Put the less-essential stuff further on the edges of the layout. Things like a photo booth or coffee bar don’t need to take up key real estate near the dance floor.
For example, if you have 100 guests showing up, you can safely assume that roughly 30 people will be dancing at any given time. That means you’ll need at least 90 square feet (8. 4 m2) for your dance floor.
This is a genuine safety issue. People do all kinds of twirling and moving when they’re dancing, and your guest may injure themselves if the ground isn’t flat, stable, and even. If you’re hosting an event at your home, your back or front yard is probably going to be your best bet. You can use a deck if you’d like, but just make sure you aren’t overloading your deck or putting it at risk of structural damage.
This is important since your guests may not automatically know your dance floor isn’t set aside for something else. You don’t want to spend 30 minutes walking around to tell your guests it’s a dance floor. You just want them to get up and boogie!
Keep a special eye out for broken glass. If someone dances barefoot and they step in broken glass, it could be disastrous.
Tiki torches are perfect for a sandy dance floor. They’re relatively light, so you can stick them deep in the sand to set them up. Just make sure you don’t light them (or get tiki torches with light bulbs, not open flames). You don’t want someone’s hair catching fire if they get too close during a spin!
Even if you plan on putting down a temporary dance floor, you still need to mow the grass. If you don’t, the grass may push parts of the temporary dance floor up. You can use bare soil if you’d like, but there may be rocks, glass, or other bits of garbage hiding under the surface of the soil. On top of that, your guests’ shoes are going to get extremely filthy. All things considered, you’re probably best off by not setting up a dance floor in the dirt.
If you want to get folks excited and you’re feeling a little ambitious, send an email out to guests explaining that there’s going to be an outdoor dance floor and that you need their shoe size. This way, you won’t end up with dozens of extra shoes.
You may need to step on the seam of each tile where it meets another tile to snap the pieces together. [11] X Research source These tiles come in wood, vinyl, or foam. Wood is the best bet if you want the dance floor to look professional. Vinyl and foam will be softer, which is great if you’ll have a lot of children or older guests who need additional support.
Jute and bamboo rugs are excellent options as well. They’re sturdy, unique, and they’re extremely cheap which is great if you’ve got to cover a large area. Don’t just lay down the carpet without pinning the corners down with tent pegs. The carpet will end up bunching up and people may trip.
Try to get anti-fatigue floor mats that have 90-degree corners and no ramps on the edges. These mats are also waterproof, which makes them ideal if you’re putting a dance floor on a deck or something and you want to protect it from folks spilling their drinks.
If you want to paint it, sand the entire surface down with 220-grit sandpaper, cover it with a solvent-based primer, and apply any kind of paint with a roller. Seal it when you’re done with polyurethane or lacquer. [15] X Research source You can also lay a carpet or modular dance floor on top of your MDF board to raise the dance floor up a bit. Just make sure you use tent pegs if you put a carpet down.
Plywood sheets are universally sized at 4 by 8 feet (1. 2 by 2. 4 m), so don’t worry about getting special sizes or anything like that. You may need to make the dance floor a little bigger or smaller than you were planning due to this restriction. You can simply lay down pallets and nail them together instead of building a frame out of joists. [17] X Research source For a 12 by 16 ft (3. 7 by 4. 9 m) dance floor, buy 6 sheets of 1⁄2 in (1. 3 cm) plywood and 30 8 feet (2. 4 m) joists.
For a 12 by 16 ft (3. 7 by 4. 9 m) dance floor, have 18 of your 30 joists cut into smaller pieces. If you don’t get them cut at the store, you’ll need to cut them yourself with a miter or circular saw. This can be a lot of work, so you’re better off having someone else do this.
For a 12 by 16 ft (3. 7 by 4. 9 m) area, you’ll need 6 mending plates. If you’re using a pallet subfloor, get 1 mending plate for every pallet you’re using.
Build one of these for each sheet of plywood you bought. If you purchased 6 plywood sheets, build 6 rectangular frames. If you’re using pallets, just lay them down together in the shape of your dance floor and nail the sides together. Add 1 nail every 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) and skip to the step on putting plywood on top.
So if you have 6 plywood sheets, you’ll use 24 of your shorter joists to do this.
For a 12 by 16 ft (3. 7 by 4. 9 m) dance floor, use 2 rows of 3 frames.
Make sure that all of your nails are completely flush with the plywood surface. If any nails are sticking up, someone may get injured on the dance floor.
So if you have 6 plywood sheets, you’ll have a total of 6 seams along the edges of your subfloor.
You can use painter’s tape to craft a checkerboard pattern or stripes into the dance floor if you’d like. You can paint the dance floor freehand if you want a more DIY look. If someone is getting married or you’re celebrating an anniversary, consider stenciling in some fun or joyful messages into the dance floor.
