Home studio

[Twinkletoes22]

Has anyone installed a home studio please. Could I have some advice on mirrors you would recommend and any other tips?  Thank you! 

[NJH]

31 minutes ago, Warby22 said:

Has anyone installed a home studio please. Could I have some advice on mirrors you would recommend and any other tips?  Thank you! 

more a 'Doing dance '  type topic ... 

 the sky really is the limit  with this depending on space and budget ...  i know of people  who have re-done their spare room with laminate floor,  a short  portable barre and a mirror and a blue tooth speaker / dock  through to the  exploits @Michelle_Richer  describes 

[Canary]

You can buy a small size harlequin floor on line, if you need to put it on carpet there’s a wooden portable floor to go underneath and for tap.

Both roll up. 
Sturdy chair for barre 

portable mirror they can move around 

[Damedolly]

My girls have a studio that hubby built in the garden ( he’s a builder!) and we ordered mirrors from our local window company, so not dance mirrors as such but full length mirrors all the same, we have laminated floor , and husband made the barres using a standard wooden stair handrail . Hope that helps ! 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Damedolly

[margarite]

When we put mirrors in DDs bedroom I bought an acrylic mirror sheet for safety as we live in an old wonky building and was worried about it smashing! A dot 2 dance mat is a good investment if you have carpets.

[Yrosered]

No space for a studio here but a portable barre and a floor square from Harlequin. Those with yoga mats, Pilates balls etc will hopefully keep her in  condition!

[Twinkletoes22]

1 hour ago, margarite said:

When we put mirrors in DDs bedroom I bought an acrylic mirror sheet for safety as we live in an old wonky building and was worried about it smashing! A dot 2 dance mat is a good investment if you have carpets.

I like the sound of the acrylic mirror sheet but could you tell me if it provides a distorted image? 

[margarite]

After researching, went for more expensive 5mm thickness rather than 3mm as less likely to distort. We had to hang it carefully too. There is a slight distortion, but due to our wonky walls rather than the mirror I think.

[Bluebird22]

18mm ply sheeting makes a very cheap dance floor, you can baton (might not be called that) the floor and lay the ply over the top, which makes the floor slightly springy as it’s over a frame and a cavity. 
 

Might not be the 18mm one actually as that has very little give but it’s definitely not the very very thin one as that’s too flexible. 
 

[Meetmeatthebarre]

Argh why didn't I think of this? I've been struggling with carpet, and told by the marley floor vendor that it was definitely not recommended to lay vinyl over pile, no matter how short and dense :(

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Warby22

Just to chip in with my bit:

 

Sprung Floors

 My flooring is made up of Harlequin Vitality panels which was the forerunner of their now Heliquin Flexity Plus.

 

Harlequin Flexity Plus is a modular sprung floor panel system. Panels are manufactured from reinforced engineered boards with single density elastomer blocks on the underside to give uniform and consistent shock damping. Panels are laid in a brickwork pattern onto the sub-floor, so that cross-joins do not coincide.

 

Harlequin Flexity Plus sprung floor panels can be installed permanently and have been designed so that installation can be carried out by the customers themselves, which we did.

Floor panel size - 2.25m x 1.125m

Minimum floor thickness (before inclusion of chosen surface finish) - 37mm

Minimum floor weight (before inclusion of chosen surface finish) - 11.85kg/m²

 

Harlequin Flexity Plus is finished by choosing an appropriate Vinyl floor covering which Harlequin also supply, ours was their “Cascade” in black. Its also worth pointing out, its possible so save money by buying it as off-cuts, if the lengths work out for you, we did.  

 

This is what Harlequin say :

Harlequin Cascade is the ultimate heavy-duty vinyl dance floor, with mineral fibre reinforcement for stability and durability. It is widely used as a ballet floor, but is also a popular choice for many other dance styles.

 

Mirrors:

Have you decide where you want your mirror(s), the reason I ask, I have 2 walls mirrored, also with the current pandemic various dancers are continuing there classes, especially barre work through  on line classes, so may well need to have the provision of a large screen display.

I certainly have. This would normally take up some space that you may have allocated for mirrors.

