Thread: Suggestions Needed - Building a Basement Studio

For Christmas my husband has given me the budget to finish off a portion of our basement and make myself a dance studio. Does anyone have any advice on building a studio in a basement?

SWEET!

What is your budget? Good mirrors, good lighting, good FLOORING.
How high are your ceilings? How much space do you have to dedicate? Do you want to enclose it? Is your basement already a finished basement or is it raw space? Do you want to sound proof it? It's so important to be able to find good contractors, unless you're doing it yourself.

When I was married and lived in the marital abode (much happier now in a loft space downtown), we had a section of the home (split level) dedicated to a dance space.

I had floor to ceiling mirrored section, light maple Pergo wood laminate with the fluffiest underlayer also meant to muffle noise & provide cushion since this was on the concrete (anything to guard against shinsplints; husband at the time installed this himself), installed 2 sets of 3-light vanity lights through the mirrors as well as cannister lights in the ceiling (hired electrician for this), and painted the walls a nice burgundy/raspberry colour (we did this ourselves, too). I regularly held classes and live music workshops there, it was great! It was also definitely nice to have a rehearsal space.

You should post before and after pics!

Flooring is important - the concrete floor in a typical basement can wreak havoc with your feet, ankles, knees, and back. It can give you shin splints if you do traveling moves or footwork on it. So if you have to sacrifice something, don't sacrifice the flooring!

If your basement has dampness issues, place a vapor barrier on the floor before installing your dance floor.

If your budget is limited, you can go for a rubber floor. This has cushioning to absorb impact, and should suffice for typical belly dance stuff, though I'd be cautious about practicing too much Saidi or debke all at once. If your budget is a bit bigger, you can consider a sprung floor, which consists of foam pads covered by plywood for give, and then a nice-looking layer on top of that.

If I were to use a car analogy to describe dance floors...

• Bare concrete is the 10-year-old pile of junk whose floor is rusting through, with lots of dents that are rusting, whose brakes are about to give out just when you need them most.
• Concrete with a layer of linoleum is the same car, only with a new coat of paint on it to hide the rust spots, but still has the defective brakes.
• Concrete with a layer of carpet is the same car, only with a new coat of paint AND all the dents repaired, but still has the defective brakes.
• A rubber floor laid over concrete is a used car in good condition, that was well cared for by its previous owners and has passed a safety inspection. It's definitely safe to drive, but its upholstery is a bit stained and worn.
• A sprung floor is a shiny new BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, or Cadillac, fresh off the lot.

So, avoid the first three choices above because they can injure you! But the last two choices are both workable. Whichever one you choose, suggested vendors are Stage Step Dance and Theatre | Aeson Health and Fitness (which one of my friends used and was happy with) and O'Mara at The Ultimate Portable Dance Floor System which is what I used on recommendation of the local University's theater guy who supervises installation and upkeep of the sprung floors in the dance department's classrooms.

For mirrors, again it's a question of how much you're willing to spend. Check with vendors who sell glass to contractors. You don't need mirrors to go completely from floor to ceiling. In my newly-built basement studio, the bottom edges of the mirrors are an inch or two above the top edges of the electrical outlets along that wall, and that's fine. I think their height is 7 feet, but depending on your height and how close you'll be dancing to the mirrors, you may find that smaller is okay for your needs.

I have a friend who works for a glass place, and he gave me a ton of what he called "scrap" mirrors for my walls. they are about 48 inches by about 36 inches (this is me just looking and not getting the measuring tape out mind you...) and those were free... SOOOO I would suggest calling glass vendors and seeing if they are willing to part w/ their scrap mirrors. they might just give them to you or sell them for very very cheap.

no suggestions, just seconding the vote for a sprung floor if at all possible.

you might also consider a marley type dance floor, you know the one used in the good theaters and high end dance studios. i love those the best
i don't know this particular company, but it's a start
Marley Dance Flooring

oh, and i am soooooooo jealous :)

If you need to save money (like I did), Home Depot has some good-sized mirrors. , bigger than your average door-mirror, but not quite full-wall-sized.

You'll also want to think about art and decorating. And lighting! And maybe about mounting a television on the wall if you want to do DVDs in there.

Wow! What a great source you ladies are! I am starting with an unfished basement. I will definately take before and after pictures. My husband gave me a TV/DVD and great art for christmas that lead up to a card with anote that said, "Finish off part of the basement and turn it into a little dance oasis for yourself!" I plan on putting a wood laminate in the dance area so my 8 year old ballerina and 3 year old tap dancer can use the space as well. I will probably use carpet tiles for the remainder of the space. I want to do as much as possible myself but the framing, electric & sheet rock will require profession help. There are 9 1/2 foot ceilings (ok, to beams) I don't think I'll do a drop ceiling but ceiling tiles & insulation insulation added to buffer out sound.

The flooring and the lighting is really what is driving me nuts! Any thoughts on track lighting?

I have track lighting in my new home studio, and I really like it. I can crowd all the canisters close together if I want to pose for photos or videotape myself, or I can spread them across the full width if I want to distribute the heat. My track lights are a special type of track that supports two switches, so I can either have all on, all off, or just every alternating one on. And I used dimmer switches which gives me additional control over how much light they emit. I really like the amount of control this gives me. I also like the fact that I can use full-spectrum light bulbs, which I like better than the usual yellow.

