Lauan Alternative for flats

Wondering if anyone has had much luck with finding some cost-effective alternatives to lauan (aka luan, aka rotary mahogany). With the sharp spike in plywood costs, a sheet of ¼" lauan has gone from $16/sheet pre-covid to $40/sheet now (Canadian Dollars), and suppliers aren't bringing it in as regularly, so we're feeling a supply squeeze as well.

We build almost exclusively tv style hard flats, so seeing our material cost go up 2.5x is really hurting our show budgets. I've started looking around to see if there might be something else that could be a reasonable alternative as a stand-in, at least until material costs (hopefully) start coming down more.

So far I've looked at:
- ¼" foamcore board (about $20/sheet)
- ¼" double wall cardboard (about $15/sheet), though that doesn't seem to be recommended in this thread.
- ¼" masonite/hardboard (about $20/sheet), but very heavy
- ¼" corrugated plastic (way up there at about $40/sheet too unfortunately)

Hoping someone might have some other recommendations of sheet materials to look at, or share experience working with some of those options!
 
I haven’t used actual “Luan” in a long while now. All the shops I’ve worked at in the last 7 years or so use RevPly Luan replacement from Patriot Timber. It’s honestly a better product than the old Luan was. More consistent. Only problem, of course, is I don’t know if you can get it north of the boarder.
 
Are you building brand new flats for each show, or are you pulling any from a set of stock flats?

Are you flying these flats, putting them on the ground/on wagons, or both?
 
I haven’t used actual “Luan” in a long while now. All the shops I’ve worked at in the last 7 years or so use RevPly Luan replacement from Patriot Timber. It’s honestly a better product than the old Luan was. More consistent. Only problem, of course, is I don’t know if you can get it north of the boarder.
I just had a look and our local Home Depot has it in stock for $32/sheet, so that's a step in the right direction, not sure why it didn't show up when I was searching for this before! I'll reach out to RevPly and see who they distribute to up here, thanks for the tip, that'll be super helpful!

Are you building brand new flats for each show, or are you pulling any from a set of stock flats?

Are you flying these flats, putting them on the ground/on wagons, or both?
We have a number of stock flats for when they work with our needs, but most of the time we're building custom. Majority are fixed on the ground or on wagons, my current venue isn't a fly house, but also just putting feelers out there for general recommendations to see if there's something I hadn't even considered yet.
 
Wondering if anyone has had much luck with finding some cost-effective alternatives to lauan (aka luan, aka rotary mahogany). With the sharp spike in plywood costs, a sheet of ¼" lauan has gone from $16/sheet pre-covid to $40/sheet now (Canadian Dollars), and suppliers aren't bringing it in as regularly, so we're feeling a supply squeeze as well.

We build almost exclusively tv style hard flats, so seeing our material cost go up 2.5x is really hurting our show budgets. I've started looking around to see if there might be something else that could be a reasonable alternative as a stand-in, at least until material costs (hopefully) start coming down more.

So far I've looked at:
- ¼" foamcore board (about $20/sheet)
- ¼" double wall cardboard (about $15/sheet), though that doesn't seem to be recommended in this thread.
- ¼" masonite/hardboard (about $20/sheet), but very heavy
- ¼" corrugated plastic (way up there at about $40/sheet too unfortunately)

Hoping someone might have some other recommendations of sheet materials to look at, or share experience working with some of those options!
@grahamkingsley Have you considered 1/8" lauan or an 1/8" compressed paper product known as "Green Board"; it had a layer of green paper on both sides and was white within? Green board may no longer be available, it was common when I was building in the 60's and it may have been available in 4 x 10 and 4 x 12 sheets as well as the more common 4 x 8's.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
@grahamkingsley Have you considered 1/8" lauan or an 1/8" compressed paper product known as "Green Board"; it had a layer of green paper on both sides and was white within? Green board may no longer be available, it was common when I was building in the 60's and it may have been available in 4 x 10 and 4 x 12 sheets as well as the more common 4 x 8's.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
The 1/8" lauan is an even tougher one to find around these parts, and with how much it warps in our dry climate, it's usually not worth the hassle to try and wrestle it to stay flat.

