Stage floor sanding/maintenance

[sdauditorium]

I was looking at doing some annual maintenance on our stage floor this summer once school is finished. About 7-8 years ago, we replaced the floor (subfloor with plywood top since it's a versatile space). Since that time, we've only re-painted it when we've needed to (roughly 3 times a year).

With the abuse that it takes over the course of a year--musicals, concerts, etc.--it's developed a number of indents and very shallow gashes. I'd like to do a more comprehensive refinishing to smooth it out again. Is this something that we could simply sand it down smooth and apply a couple of coats of our black stage paint?

Any suggestions or advice that I'm not thinking of?

 

[ajb]

So your top surface is plywood? My first response would be to top it with masonite. It will be a much more durable surface, and it's cheap enough that you can pull up and replace individual sheets or even the entire surface as needed.

 

[michaelburgoyne]

Depending on the depth of your indentations you may be able to sand them out, but eventually you'll sand through the outer ply of your plywood. You might consider replacing the top layer of plywood if it isn't glued and stapled down. You could also consider adding a layer of 1/4" tempered hardboard (Masonite) as a sacrificial layer that can be flipped over or replaced as the sheets show wear. I'm sure that you can find other discussions on ControlBooth regarding the hardboard option. Adding 1/4" of stage height may not always be desirable, consider how it will impact your transitions and door thresholds between the stage and adjacent floor surfaces.