# Scene Shop Renovation



## MaxS (Jul 30, 2010)

Recently I've taken it upon myself to lead the clean-up and renovation of a local high school's scene shop. There is an established theatre program there (and still growing), however lacking a staffed facilities manager many things have slipped through the cracks over the years. The last remaining and easily-attainable goal is fixing up the scene shop.

The space is a large rectangular room, with one wall at 45 deg. Its dimensions are 100'4" x 21'8" at its longest and 78'7" x 21'8" at its shortest. There is an overhead door on the right wall, and overhead coiling fire door/steel fire door on the left wall. The work to be done is probably best summed up with a picture. This was taken on a mezzanine that services HVAC and storage rooms above the music department. Excuse the quality.




As you can see, it's currently used for scene storage as opposed to scene construction. This becomes a problem, as construction moves to the stage, spreading dust all over the electrics and soft goods, among other things. As such, work to be done includes prioritizing needed scenic elements and moving them to an off-site storage location, repainting walls/floor, removing paint from the left wall, and outfitting the room as an actual shop.

The first few tasks are fairly sraightforward. However, removing paint from brick is quite the chore. I'm currently leaning toward a muriatic acid wash, but I don't have much experience in removing media from masonry. Also, a full dust collection system will be installed after equipment is placed. This will most likely be custom built, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also along those lines, any input on layout of the space as a shop would be of benefit as well.

I'll continue to post updates on this project through the months of August/September. Thanks for your help, CB!


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## seanandkate (Jul 30, 2010)

Wouldn't it be easier to just paint over the graffiti? 
As for layout, try to remember workflow: Where you load in the raw materials, followed by the big tools used to carve those materials up, followed by assembly, followed by finishing, followed by storage/load out. Check out The Workshop Book by Scott Landis (Amazon.com: The Workshop Book: A Craftman's Guide to Making the Most of Any Work…) for some good ideas on shop layout.

Good luck!


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## MaxS (Jul 30, 2010)

Thanks for the resource! I'll be sure to check that out.

I have this thing against painting over brick. Once it's there, it's very hard to remove in large quantities. I.e., having to use muriatic acid or media blasting. The wall is huge on top of that, and one would want to paint the whole thing, not just a square.


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## jwl868 (Jul 30, 2010)

It may be worth the effort to make a scaled drawing of the room, including details like doors sizes and locations, electrical outlet/switch locations/elevations, locations and heights of lights and ducts, etc. Then, add in equipment, cabinets, etc. If you have CAD skills, go that route. Otherwise, just cut out the shapes and move them around. Then you can judge clearances, power availability, access, illumination, whatever - before you actually start to move stuff around.

Joe


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## CSCTech (Jul 30, 2010)

I am not sure on setup ideas, but if I where you I would leave the graffiti ,If it is from former tech crews of course, Because highschool kids although sometimes not the brightest, need this kind of stuff.
If it is actual graffiti then of course remove it.

Just my 2 cents.


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## kendal69 (Jul 30, 2010)

If it were me I would put shelves EVERYWHERE and go high. I ;aways see wasted space from 10' tp the ceiling in most buildings. Remember it's teh same sq. ft. from the ground to the roof so utilize it as much as possible. Some of those home depot shelving will get the stuff you don't use that ofter up and put of the way. 

GO HIGH!!!!


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## soundlight (Jul 31, 2010)

kendal69 said:


> If it were me I would put shelves EVERYWHERE and go high. I ;aways see wasted space from 10' tp the ceiling in most buildings. Remember it's teh same sq. ft. from the ground to the roof so utilize it as much as possible. Some of those home depot shelving will get the stuff you don't use that ofter up and put of the way.
> 
> GO HIGH!!!!


 
I second this. Get a narrow rolling stock ladder for access and store things that you don't need often up high. Things like the large bulk boxes of screws used to fill the bins that are used on a daily basis, certain materials that are only used for certain shows, anything that isn't used on a weekly basis can go up. Buy sturdy stock shelving and build it high.


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## MaxS (Aug 1, 2010)

I do have the floor plan for this section of the building. The paint on the wall is from past crews, and can be left in place. I'll definitely run with the vertical storage concept, as I believe the ceilings are at least 25-30'. I'm still playing around with placement of equipment and such.