But I'm intrigued by this green board stuff, I've never heard of it but I'll see what I can find! Do you know what the base substrate was? Like a foam or a wood core?
 
The 1/8" lauan is an even tougher one to find around these parts, and with how much it warps in our dry climate, it's usually not worth the hassle to try and wrestle it to stay flat.

But I'm intrigued by this green board stuff, I've never heard of it but I'll see what I can find! Do you know what the base substrate was? Like a foam or a wood core?
The green board was comprised totally of compressed paper, white paper in the center with a thin layer of green on each side and was commonly available in the 60's. It definitely wasn't fire rated unless it was rated highly flammable.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I would stay away from foamcore. Aside from the flammability/toxic gas issues - which can be mitigated with things like Flamex - it's SUPER flimsy and I pretty much guarantee that someone will punch or kick a hole in the flat at some point.

My local HD has 1/5" 4x8 underlayment panels for about $21/sheet US. Maybe could work?
 
For something like this, you would definitely not want to use foamcore.

It's older brother, gatorboard, might work, but I don't know what that costs anymore either.
 
I use floor underlayment for a lot of stuff. I get it at Lowes. It's typically about half the price of other products. It's something like 0.2" thick. It has a softer core than the other stuff but it's great for all kinds of things.
 
I know you've said that you build Hollywood flats, but have you considered fabric covered flats? You can buy a 100 yd. bolt of 6' muslin for much less than hard-facing for the same area. Besides, you can frame them with 1x3 and they're much lighter, easier to move and requre less storage space than hard-faced flats.
 
@grahamkingsley You can stretch your muslin across the full width, over the edge, then glue and staple it on the back side.
You can dilute white carpenter's glue with water for attaching on the back then use the same diluted glue for sizing on the face.
With suitable bracing, you can still insert door and window frames + add specific supports for any heavy decor and / or to support light switches, receptacles, heating vents, wainscotting, plate rails, and door chimes. Old-fangled stage braces and French braces will be your friends.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
Ron, you have just brought up one of my pet peeves.....wrapping the muslin covering of a flat over the edges and stapling it on the back.

Respectfully.....ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Artists do this with framed canvasses, but here is no reputable textbook on scenery construction i.e "Scenery for the Theatre" by Burris-Meyer and Cole; "Scene Design and Stage Lighting" by Parker and Smith; "Theatrical Design and Production" by Michael Gillette; and "Stock Scenery Construction" by Bill Raoul, that advocates this method for standard flat construction.

The proper way to apply a muslin covering to a flat is to glue it only to the face of the outer frame (stiles and rails). Most texts advise stapling it to the inside of the face frame and then applying glue, but I find that with modern glues like Elmer's white glue, even this step is unnecessary if you allow the glue to dry completely before sizing. Some texts advise trimming the muslin 1/8" inside the perimeter to protect the edge of the fabric when flats get slid along the floor or moved against each other in storage (which would obviously damage muslin wrapped around the frame). Another issue would be the bulk of material at the back corners which would prevent making tight 90º outside corners when joining two flats.

I feel confident in saying that no one who knows standard scenic construction wraps the muslin around the frame. Unfortunately it is often done at the middle or high school level by uninformed drama teachers.
 
Sorry, Ron, but I've got to disagree with you on this one. A flat's covering, either muslin or canvas, when wrapped around the frame, is subject to cutting and tearing on the exposed edges of the stiles and rails when running , storing and handling the flat. When covering a flat, staple/tack the covering on the inside edges of the frame, fold back, glue on the face side of the frame, staple/tack on the outside edges of the frame, then trim w/razor knife. Size the finished flat with weak glue and a little whiting and it'll tighten up just fine.
 
