Kids Dance

Did you know that ordinary concrete won’t do for dancing, and that dancing floors have to be refurbished every few years? Indeed, we often take for granted the floors we step on, simply because we know only a little about how important flooring is.

In general, flooring is a term for the covering of a floor. It is often used interchangeably with “parquetry,” which actually describes a mosaic of slats of wood, fashioned into different shapes, and used to decorate floors. Parquetry involves the use of different kinds of wood, which can include the following.

• Dark woods, such as cherry, give not only a mystique to floors, but can even prevent mild scratches from being seen. Once deeply scratched, however, dark woods are difficult to repair.

• Light woods, such as maple or oak, make rooms appear light and wide.

• Tropical woods, such as mahogany, make floors appear rich and colorful, but are often expensive.

There are three main types of parquetry. Solid parquet will use slats of solid wood, and will involve much skilful carving and shaping of whole wood pieces. Veneers involve the use of solid wood only as an upper layer of parquet pieces; a piece of plywood, or other kinds of cheaper wood, will support the solid surface. The cheapest kinds of parquet are the laminates, which involve no real expensive wood. Laminates will usually have a faux-wood slat on top of a cheap wood base. This faux-wood is fashioned to be alike in grain and color to commonly used parquet wood types.