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## MaxS (Aug 17, 2010)

Well I have some quick updates! We're Day 2 into this insanity, and it's more ridiculous than I could have imagined. We've been doing shifts of volunteers in and out from 9AM-3PM every day this week, and I've scheduled it through Friday. 3 dumpsters are already filled with scrap, and there's a pile of scrap lumber in our loading dock about 5'x10'x30', and it's only growing.

Of the more interesting things we've pulled out, there were dozens of crumbling flats dated 1982-1998, and set of massive platforms marked with IATSE Local 212 out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada (we're in Northeast Wisconsin...).

I have absolutely no idea where this stuff came from. But progress is being made! Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow.


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## jstroming (Aug 18, 2010)

ULINE - Cardboard Boxes, Shipping Supplies, Packaging Materials, Plastic Bags

Has some great, relatively cheap, quality shelving units.

96 x 48 x 84" Wide Span Storage Rack H-1204 - Uline

I own about 20 of the above shelving units, and they're great. Just be aware that in some jurisdictions you need to have 50% open shelving (grating) for the sprinkler system. In this case if you contact uline directly they will sell you grated shelving instead of the solid board shelving. If not the fire marshall might be on your ass all the time like he is on mine HAHA.

I put the bottom shelf about 50" off the ground, which is great for putting roadcases and heavy things underneath.


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## Goph704 (Aug 18, 2010)

Those really are nice shelves. Might I also Suggeest Spome other ideas to throw your way. 
Seperating parts of your shop into diffrent areas, such as a paint area, an Electrics area and A Carpentry area? I realize that most of it will be taken over by Carpentry, but it's a good idea to have a place for everything when you need it. Also if you have a paint sink, makes sure taht it won't clog if you have paint go down the drain. As for carpentry makes sure you have a good deal of workspace, something we did in college was built worktables with locking Castors and breaks. These aren't safe to work with all tools, but fro some projects they can be very useful, and having a table you can move out on stage when your building is incrdibly useful. I've alwasy felt that the secret to a working scene shop is access, safe, quick access. mind your tarffic patterns. 
Possibly You might want to look into rubber made containers, drawers or even old paint cans for smaller material or tool storage. You might also scope out a place for your larger power tools and your wood scraps. I've alwasy found that buildingBins for lumber works very well, and Luan and plywood can be stoed either standing upright or on the floor underneath a shelving Unit, provided your shelving unit is large enough. Shelves and bins are reltively easy to build, and if you leave your self enough space to contieue adding things in you'll be way ahead of the game. 
And power, never forget that your tools need easy access to "multiple" recepticals, including battery power. Make sure that your breakers are easily accessable as well, Sadly I've never seen a scene shop that hasn't tripped a breaker once or twice. Well that's some more ideas to chew over. 
Good luck!


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## MaxS (Aug 19, 2010)

Thanks for all of the input! We do have a few shelving units similar to those already. I'd love more, but with budget constraints the few hundred dollars it would cost would most likely go toward a table saw, miter saw, and compressor.

The space is almost clear of old scenic elements and junk, but there's still a little bit to do. We did build a unit for storing flats and sheets of wood already, but most organization is yet to be done. I've extended things through this Friday, and I'm sure a lot of work will be done once the first show of the season starts in October.

Just to give somewhat of an idea of the things that were in there, compare this to the picture in the first post. As I mentioned we had already filled 3 large dumpsters prior to this picture. There's a truck coming tomorrow morning to pick it all up so we don't have to keep hogging the building's dumpsters.




I'll also post a few pictures of the interior as the week goes on and things get more organized.


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## Footer (Aug 19, 2010)

Looks like you need one of these...



Or even better.... one of these (interns/carpenters not included)


The first one was all from end of season cleanup, the second one was 2 sets for an opera season done in rep... both from the same theater 6 weeks apart. I spent way to much time loading dumpsters this summer.


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## MaxS (Sep 2, 2010)

I see your dumpster Footer, and call you with one of equal size. I even have my own student helpers. 

Unfortunately though, it's been quite the ordeal getting that material removed. A couple of weeks ago, the head building engineer called the district offices downtown and put in a work order for 2 dump trucks. After about a week they sent two pickup trucks, one of which broke down upon arrival. They took one load (not even a dent), left, and didn't come back. This morning, after another week, we were told that a dumpster would be arriving today at 10AM, and needed to be loaded by today at 12PM (yes, two hours). So we rounded up the music department and got busy. Our tax dollars hard at work.


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## seanandkate (Sep 2, 2010)

Stop scaring the sanitary engineers Max!