 

For myself the longest wall, the centre area is occupied with a large screen display and a laptop for the music/ video. The rest of that wall has a number of mirror doors from the builders merchant Wickes which fit simple on runners, I have a small gap behind which give a little storage space for small items and cables etc. One of the side walls had a full length mirror in toughened glass that fitted directly to the wall but extremely expensive.

 

Just a thought, have you considered heating and lighting yet?

 

PS: I've also added a mirror above and below the table holding the screen display, the one at the bottom for feet particularly on pointe, and the one at the top just to fill the area, although there is a camera under the table which can be switched through to the screen as a cap filler.

Hope that helps xx

[Viv]

Has anyone found any good flooring materials that aren't from a dance flooring provider like harlequin? A non-slip vinyl floor or pond liner of some sort that won't cost an arm and a leg? I saw on the American site that people were using PVC shower pan liners as an alternative, but they aren't sold anywhere in Aus.

 

I am keen to lay some kind of non-slip dance floor over my normal floor boards so I can practice pointe, but I don't think the 1mx1m harlequin square is big enough, and the Dot 2 Dance is prohibitively expensive at something like $400! 

 

I would consider buying a proper dance floor if there are no cheaper alternatives, but I'm not sure they do them in such a small size, approximately 2mx3m. Has anyone had any experience of buying just a small practice floor, rather than fitting out a proper home studio?

[trog]

What about a sheet of plywood? Bunnings have 2400 x 1200 x 21mm for $128. I use a sheet of plywood as a tap floor.

[Viv]

@trog I worry it'll rip up the satin too much and may end up not being the safest for pointe work. Excellent for tap though! I have found some vinyl floor tiles at bunnings which I could stick to a sheet of masonite, though they're a bit textured and will be a pain to try and line up. May be the best option in the end though. At least the old wooden floors have a nice spring to them!

[Pas de Quatre]

A sheet of hardboard can work, you put the rough side facing down and use the smooth side.

[NJH]

On 28/03/2020 at 02:51, Viv said:

@trog I worry it'll rip up the satin too much and may end up not being the safest for pointe work. Excellent for tap though! I have found some vinyl floor tiles at bunnings which I could stick to a sheet of masonite, though they're a bit textured and will be a pain to try and line up. May be the best option in the end though. At least the old wooden floors have a nice spring to them!

 waxing it on the  raw surface or some thinned coats of  satin varnish  ...   to get a surface finish a bit like laminate wood  floor / parquet

[Viv]

I was able to find some sheet vinyl for sale at at the hardware store, 50% off and it's working a treat. A bit sticky but better sticky than slippery, and perfect for pointework. 

[Alexander]

Home barre from DreamBeams (bit pricey, good quality) and 3/4 mirror from TK Maxx

 

[Meetmeatthebarre]

On 28/03/2020 at 10:21, Pas de Quatre said:

A sheet of hardboard can work, you put the rough side facing down and use the smooth side.

 

I tried this recently (actually, the unused back to an Ikea chest of drawers!). The surface grip is nice. Just a warning if you use over carpet: it works really well for anything on the flat or demi, but will start to crack from pointe work. Over flat flooring should be fine.

[Sheila Beelam]

We have a roll of Sonata flooring from LeMark left from our studio renovation and will be selling it in manageable sizes for home use, on our site from later in the week. Any ideas on what sizes people would be interested in would be great. I chose a floor for the studio that had great grip for pointe shoes, but enough slip for turns  

 

https://www.lemarkfloors.co.uk/sonata-ballet-floor/

[NJH]

59 minutes ago, Sheila Beelam said:

We have a roll of Sonata flooring from LeMark left from our studio renovation and will be selling it in manageable sizes for home use, on our site from later in the week. Any ideas on what sizes people would be interested in would be great. I chose a floor for the studio that had great grip for pointe shoes, but enough slip for turns  

 

https://www.lemarkfloors.co.uk/sonata-ballet-floor/

 the data sheet says 2 m wide roll  so 1, 1.5 or 2 m  *2 m or 1*1 m   squares  ...  ?