Putting marquees up in bad weather isn’t the greatest but we do work in an industry that means once the marquee’s up we’re effectively working indoors for the rest of the time whilst finishing off the interior of the marquee.

If you put the marquee up on frozen ground and then put the heater on you risk working in a bit of a quagmire as the ground thaws out and the mud gets spread around the marquee.

Simple solution -don’t put the heaters on until the flooring is down, that waterproof barrier under the flooring will keep the flooring sound as the ground thaws out.

Thanks for reading.

Spencer

As a marquee erector our dream is to put marquees up on bowling greens that you can park your vehicle next to.

You then come across a customer who’s dream is for you to convert their three-tiered sloped and bumpy garden in to a surface fit for a banquet.

So what do you do?

First off for those who are thinking about starting up in the marquee hire trade don’t worry, most gardens are reasonable level and you don’t come across the bumby scenario very often. You may have customers who are concerned about their flat but sloped garden and whether it’s suitable to have tables and chairs put on it -just ask them if they’re happy using their garden furniture on it, generally they will so you’re fine. DON’T chock up table legs to make them level, the seat height of chairs is standard so someone could end up eating around the ears! Just let the tables follow the lay of the land.

So, if it’s got some small bumps or holes in you can get round it, just fill the holes up and lay your floor over the top. We used to use bark as you can then sprinkle it over the customers garden with no harm done but this is a little spongy underfoot. Sand or even old newspapers are often used. Whatever it is you use put some plastic underneath it first so you can easily clear it away afterwards.

There does come a point when simply filling in some small holes won’t do, at this point unless you’ve got an integrated wooden floor system (available on large aluminium frame marquees) then it’s time to walk away and say you just can’t help. It’s upsetting but there are some cases when that’s simply how it is. We’re marquee erectors, not magicians.

One final point on flooring over uneven surfaces, if you’re laying flooring and you find a hole in the lawn make sure you fill it before finishing the floor, if you cover it over without filling it you’re leaving a hazard for someone to trip in.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

First off you need to lay out a groundsheet or tarpaulin. Why? Well this stops any moisture coming up and prevents condensation building up. As I’ve mentioned/ranted previously I just don’t understand why anyone would use breathable flooring, we actually got called out by a customer once who said the marquee was leaking but it was just condensation (it hadn’t rained for 2 weeks!). Grass is tough stuff, even if it’s covered for a week it soon gets back to normal.

Next you need to cut the carpet to the right length – we’ve used a 6m x 12m marquee as an example but obviously just cut it to whatever length your marquee is. At this stage you only nail the ends of the carpet.

The carpet needs a little stretching but coconut matting needs a lot of stretching out, as I’ve mentioned previously it’s a natural fibre so can expand and contract so use more nails in matting than carpet.

All make sense? Remember the carpet is in rolls 50m long so it leaves plenty left over to run paths to the marquee (nail these down too).

I hope this helps those who haven’t tackled marquee flooring yet.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

As mentioned in a previous post coconut matting is a very popular way of flooring marquees. Harder wearing and longer lasting than carpet, more attractive (in a lot of peoples opinion) and cheaper than plastic flooring it’s the flooring most marquee hire companies use.

So why does it ruckle up so much even if noone’s been walking on it?

The answer is it’s because it’s a natural fibre and absorbs moisture. If you floor a marquee with matting on a sunny afternoon no matter how tightly you stretched it the following morning it will be all ruckled – it absorbs the moisture from the dew and expands.
So the lesson is if you’re faced with ruckled matting (whether it’s you in the marquee or your customer panicking on the phone) don’t relay it! Wait until the afternoon for it to dry out and it should go back to it’s previous flat self.

Of course if it’s still ruckled in the afternoon it means it wasn’t laid correctly -try stretching it tighter or space the nails closer together.

Thanks for reading

Spencer

Wooden/suspended floor, carpet, matting, plastic tiling or breathable flooring (softex etc).

The best finish is a wooden floor with new exhibition carpet on top, it’s also the most expensive.

The worst in my opinion is breathable flooring as it allows condensation to build up.

We once got called out my a lady complaining her marquee leaked when we were in the middle of a hose pipe ban and it hadn’t rained for 2 weeks! She’d watered her lawn just before we’d arrived, she didn’t have any flooring so it all came off as water vapour forming as condensation up in the marquee.

If you use wooden flooring, carpet or matting you should lay a groundsheet or polythene underneath to prevent this happening. Breathable is exactly what a floor shouldn’t be! Grass is tough stuff, it recovered soon after the marquee’s gone.

Wooden flooring:

Larger marquees offer an integrated flooring system or use an interlocking wooden floor.

Coconut matting:

This is what most marquee company’s use for most jobs. Lasts for years, just hoover it after laying (we used to use a leaf blower), put a groundsheet underneath & nail it all down with 4” or 6” nails.

Exhibition carpet:

Offered as a premium option to matting it’s laid in exactly the same way but you only get 1-3 uses out of carpet depending on the colour and intensity of use. Recyclable options now available as it is becoming increasingly difficult to dispose of.

Plastic tiling:

I was never a fan as it hides dips and holes until trodden on but other people swear by it. Bulky but easy and quick to lay.

Breathable flooring:

Hate it. Keep it for caravan awnings.

If you’re starting up a hire company I’d recommend buying some coconut matting. You can also offer carpet and you just price it for buying it new and only using it once. I’d also buy some wooden flooring to use as dance floors then when you have enough you can offer it as a solid floor.

In general there’s no need to have a solid floor during the summer. For my wedding I had carpet over groundsheets on grass and everyone walked in thinking it was a solid floor underneath. The only exception would be on patios or tennis courts that might get water pooling.

Thanks for reading

Spencer