Can I Lay Dance Floor Over Carpet for a home practice dance mat?

Can I Lay Dance Floor Over Carpet for a home practice dance mat?

UPDATE - May 2023 - Whilst the below does still generally apply we have a new product that is a home practice mat that can be laid over carpet please Dance Disc 

We are commonly asked if our dance flooring is suitable to lay over a carpet.  All vinyl dance floors require a dry, smooth and sound base to be laid over so carpet is not a suitable sub base as the dance surface will not be supported by the pile of the carpet and there will be too much movement. This could lead to injury to the dancer and or damage to the product. 

As the pile of the carpet and underlay are squashed the weight of the dancer is not uniformly spread over the dance mat causing the risk of turning an ankle, etc. This is particularly important for landings from leaps and jumps but also it is also important to consider lateral foot support. The flooring needs to provide lateral (side to side) support for balance. If you laid a vinyl dance floor straight over carpet or directly over foam the flooring will compress under the weight of the dancer as the carpet or the foam compresses below, sinking into the floor and therefore have no balancing support. It would be like trying to dance on a trampoline!

A solution to this would be to put a removable timber base over the area that will create a good solid platform and then cover this with the dance floor.  This solution, whilst not ideal, will provide a safe and manageable floor which, when combined with a product such as Duo Reversible will give a nice surface for home practice.

Another issue is that the practice mat may slip on the carpet and it is difficult to secure onto the pile of the carpet.