Flooring for Roller Skates

[Taniith]

(I couldn't decide if this should go here or in the Safety forum. Mods, please move if I chose wrong)

I looked around a bit and found notes on general safety for skates on stage, but nothing about the best flooring choice.

We're producing Xanadu next spring, and we have some concerns about actors skating on our stage floor. Our stage surface is 100+ year old hardwood flooring, and it's not particularly level. It's not heavily slanted or wavy or anything like that, but we do have to heavily shim platform legs to get sets level. Some day we'll tackle the project of re-doing the stage floor, but that's years away for the moment.

So, question 1 is: what is the most cost effective way to get a level (enough) surface for skates?

Question 2 is: What's the best surface to put down on the floor for smooth skating? We've been looking into marley flooring, but none of us has any experience with it to know what kind to get (and it'll be an expensive proposition). If we went that route, we'd probably want to invest in something we could use for this *and* for future dance shows, etc. We also have a source for free masonite sheets, and I was thinking that could be a nice surface if we paint them to remove the slipperiness.

Anyone have thoughts?

 

[derekleffew]

https://www.skatelite.com/

 

[sk8rsdad]

Skatelite is more for skateboard than roller skating. It's optimized for wear and friction instead of noise. Take a look at rubberized flooring for roller rinks instead. Google's your friend.
https://www.versacourt.com/commercial-skating-rinks.html

 

[JChenault]

I would probably not worry too much about the floor not being level. I have seen skaters work on raked stages, and ramps with no issues.

I would worry about holes, and massive unevenness in the floor. If the skater hits something sticking up, or his wheel goes into a hole, he will go down.

I once saw a production of ( I believe) the flying Karamazov brothers in Lincoln center. They had a stage deck with traps and trap door handles to allow the actor to reach down, grab the handle, and lift up the trap. Later they had a skater and discovered that one of the handles had not recessed into the deck. Skater went down.

If it were me, I would probably first of all just try skating on the hardwood floor. Unless your floor has significant gouges and holes, it is probably fine.

If you are not comfortable with the floor, I would probably just put masonite down.

Note - the big safety issue ( IMHO) has much more to do with rehearsal, blocking time, and more and more rehearsal. You want to get your actors very comfortable. Take them to a skating rink if you can find one. Spend a few hours just so they can remember how to skate.

I have seen substantial injuries from folks trying to do choreography on skates where they have not practiced enough. I have never seen an injury due to uneven floor.

 

[Kevin Holly]

I used tempered hardboard (masonite) when we did Starlight Express for all the ramps and skating surfaces except for our stage floor which is in great shape. We definitely had some slippage until it was painted.

 

[What Rigger?]

Skatelite is more for skateboard than roller skating. It's optimized for wear and friction instead of noise. Take a look at rubberized flooring for roller rinks instead. Google's your friend.
https://www.versacourt.com/commercial-skating-rinks.html

I have been waiting for a mention of Skatelite and @sk8rsdad to converge....I never thought it would happen, but here we are. A glorious time to be alive.
Now...how to work in a mention of Animal Chin?

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I'm trying to remember the flooring product the derby girls use (probably what @sk8rsdad posted) Some more thrifty teams use maso.