Making a floor that can travel

[DisneyDiva22]

Hi- I'm working on a production that will have a 20x20 faux courtyard floor. I plan on using tempered masonite. The problem I'm running into is I am painting it at an offsite location and then bringing it in. We have limited time for set up (about 1 hour) so laying it down, taping it together and then painting is not an option. The other issue is the floor will be laying on carpet. (I should mention that it also needs to lay flat. It can't be a raised floor at all)

What could I use so it looks seamless but will keep the floor pieces together.

Thanks!

 

[soundman]

I would look into Yale Triscuits To hold them together you could use coffin locks, or do like does with their floor and have three magnets in each corner that mate with the panel next to it. Using magnets keeps the top surface hole free and makes it easier to adjust with a proper sized hammer.

 

[MNicolai]

Depending on the application, you may have decent luck painting a 20x20 ground cloth of heavy canvas instead of having a hard surface you assemble. Also saves on materials costs and assembly time. You can paint the whole thing in advance, let it dry, fold it up, then installation is just unfolding it, laying it out, and taping down the edges.

 

[Footer]

Rolled marley with a proper paint job will do it... and set up quick. It will be more expensive then maso but much cheaper than triscuits. Call rosco about the paint, they have a method in how to do it and not have the paint crack and fall off. Many touring shows do this.

 

[danTt]

Most of the "painted" marley I've seen is actually printed, and it's absolutely terrible. Tape pulls up the printing (really useful for a floor you are going to... tape down every day) as well as dancing can scuff it up quickly.

 

[kicknargel]

I like the groundcloth idea best, but for a sheetgoods solution you could laminate together two sheets of masonite offset by a couple inches, so there's a kind of interlocking overlap that you could double-stick tape together at install. This is just an idea--I've not tried it. You'd certainly need to test kinds of tape to see what is strong enough, but could also be removable. (I once put down a glossy laminate panel floor with double-stick foam tape. It was absolutely secure, but destroyed the panels and decking at strike. The tape was much stronger than the materials.)

Also, make sure to paint the front, back and edges of the sheets to reduce buckling.