For the "living" area of your basement, consider putting floor heating under the carpet tiles. Basement floors can get really cold and uncomfortable, because they're the temperature of the ground rather than of the air, and it's constantly chilly. I have heating under the ceramic tiles that surround the steam room in my basement, and let me tell you, the 90-degree heat feels a lot nicer on my stocking feet than the 68 degrees of the other parts of the basement. (We built a new room last year, with dance studio on one end, home theater in the middle, and steam room on the other end. Our original basement is finished off with carpet tiles, and they're not nearly as nice!)

If you're planning to finish off the whole basement, think about installing a radon mitigation system. Radon gas is radioactive, and has been shown to cause lung cancer in people who have no history of tobacco use. Our basement had radon levels of almost 4 when we bought the house (our city zoning codes don't allow a house to be sold if the living area radon levels exceed 4), and now that we have radon mitigation installed in the new room it's down to 1.7.

Thanks for the radon suggestion. I never really thought about it. Off to go buy a radon test! Keep the ideas coming ....

Take everyone's advice about the floor. When I built my basement studio, I cheaped out on the floor and tried to do linoleum, telling myself I could upgrade in the future. It all peeled up within a month (despite using special basement floor primer) and I wound up having to get a good floor professionally installed anyway. I wish I had just gone with good quality from the beginning.

I have discovered that I can do a good quality laminate for the same price as carpet, so I am going to install a sub-floor designed for basement dance/activity areas and laminate wood the whole area. I am going to go with track lighting as well. I will post before, during and after pictures! Wish me luck and keep the ideas coming!!!!

When my contractor finished my basement studio floor, we had some bits and pieces of the materials left over, so he made me a small "demo tile" of the sprung floor, that shows how the layers were put together. I've been intending to photograph it with my digital camera and write an article about how it all goes together, but somehow there never seems to be enough time to do all that!

Since you want ideas to keep coming...

It is possible to install mirrors using J-shaped hooks, without gluing them to the wall. This makes them portable if you should ever want to move. The materials used to build a sprung floor can be installed in such as way as to make them portable as well, if needed.

My sprung floor is finished off with laminate, and I love it. It's less likely to provoke dust/mold allergies than carpet (I have a mild dust allergy), and it's easier than carpet to clean if my cat should feel inspired to vomit. I've only had it since May, but it has held up well, durability-wise.

[QUOTE=*Shira*;104435]When my contractor finished my basement studio floor, we had some bits and pieces of the materials left over, so he made me a small "demo tile" of the sprung floor, that shows how the layers were put together. I've been intending to photograph it with my digital camera and write an article about how it all goes together, but somehow there never seems to be enough time to do all that!QUOTE]

If you do ever get around to writing that article, let me know. My hubby has talked me into documenting this little adventure and possibly publishing it as a multi-article thing(!?!). ,r:;
I'd love to have that info on sprung floors! ..g.:

Gray Interlocking Tiles

Rubber 4' x 10' Mat Flooring (Color: Black With Green Flecks)

would either of these be good choices for basement flooring...i thought i could put carpeting on top.... please tell me if these would be inappropriate to dance on. thanks

Originally Posted by lylagus

i thought i could put carpeting on top.... please tell me if these would be inappropriate to dance on. thanks

Depending on how you dance, carpeting itself could be iffy. If you're doing pivot-oriented moves (twisting steps, spins, half turns, etc.) dancing on carpet can be hard on your knees. The reason is that your foot sticks to the carpet as you pivot, which in turn torques the knee.

I would also hesitate to do folkloric moves such as Saidi jumping, debke, etc. on surface you've described because even with the padding I'm not sure how much cushioning it offers. It might be okay for normal walking, but for dancing with either hopping moves or traveling steps, maybe not so great. It could lead to foot, knee or ankle pain, or even to shin splints.

If you're determined to use carpet anyway, then I would urge you to get dance shoes with SLICK soles (NOT suede), such as lyrical shoes. Ie, dance shoes that will pivot easily on it. Do NOT dance either barefoot or stocking foot on carpet if you value your knees!

Shira - i ususally wear ballet slippers... i was going to use the carpet to cover any seams in the padding so i wouldn't trip. What do you think about the padding? are either of them good choices? i didn't know if either of them would be the equivalent of a rubber floor that you had mentioned in a previous post. i can't afford a sprung floor.


i really appreciate the heads up on knee stress...i don't want to add problems to my body! the padding would be going over concrete....right now i just have the carpets and i have been doing slow gentile moves (i'm in my third trimester so that's all i'm really up to anyway) but i'm worried that i'm going to hurt my hips/knees etc.

thanks for responding!!!

I have opt'd out of using carpet as my girls both are ballet and tap dancers & want to make it usable for all types of dance. (In addition, I practice a lot of turning while dancing with a sword!)

Originally Posted by lylagus

Shira - i ususally wear ballet slippers... i was going to use the carpet to cover any seams in the padding so i wouldn't trip. What do you think about the padding? are either of them good choices? i didn't know if either of them would be the equivalent of a rubber floor that you had mentioned in a previous post. i can't afford a sprung floor.

Lyla, since I don't use ballet slippers, I don't remember what their soles are like. Are they suede? If so, they'll have that problem of clinging to carpet that I mentioned.

I'm not familiar with the specific models of padding you're looking at, so I can't give you an intelligent answer on those. I think the key would be to go to a shop that has some you can jump up and down on and see what it feels like.

Instead of using carpet to finish the top, maybe you could consider linoleum or one of the other types of flooring used to finish off kitchen floors? You can get some pretty nice-looking linoleum that looks like hardwood floors or other nice finishes. Linoleum would allow your feet to pivot freely in either socks or dance shoes, even if the shoes have suede soles. I think it's a good option. Good luck with your project!

I'll definitely skip the carpet and opt for linoleum.

thanks..g.: