Scene Shop Floor (sigh)

[Chris Chapman]

Goofy favor I have to ask of all of you:

Could you please email me or upload pictures of your scene shop floors? I have a Facilities Manager who is going to force me to repaint the floor in the shop because "it has paint on it."

Please email pics to:



I need to educate someone on what shop floors look like.

Thanks,

-Chris

[gafftaper]

We built our theater a year ago. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain to the architect that the purpose of a scene shop is to be used. I didn't want any sort of flooring or paint. Just give me a functional bare MDF surface layer that I can paint at random, screw things into, and easily replace down the road when sections get worn out.

I'll try to get you a picture this afternoon.

[theatretechguy]

I see by your email addy that you work for a school district. Maybe the issue here is that your shop needs to be organized with "safety zones" around machinery. (Safety tape showing safety clearances around machines, etc). I can certainly see where that's desireable from a safety standpoint, (especially if any students are using the machines) but I don't understand the whole "paint your floor" because it's a shop, and something will eventually spill, get oversprayed, etc.

Maybe facilities can repaint your floor on a yearly basis for you?

Sounds like he's not telling you something. I'm guessing he's trying to make your shop look like the high school's woodshop (devoid of clutter, because they literally do nothing in those classes anymore).

[Chris Chapman]

The issue, literally, is paint. Not tool storage, or where our chop saw is. It's paint. He wants a clean shop floor. He has no clue about scenic painting, what happens when you use a hudson sprayer for texture, what happens when you use flogging as a texturing process, no clue about scenic art and it's application in general.

I'm the first person to be concerned about shop safety, but come on, paint on the floor?

[Van]

You're obviously not using enough Bogus Paper!

Sounds like Scenic Painting with The Anal Retentive Artist;
" Oh my, Ok we got paint on the floor. What do we do now ?
That's right first we mop up the excess with paper towels, which we wrap in foil, place in a zip-lock baggy, then put into the Garbage. Then we go back over the spot with a sponge mop and some environmentally responsible Simple Green. "
< Just imagine Phil Hartman in brand new white painters pants and shirt.>

I'll send you a picture of our setup room floor if that doesn't make him run screaming out of the building, nothing will, but only on the condition that, that picture never get posted anywhere. <I'd hate to develope the reputation as a slob.>

[Chris Chapman]

I would NEVER repost it Van. Cross my heart and hope my facilites director dies. At most it will go into a photo report that I'm collating of Shop from across the State and country to make my point.

Thanks,

-Chris

[mnfreelancer]

Unfortunately I don't have a picture but back in highschool we were told by our TD not to worry about paint on the floor since the new sealed concrete floor was excessively slippery and the paint helped put some texture on it making the shop generally safer. Large spills were contained but we never sweated the small drips and spatters.

[1kfresnel]

I hear ya. I'll try and remember to take a shot tomorrow!

[cprted]

I'd take a picture, but our shop won't help your cause. Being a road house, we don't build anything, so the floor is more or less black. Sorry.

If the guy who's complaining about your shop floor wants to do the painting, why not let him go to it during a dark week?

[Chris Chapman]

He doesn't have the staff for it and would demand my staff (and budget) take care of it. He belongs to the club of Facility Directors who have a degree in cluelessness.