COMPLETE PICTURE GALLERY available by emailing JessLSchwarz@aol.com
I am a senior dancer and finally got around to building a practice floor this weekend.
Thanks to my able bodied and available assistant, my husband, (lifting and picking up supplies)
we were able to build approx. 8'x16' practice floor in our basement in approx. 8 hours time.
With a quick rough drawing, Home Depot credit card in hand, we were on our way.
Subflooring (Dricore) was put on top of a concrete slab floor.
Supplies Purchased and Used: (All products purchased at Home Depot and our local lumber yard).
qyt. 4 4'x8' 3/4" plywood (you can use 1/2' but I wanted more strength)
qty. 4 4'x8' 1/2" waferboard (also called particle board)
qty. 7 2"x6"x8" pine beams
qty. 8 2"x6"x16" pine beams
qty; 46 2'x2' squares of Dricore (found at home depot) Easily packed 46 squares in the
trunk and back seat of my car.Please check out the link and info. carefully and decide if this is
a good choice for you as well.
We used this as a humidity and moisture resistant subfloor. Also gave a level surface to start with.
The site link will explain everything you need to know.
qty. 4 4"x4" L-brackets
qty. 16 2"x6" hanger brackets (to support the main beams)
qty. 1 5lb box 1- 5/8 Epoxy Coated Deckfast screws
qty. 1 2lb box 8x3 Flat head epoxy coated screws
qty. 6packs 2'x2' (6 in package) puzzle piece gym mats
Instructions:
Laying the Dricore squares is the easy part. The are all toung and groove and easily fit together
with a few good taps of a hammer (use a rubber hammer if you have) as we needed to cover our metal
one with duct tape to prevent damage to the toung. After the Dricore was together we tightly pulled strips
of duct tape over all the seams for added support.
Building the Fame
qty.2 2"x6"x16" long beams for the sides and qty. 2 2"x6"x8" beams for the sides.
We jointed these together with 2 screws (one top/one bottom) Then used an L- bracket
to secure them tightly with 4 more screws
Fairly easy and quick.
Once the basic outline of the frame was made we then decided how many long 2"x6"x16"
beams we wanted to place inside the frame to act as the main supports. Evenly spaced,
(remember to stand the wood on it's narrow end) then attaching the hanger brackets to either end of each
beam and secure them to the main frame. Takes a bit of time to get everything lined up just right but, attaching
the brackets goes quick.
Now the fun part!
You'll need to cut cross supports (I let my husband buy a circular saw for this job)
We marked each long beam first at intervals of 1 foot then the second beam at every two feet,
the third at every 1 foot etc. This is so that your cross beams alternate 1 foot. Looks like a puzzle
when it's all done. Cut the beams to what ever measurement you have chosen and the screw them
in with two screws on either side to secure them in place.
This part of the project took the greatest amount of time.
After your cool jig saw puzzle frame is all complete:
Lay on top your 1/2" plywood sheets. You may need to use your measuring tape to mark where you put
screws previously as to not run into them again and still drill into support beams. A little math and some practice
and you are on your way nicely!
After the plywood is placed down then lay your impact protection gym mats. We got ours at Walmart for $17 a package
of 6. BJ's wholesale sells them and probably other stores too.
This part is a breeze and you are happy for a break from bending and cutting all afternoon!
Do not screw this down yet:
Place your Waferboard (particle board) rough side up! There is a more slippery side but after testing out that side
with my hardshoes (weeeeeeee slip and slide) best sound and grip was on the rough side. This stuff is used at a lot of
competitions instead of plywood. The plywood gets slippery after a few hours of hitting the same spots with your hardhsoes.
Less expensive then the plywood sheets and more economical to replace when they get really beat up.
Screw this down with the long screws from the top all the way into the support beams.
Your gym mats will be secured at the same time.
Use your judgements as to how many screws you think you need on the top layer of wood.
I found that 4 on the length the 2 on the width worked for me.
Then collapse! My husband I were exhausted! Decided that this project would have been better accomplished in a two day
period and not one.
Feel free to adjust the sizing as you need. Oh, by the way. Purchase a pair of knee pads! You WILL need them.
Total cost, not including saw, goggles, knee pads, some extra wood we bought in case of screw ups... etc. about $800.
Best of Luck to you and happy dancing.
A big Thank You to my husband Justin for putting up with the hours of Irish Dance music, and the pounding of my hardshoe
beats rising up from the basement at ghastly hours.
Jess
