If you are dead set on doing
muslin covered flats, well even if you
build Studio Flats there are a few things you can try to cut costs. I don't know if the trick will still work but years ago we could get 1x8 for cheaper that you could buy 3 1x3's we would buy 1x8 and rip it to 2.25" which is sufficient for framing both types of flats. It saved a
bit of money on the supply side and Labor was free in College so it helped a
bit. Being in Ga. you might have a better shot at decent prices for
muslin go cheap. Yes heavy weight
muslin looks better and lasts longer but Lightweight is cheaper. You may want to do some more math here and figure if the costs for wider body material is higher per yard than narrower body
goods.
Base your
flat sizes off of that calc vs. framing costs.
No matter what the wider you
build the frames, the more unsupported area of fabric there is, the more wobble you're going to have in the
flat. A door slam in a fabric set is always going to wiggle the walls even if just from air pressure. Oh, you can reduce your door wiggle issue by not actually connecting the door
unit to the walls.
build your jamb and
casement molding as a piece and leave it slightly away from the
face of the
flat. leave the opening in the
flat slightly larger than the jamb but narrow enough for the
casement to
cover the gap. Brace the crap out of the back of the door
unit. Like I said you'll still get air pressure wiggle but you wont get kinetic wiggle.
The only other thing I can think of is to size and paint the crap outta those walls. The more paint
build up on the fabric the more it acts like one big solid rather than a floopy piece of
muslin. Oh, and in a pinch you CAN use 1/8"
luan for
flat you just really need to add an extra
toggle.
Theater faces so many challenges right now I feel there are going to be a lot of folks returning to the "Old Ways", unfortunately, as others have mentioned even the old ways have been priced out of reach.
Do worry when the housing market crashes Wood prices will come down.