Nashville is an incubator of the best music in the country, so selecting the proper flooring for your venue can set you apart from the rest of the pack. If you’re looking for the best floors for your venue, read on to learn how Ozburn-Hessey can make your flooring sing.
The Best Kind of Flooring for Music Venues
Why Does Flooring Matter?
In a music venue, sound is everything, but it’s also everywhere. Ensuring that the venue is properly laid out in order to prevent echoes, reverberation, and other acoustic issues is important and challenging work. It’s easy to overlook your flooring when looking at sound-dampening panels for ceilings and walls, as well as planning your speaker layout and a million other things. Despite all these concerns, your flooring needs to be at the forefront of your acoustical considerations too. Eliminating reverberation and echo needs to encompass every part of your space, including the flooring. Concert floors are unique from ceiling panels and walls because they also need to endure foot traffic. Whether you’re hosting a toe-tapping easy listening event or a lively rock show, your floors need to be resilient to sound and hundreds of moving feet. So with these details in mind, what kind of flooring is best for a music venue?
Hardwood vs. Concrete Flooring
While there are other flooring options out there, the best two options for concert flooring are hardwood and concrete. While one of the main goals of acoustic paneling in music venues is sound absorption, your floors shouldn’t be too absorbent. In recording studios and flooring for music rooms, carpet is king. The thicker the carpet, the better the sound is for recording purposes. In a concert venue, however, you need that sound to travel through the crowd in order to reach listeners in the back.
Concrete flooring is a great and economical choice for venue owners across the world. The best flooring for a music venue is one that works within your budget and still provides great acoustics. But not just any concrete floor will do, and you do need to consider the comfort of your customers. Concrete can be a great option, but it does call for regular cleaning and maintenance. Fortunately, concrete floors are incredibly resilient against heavy foot traffic and are tough against scratches and drops from heavy music equipment constantly being moved in and out.
Hardwood floors are the aesthetic choice for venues in Music City. Not only do wood floors provide a rustic feel, they also offer a great deal of support. Stages and venue flooring alike are often hardwood for this reason. Softer than concrete, these floors can give concertgoers a more comfortable dance floor. Because many venues in the city are in older buildings, you might already be blessed with hardwoods in your venue. But did you know that such heavy traffic calls for more frequent refinishing when compared to residential spaces? In order to provide the best acoustics and comfort, venue floors need to be maintained regularly.
Music venues are a critical part of Nashville’s culture, and finding the right flooring for these hubs of creativity can be challenging. If you’re ready to learn more and get a free consultation and estimate on your venue flooring, give the experts at Ozburn-Hessey a call today.