with a set of stairs that has a wall connected to the stair stringer. It makes footsteps going up and down the stairs carry very well.

Good idea, thanks!

Thanks for watching just the same

@@VanDamArtisan So is this design considered to be a sprung floor wall base? I have a customer that is looking to get this built and trying to confirm.

I understand now. Yes, sort of. I attached 2 sides to the wall and gapped the other 2 to allow it to flex without squeaking.

Interesting. How would you design it?

+Natalie S thank you very much! This was a very fun project for us!

Marley dance flooring or vinyl dance flooring

thank you@@VanDamArtisan

Thank you

Yes. I personally jumped all over this floor with my entire crew and it worked great. This was for a private school with kids up to senior high school level.

@@luciahelenasilvaoliveirahe897 I put mine directly on existing flooring. I wouldn't put it over carpet, but vinyl or tile should be fine.

We did in fact stagger the tongue and groove osb and where we used nails we also used screws because nails have a much better shear strength than screws. Thanks for watching.

VanDam Creations got it. I apologize, I guess it’s hard to see with the angle of the camera, and in fast motion it’s harder to pick these things up. I think you did an awesome job, and I plan on using this design when I redo our dance studio. Take care!

I would definitely recommend pool noodles, just be consistent with the cuts. There's no reason you couldn't use 1x4's instead of 2x4's, it'll just have more flex.

3/4" thick foam

Off camera we actually pinned down two sides perpendicular to another. My main concern was aclamation and expansion, but there were no issues, mostly because the flooring was fairly heavy and didn't flex it expand much.

Just glue. Specifically, construction adhesive everywhere wood touches wood and foam where wood touches the floor.

Thahk you!!@@VanDamArtisan

I just did one layer of 3/4" tongue and groove osb

Thank you for the quick reply! Does it have to be tongue and groove?? Or would regular OSB work??

@@olivialeblanc8742 I'd recommend tongue and groove. Otherwise it will flex and squeak where the sheets but together.

Or double layer thinner sheets running perpendicular. Use plenty of glue and screws though.

It's all glued and screwed. No nails either or the entire thing will squeak.

Mostly to minimize the height but that's not a bad idea. It would give more spring to the floor.

+Kellen Storer I used regular construction adhesive between every board intersection and beneath the OSB. Around the perimeter I used a pressure treated 2x4 tipped on end so it stands 3 1/2" tall. This board is on the ground, not on pads and is secured to the wall. If it flexes against the wall it will squeak.

That's about what this one was and I think it was almost $6,000 for parts and labor. Parts was less than half.

Probably $2-3,000

Southern Utah

+Dance Dayz Studio the Marley was the portable kind but we installed it in a semi permanent way. It took us about 3 days, 1 to frame the bulk, 1 for ramps and misc framing and we cleaned and rolled out the floor in a couple hours on the last day. I believe the framing materials were around $2500 for about 1500 ft² and the school purchased the Marley so I'm not sure what the cost was. Hope this helps!

About how high did the floor become after the entire installation? Did they put a small step up to walk into the studio space?

+Dance Dayz Studio the overall thickness was 4 1/4". We built a handicap ramp up to it on both sides.

I would say it's comparable to the pool noodles. I just used those pads because the owner provided them.

I'm not sure but there's a thin cardboard that comes in rolls we use to protect the flooring during construction that should work.

No they aren't. It's a sprung floor. It's meant to flex. If I built it the other way it would defeat the purpose of calling it sprung.

I'd love to see a 2x4 break after flexing just 1.5 inches. Not gonna happen.

We went in a 24" grid with Douglas fir but anything should work.

I think the laminate would be a bit more slick than the Marley, but otherwise it would work fine.

Awesome! Thanks for the quick reply!

I left two sides floating to allow for expansion and contraction in case the flooring needed to acclimate. We haven't had a problem with the flooring moving, despite not using glue anywhere. The seem tape holds up well but something more permanent would be better. In this case, they wanted the flooring easy to remove so it could be upgraded later and be used for mobile purposes.

To a point, but if you're considering building above liveable space is recommend using insulation in and around the 2x4's to help deaden the sound.

The school purchased the spacers, but they are the same as a yoga mat cut up into small squares.

Good question

+Fairdeal Flooring Marley dance flooring. The school purchased it from a dance floor supplier. It's similar to vinyl flooring but gets bonded with a "weld", which is basically a strong fabric tape.

Thank you for your quick reply and help!

+Fairdeal Flooring no problem, any time.

Haven't yet but that would be a fun project

+James Davis yes, it is all 16' 2x4's and 3/4" tongue and groove OSB. The foam can be purchased from dance flooring supply companies.

Thanks!

+Kellen Storer 3/4" tongue and groove. Same type used on multiple floor homes as the subfloor.

Steven Hodge yes, yes I did! The original floor was too hard. This new floor is much easier on the knees and ankles of the dancers.

Steven you moron, know. Nothing about arts and sprung floors

Stagestep.com had them available

It matches your phenomenal English.

@@VanDamArtisan touché

To be frank, Dorothy, I do believe you're wrong.

Disagree.

We put screws every 6 inches or less around the outside and 12 inches in the middle. The screws haven't poked through from movement but we were very careful to bury the screws slightly into the osb. Nails would certainly move through from movement through.