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## erosing (Sep 3, 2010)

seanandkate said:


> Wouldn't it be easier to just paint over the graffiti?
> As for layout, try to remember workflow: Where you load in the raw materials, followed by the big tools used to carve those materials up, followed by assembly, followed by finishing, followed by storage/load out. Check out The Workshop Book by Scott Landis (Amazon.com: The Workshop Book: A Craftman's Guide to Making the Most of Any Work…) for some good ideas on shop layout.
> 
> Good luck!


 
I bought that book the other day, should arrive any minute actually. I love books on workshop layout, found a stack of them geared towards fine woodworking a few weeks ago at a used book store, too pricey though for what they weren't.

Thanks for this rec though, not the first time someones mentioned it, but I'm finally buying it.


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## seanandkate (Sep 3, 2010)

Arez said:


> Thanks for this rec though, not the first time someones mentioned it, but I'm finally buying it.


 
I think you'll like it. It's total shop porn, but there's some great ideas in there that I could even use in my uber-small basement shop. (My basement is a cautionary tale about what happens when your wife sets up a stained glass / fused glass workshop in (now, arguably) "your" wood shop)


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## museav (Sep 5, 2010)

Has anyone verified accessibility, exiting, existing building systems and so on in the context of the planned use? A common issue is that there may only be so much you can do to a space without also making any modification necessary to comply with current life safety and building code. A workshop space may be especially subject to specific requirements, in fact that may even be why the space was labeled as a Workroom on the original drawings. There may also be lesser requirements that could affect you such as possibly having to always maintain a minimum clear path to the fan room ladder.

You may find there is nothing to worry about but it is usually better to know of any potential constraints or requirements upfront than to be surprised later on after you've already invested so much time and effort in planning.


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## MaxS (Sep 5, 2010)

museav said:


> Has anyone verified accessibility, exiting, existing building systems and so on in the context of the planned use? A common issue is that there may only be so much you can do to a space without also making any modification necessary to comply with current life safety and building code. A workshop space may be especially subject to specific requirements, in fact that may even be why the space was labeled as a Workroom on the original drawings. There may also be lesser requirements that could affect you such as possibly having to always maintain a minimum clear path to the fan room ladder.
> 
> You may find there is nothing to worry about but it is usually better to know of any potential constraints or requirements upfront than to be surprised later on after you've already invested so much time and effort in planning.



Much of this has been considered, and for the most part we've hit a wall when dealing with the higer-ups. The facilities director for the district (5th largest in Wisconsin) just retired in June, leaving the safety director to fill his shoes until a replacement is found. This safety director shows little if no no interest in maintaining performance spaces or safety standards in them district-wide. It's actually quite negligent. This leaves the building engineers as the de facto supervisors of everything.

The space complies with all NFPA code as is. The fan room ladder was actually removed, as during a renovation the upper level was expanded to allow more practical access. The main electrical service is a 200A 3Φ4W panel servicing both 3Φ and 1Φ receptacles. It seems like it was in fact intended to be used as a working shop, but I'll take a look at some more detailed drawings for some more insight. Thanks for the advice.


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## teqniqal (Sep 18, 2010)

With regard to the painting of the shop facility - this is really a quite good idea. The shop is one of the key places that one works with color (the other being the costume shop / dressing / makeup areas, so copy all the following ideas to those folks, too). Most of the lighting on stage is based around 3200K quartz lighting that has a very high CRI (Ra, Color Rendering Index) appproaching 100. If you use long-life lamps and never really go past 90% dimmer settings to stretch the lamp life, then the color temperature may be 2800K or so, it's hard to say without actually measuring it.

To make all your painting and fabrics come-out as intended on the stage, you should do two things:
1.) Get a sample 'white balance card' at a photography shop - this is a 'reference white' sample. Take it to your paint supplier and have them match it as close as possible (you don't want to try to budget for true 'calibrated' white paint - _way expensive_). Paint the walls, ceiling, and anything else that doesn't move, and if you can get a floor epoxy with traction grit, paint the floor, too.
2.) Install lighting that is color-correct. Design for task light levels of 50-100 foot-candles. Yeah, that is a lot of light. You'll love it, and you may not cut your fingers-off using the saw _because you can actually see what you are doing_. The white walls, ceiling, & floor will make achieving this level fairly easy. Learn to do 'zonal cavity' lighting calculations. You have two basic lamp options:

a.) Fluorescent lamps need electronic ballasts, not magnetic ballasts, so they don't strobe and make saw blades appear to stand still. Use KinoFlo studio lamps. They make 3200K T5 and T8 lamps with a CRI over 92. -or-

b.) LED lights should be carefully selected so that they have the correct color temperature and CRI. Not so easy to do. One Led LIGHT source for consideration is the Affineon Lighting DL series (http://www.affineonlighting.com). Not cheap, but they last 50,000 hours!

