Repairing Stage Floor

[pudge02]

I work at a 5 year old Road House, and the previous technical directors did not keep up with the stage. Right now we have a plywook stage that is in rough condition. I'm looking for a inexpensive fix. I know that what I should do is put down untempered masonite, but i don't have the time or money for that. Some one once suggested to me that I put a clear Epoxy down. Anyone ever heard of this, or have any other suggestions. Thanks

[Foxinabox10]

One option is Gam Floor, which is a thin vinyl that you just roll out. http://www.gamonline.com/catalog/gamfloor/index.php

[pudge02]

Can this be a permant fix, that can take the abuse of Orch. Shells rolling over it road shows rolling, moving and putting stuff on it?

[Foxinabox10]

Yes, I believe it can. Although I have not used it, it is the flooring solution that shows like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and many others use.

[Van]

I wouldn't suggest using any Vinyl product Gam floor, Marley, etc. for this type of abuse. Battleship linoleum yes but vinyl ? No. I hat to say it but if your floor is in really that rough of a state and you're bringing in road shows, you need to replace the floor. Any type of vinyl you lay is going to crawl under the weight of road cases, and dimple or puncture under the weight or platforming / leggind etc. The work involved to lay a vinyl type floor in tangent with the cost of the material itself would be < I believe> prohibitive. For instance "Gam floor" is a "peel and stick" solution, to get it to adhear properly to the floor would require
1. sanding floor to remove high points and shap splinters
2. filling all hole with a suitable ccompound that will not expand or crack on the weight of scenery / road cases.
3. applying an adhesive to the entire stage surface evenly.
4. laying out the vinyl. matching seams and making sure you leave enough relief around the perimeter of each peice.
5. rolloing out the entire floor with a drum roller to assure good adhesion to the entire floor surface and optimal "spread" of material.

Then when all is said and done in about a year when it's all torn up from screw heads, droped tools, creases where castors have stuck and rolled over it, you're going to want to replace it and now you have to peel it up and get a reallt gnarly floor buffer to remove all the Mastic and start the whole process over again. At the least go for a Masonite sloution. However you have to remember that if you do lay down Masonite over a badly pitted floor you will have to fill any large pits before you lay the masonite. If you don't the first time you roll across it with a road case.. snap ! there's a crack in the floor and a broken or warped castor.
Don't want want to seem pessamistic but this is definately one of those time when you have to spend money to make money. Honestly 1/4 " MDF isn't all that expensive and it holds up real well under all sorts of conditions.

Hope all that rampling helps !

[soundlight]

I'd say that the untempered masonite solution is absolutely worth it. It will provide a relatively easy fix to the problem, and will most definitely hold up to a whole lot of abuse.

[ricc0luke]

the quickest short term solution... i would say a good wood putty and black paint... cheep, but it will still take a fair amount of time... not to mention it isn't at all a forever fix (at least it shouldn't be)...

[pudge02]

I have been using Bondo to repair cracks, and that has been working pretty good. I think the main problem with my floor is that it was never sealed. Somebody recommended using Epoxy because of that, and it would create a surface that would be tough. Has anyone ever heard of using Epoxy??

[Footer]

There is an epoxy solution out there that looks very good when down. I played with it a bit at USITT this spring, and I dont have my guide on me now and cant remember the companys name, I will have to go look it up. They could come in and lay the stuff in an afternoon and then you have touch up syringes that you can fill in any dammage/holes etc.

[RiffRaff54]

at my theatre most of the stage is plywood, the front 8-10feel is oak and then there's a pit cover. our stage is over 13 years old and it look great. we redo the finish every year. we usually use Stepshoe. you just sand down the floor to rough it up a bit, make sure its clean then apply the first coat, wait a few hours for it to dry then apply a second coat and let it sit for 2-4 weeks, the longer the better.