Hardwood Flooring with some flex?
I have a client who’d like a hardwood floor in his kitchen. He’s a professional chef and will be spending quite a bit of time there. Anyway, he’d like for the floor to have some “flex” similar to a basketball court floor. Is anyone familiar with that type of construction, or another way to achieve this? Would a typical sub-floor achieve this to any degree? It will be built on a slab and the slab can be recessed as needed. Thanks in advance for your help!
Replies
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller???
There's a good article in Wikipedia.org about this. Look it up under 'Sprung Floor'.
If you have the room you could 'spring' the floor sleepers the way that a dance floor is built for resilience. Usually this involves blocks of bridge-bearing neoprene or similar resilient material.
(my experience comes from designing a dance studio floor at an independent school where the Alvin Ailey troupe teaches in Brooklyn)
Here is a link to generic bridge-bearing neoprene products - http://www.pretread.com/bridgebearing.html
or, you can go here and buy the products specifically designed for sprung floors (safer) - http://stagestep.com/subfloors.php
System example:
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System selection approach may be dictated by which assembly fits within the space you feel you can create above the slab or subfloor.
Jeff
Thanks guys. This information is very helpful. I should have plenty of space, there are two steps up to the kitchen level...so, that height is more than enough to work with. Thanks again!