So according to the thread you CAN IN FACT TAP On this flooring (from what i have read anyway)

Did we get a definative cost per square foot?

Yeah, it said about $2 per square foot. Instead of using Duct tape though, I would buy the floor tape from Stagestep. It DOES make a difference.

sigh J... have i told you how much i love you today?

Lol.

your the best.

Aw shucks! Too bad you are young enough to be my son and I am married!! LOL

Who knows when I will get my own personal studio, but gosh - I'm so excited about this thread, LOL!

I figured out last night what is up with the time step flooring - they secured it to the wood floor with wide strips of carpet tape. The carpet tape is actually like a sharktooth cloth (netting), and the netting is the part muffleing the sounds. There are some stretches in between with no carpet tape, and the sounds there are pretty crisp.

Irish dancers use Marley so you can definitely do “Tap” on it.

Ok so today we tried the small sample piece we have, and it works quite well. You can definately still hear any taps through it and it has good grip.

Try to find a parent in the dance class who is a contractor and can get things at cost, they are your friend.

Thanks so much for suggesting this product (Oatey PVC shower pan liner). I went out right away and found it in the shower section at Home Depot. They sell it by linear foot and also in a 5x7 foot roll. I bought the smaller roll for $35 for my Irish stepdancing daughter's room which has a wood floor. I still might get the TimeStep 5 later on but I wanted something very portable quickly. I'll share this info with other stepdance mums.

Thanks for sharing! We all need to save a little but invest in a good sprung sub fllor. It has saved my teaching career!

I have a timestep floor and I really love it. True, it does muffle tap sounds a bit however, for a multipurpose room it's great.

I've had mine down for 10 years. It's still holding up great and I average 2 tap classes per day.

At about $2/sq ft??? And those of you who've used it say it's comparable to marley! I'm going to Home Depot and Lowes TODAY to check it out. I'll look into the commercial industrial rubber roofing material as well. Those prices are incredible! Flooring is expensive and this is such a discounted, good quality route we now have the option to take. thank you...Thank You...THANK YOU!

I don't post much, I think this is my second time!! I am opening a studio this year and I have a question about the "cheap flooring". I went to home depot and found what I think everyone is talking about the shower pan liner, my question is did anyone find it without the writing on it? The stuff I found was gray and had the company name and some other writing on it, on both sides. Is this the right stuff?? I am looking for a cheaper option for floor!! And the roofing rubber liner, is it sticky on one side?? Thank you.

Here is my concern.......this sounds great but has anyone done this by laying the floor and tested it out with lots of student use over a long period of time??

I have a very old wood floor in one of my studios which I've had re-done a number of times. I would like to do something over the summer to spiff up the studio. Can I put that down over my wood floor? What would it look like? Has anyone done it? Thanks, Michelle

Oatey PVC Shower Pan Liner, 40mil can be found at Lowe’s for $28.91 (5x6)
www.lowes.com . . .

Alva’s Dance & Theatrical Flooring supply (marley type floor):
Matlay® floor description: Reversible, double-sided, PC vinyl, lightweight, non-skid matte finish suitable for all forms of dance with a surface texture that's not too fast and not too slow. Easy tape down installation. $17.50 per sq. yd. 72" wide, length up to 60', Black/Gray Black/White. Or Matlay® Pieces 4' x 6', $46.00 per piece. (www.alvas.com . . .)

Note the description, the material is the same-PVC! When I went to Lowe’s this weekend I actually took a sample of the Alva’s flooring with me to compare. I think the Matlay® was just a hair thicker, if it was at all, but it was so insignificant. So this flooring, I’m sure would work well, it’s the same material.

Oh, and there is only writing on one side of the PVC shower pan liner, so the other side is just plain gray. Thank you.

Wow I think this is probably the best and most helpful thread I have read on the net,thanks guys

Karma to you Llamma !!!

I bought a small piece of the shower pan liner at home depot and was very disappointed. I thought it was way too sticky. I had a hard time doing tendues never mind pirouetts on it. I put my tap shoes on and you could see all of the heel digs. Who out there has used this flooring for a while? I currently use stage step, and was hoping to that this stuff would work for my expansion, but I think I am going to break out the $$$$and get another stage step!

Am I the only one who doesn't think this stuff is a good substitute?

I bought a small piece of the shower pan liner too and taped it down in my studio. All of my footprints show up and it tended to turn with me. I think it would tear pretty under my kids violent tap shoes. I had a sample of Alva's Matlay reversible black & gray with me. The shower pan liner was less than 1/2 as thick as the Matlay. Perhaps we should all pool our resources and buy our own Marley company to give out Marley-at-cost to all of our friends forever! The shower pan liner was, however, an excellent idea to try! Thanks!

Great advice, We bought some for our studio, but its difficult to turn on... any advice???

Hi I"m a new member 6/16/06. My daughter owns a studio and is asking me to help put in an effective, inexpensive sprung floor. Her studio looks to have 2 x 4 with plywood and Marley floor above that,but I can't get under to get a good look at construction.
Does anyone know a site where I can get good drawings or sketches of construction, materials, methods etc.!
Thank you so much
Dikaia

You can check stagestep.com under "subfloors" and you can see two different versions of subfloors, one of which is what your daughter has: a 2x4 grid with plywood screwed into the top. Do the 2x4's have foam blocks under them? If they are sitting on concrete you would probably need them... if they are sitting on something with more give, you might be ok. Good luck!

Hey Mollypeach,

You recommended rubber roofing instead of a marley. How do you attach it? Someone said it would need to be stretched and fastened along the edges. I can get it, it is inexpensive, and it comes in 10 and 20 foot widths, but I'm not sure how to seam it. Does regular flooring tape stick to this stuff?

Thanks I've been able to duplicate that floor and add the foam for some spring.
JIM