Securing scenery to the stage

jraw

Member
I recently took a position at a private high school as their TD for their arts department. We were discussing the installation of some of the set pieces for the upcoming production and I was informed that we never screw into the stage floor. I thought this was odd so I did a little digging to try to figure out why. It's not an exposed hardwood floor, it has been painted over multiple times. It's not a sprung dance floor, it just is shock absorbent. So I started asking around. The building is only five years old, so I was told that at first it was because the stage was new and no one wanted to mess it up. Then it became, well we haven't needed to yet, why start now. And it's become, I don't know, we haven't thought about it. I brought up the issue to my director and she wasn't opposed but had some questions. She wants to know how often a stage floor needs to be replaced if it is untouched? If we do screw into it how much sooner will the stage have to be replaced, if this speeds up the process or not? And what a ballpark expense is to replace the floor of a 40'x35' stage? I hope you guys could help me out a little, these are questions I have had a hard time finding the answers to. I'm working on trying to find out what material in used for the stage floor right now, but so far no one seems to know.
 
Our floor is Tongue & Groove Maple flooring stained black over 3/4" plywood, with joints staggered on 2 x 4's @ 16" centers on top of poured concrete. It gets about 200 screws, another 200 staples, and a few lags a theatre show, to place the show floor, 2 shows a year, plus three dance concerts for which marley is laid, and a plethora of music concerts, which include rolling shells, music stands, and platforms. So it gets a lot of abuse. Going on 17 years, this summer may be the one to get it replaced. It has been painted about 100 times, and all sorts of colors, and it is honestly not pleasant appearing or feeling. There is never dancing on the floor it self. None at all. For dance, they have the marley, and music theatre, they have the show floor. We considered sanding and repainting, however just the 2'X2' section we tested in the corner took a long time to sand, so we really reconsidered that. We are getting a quote in a few months, and I can certainly share the ballpark of that.
 

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