I use floor underlayment for a lot of stuff. I get it at Lowes. It's typically about half the price of other products. It's something like 0.2" thick. It has a softer core than the other stuff but it's great for all kinds of things.
Second the underlayment, at HD it is listed as 5 mm I think, is around $15 a sheet and works well for flats.
 
I use floor underlayment for a lot of stuff. I get it at Lowes. It's typically about half the price of other products. It's something like 0.2" thick. It has a softer core than the other stuff but it's great for all kinds of things.
Would you mind posting exactly what you use? Lowes has a lot of underlayment products on the website.
 
Would you mind posting exactly what you use? Lowes has a lot of underlayment products on the website.
There are several options, this one is my favorite. I don't think it's actually considered underlayment.
IMG_20210929_102227__01.jpg
 
Sorry, Ron, but I've got to disagree with you on this one. A flat's covering, either muslin or canvas, when wrapped around the frame, is subject to cutting and tearing on the exposed edges of the stiles and rails when running , storing and handling the flat. When covering a flat, staple/tack the covering on the inside edges of the frame, fold back, glue on the face side of the frame, staple/tack on the outside edges of the frame, then trim w/razor knife. Size the finished flat with weak glue and a little whiting and it'll tighten up just fine.
Hi Jon,
This is the first I've heard about not wrapping around the frame, thanks to you and @microstar for the tip. And sorry to hijack your thread @grahamkingsley!
I'm trying to understand what you mean about stapling to the inside edges and folding back. Do you have a picture or a link you could share that shows this technique in detail?
Thanks a lot
 
Hi Jon,
This is the first I've heard about not wrapping around the frame, thanks to you and @microstar for the tip. And sorry to hijack your thread @grahamkingsley!
I'm trying to understand what you mean about stapling to the inside edges and folding back. Do you have a picture or a link you could share that shows this technique in detail?
Thanks a lot
Sorry, no pictures off the top of my head, but . . . With your completed flat frame on your work table face side up (corner blocks, etc., down), lay the covering fabric (muslin or canvas) on the frame. The fabric should overlap the fame by an inch or so minimum on all sides. Tack/staple the fabric to the frame, starting at the center of one stile, with the staple/tack about 1/4" from the inner edge of the stile. Continue tacking along the stile, working toward the corners. When one stile is tacked,, LIGHTLY stretch the fabric to the center of the opposite stile. The fabric should sag a little, maybe just touching the work table at the center of a 4'-5' flat, maybe sag less on narrow ones, sag more on wider ones. (Don't worry; the fabric will tighten up when you size the finished flat.) Continue tacking the second stile, tacks near the inner edge of the stile, working toward the corners from the center. Then tack across the rails, again near the inner edges of the rails. Now, fold the edges of the fabric which are beyond the rows of tacks that you just drove, toward the center of the flat. The tops of the rails and stiles will now be exposed. Spread your glue on the exposed rails and stiles. Smooth the fabric down onto the glued surfaces of the stiles and rails. Tack around the edges of the flat, about 3/8" in from the outer edges of the frame. Trim the fabric with a razor knife about 3/16" in from the outer edges of the frame. If this isn't clear, please let me know & I'll try to find pictures.
 
Hi Jon,
This is the first I've heard about not wrapping around the frame, thanks to you and @microstar for the tip. And sorry to hijack your thread @grahamkingsley!
I'm trying to understand what you mean about stapling to the inside edges and folding back. Do you have a picture or a link you could share that shows this technique in detail?
Thanks a lot
I highly recommend Bill Raoul's "Stock Scenery Construction". It is very concisely written with many illustrations and nuggets of humor.
3 pages are devoted just on how to cover a flat. By the way, he does not see a need for staples when using a glue like Elmer's. I have literally build hundreds of flats following his method.
Do yourself a favor and buy the book, you'll be glad you did!

StockSceneryConstruction.png
 

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