Other notes: Electrical engineering should be done by electrical engineers. Paint type should be approved for fire retardancy by the AHJ. You may be able to get an intumescent paint mixed to the reference white, too.

If your costume shops, dressing areas, and scene shop all have the same exact lights sources, and they closely match your raw (un-gelled) stage lighting, then you will have fewer color surprizes as you move costumes, props, and scenery around the facility and onto the stage.

Budgetary note: Tell them this is all part of a 'green initiative' and that you will use less electricity and work more safely with proper lighting.


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## MaxS (Jun 1, 2011)

Apologies for the large delay in updates about this project. Work has continued on and off, as well as through a few shows, in getting the space in good shape. I'm going to be handing this off to another person soon, but there are still many things I'd love to accomplish. Below are some photos of the clean shop, which I would consider "stage 1" of fixing the place up. A complete "before" picture is still in the first post.


View from entrance. New lighting! 3100 lumen, 3500K, 85 CRI, electronic ballast, T8. Up to about 45 footcandles now.  (36 lamps*3100 lumens/2500ft^2)

View of the front entrance. Lumber storage is starting to look better! What was it like before again?
Oh, the humanity.
From the rear entrance.

Still to do:

soda blast walls/floor as needed
coat floor with epoxy
paint West wall white
update lighting capacity to 100fc
update in-house equipment (saws, tools, PPE, etc.)
install pegboard in West wall, rethink organization
continue scrapping old scenery


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## sdauditorium (Jun 1, 2011)

This wouldn't happen to be Preble would it?


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## seanandkate (Jun 1, 2011)

You've got the fixin's for a solid bonfire there Max...


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## teqniqal (Jun 2, 2011)

Glad to see you check back in with more info. A few observations based upon what I could see in the photos:

1. Are any of the light fixtures equipped with emergency lighting (battery back-up) ballasts? Either equip several of of these with such, or add some 'frog-eyes' along the wall. You need to be able to find your way out during a power failure.

2. Add some *EXIT* signs over the two exit doors (again, on emergency power or with battery back-up). Of all the places in the theatre plant that there might be a fire, the shop is very high on the list - you want at least two exits available - local code may even require it.

3. I noticed a lot of wood (fuel) for the fire. You can substantially reduce the fuel load by doing two things:
a.) Store ALL unnecessary flammable materials outside the shop (steel shipping containers are cheap and fairly fireproof). This will free-up a lot of space, too. (Note Sean Stone's tag line "All the world's a stage ..." - If all the world is a stage, then _that would explain the lack of storage space_.)

b.) Make a policy of painting all of the wood materials with intumescent paint immediately upon arrival to the shop. When it is cut for fabrication, then you just have to touch-up the exposed edges and then assemble it. This will keep you in compliance with the NPFA Life Safety Code 101, Section 13.4.5.11.3 "Scenery and stage properties shall be of . . . fire retardant treated wood."

4. The steps coming from the door do not have contrasting color tread edges. I suggest using photoluminescent paint with traction grit added. An alternative is to use glue down strips. You can also use the photoluminescent paint to mark the floor "keep this area clear of junk" lanes and around the door frames. This will help when the emergency lights fail to operate as they should (product warranties and/or NFPA required inspections don't guarantee that they will work when needed).

5. Consider adding an Emergency Power Shut Down system for the tool power circuits. This involves E-Stop type mushroom head pushbutton station(s) that control a shunt-trip master circuit breaker. This allows anyone in the ship to quickly kill the power to the tools should their be an accident.

​
Keep us posted!


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## seanandkate (Jun 2, 2011)

teqniqal said:


> 3. I noticed a lot of wood (fuel) for the fire. You can substantially reduce the fuel load by doing two things:
> a.) Store ALL unnecessary flammable materials outside the shop (steel shipping containers are cheap and fairly fireproof). This will free-up a lot of space, too. (Note Sean Stone's tag line "All the world's a stage ..." - If all the world is a stage, then _that would explain the lack of storage space._)


 
See, Erich, now I need to 1) change my tag, and 2) get a T-shirt with this . . .


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