# Ideas on how to Permanently Blacken a Stage Floor?



## dwrighto (Apr 25, 2011)

I work for a local community theatre and I was thinking of ways to save it money and manpower. We repaint our plywood stage quarterly with the same expensive black paint every time. I was wondering if there was a way to permanently (or almost permanently) color the stage floor to reduce the amount of resources spent in stage floor maintenance. The only thing I could think of would be to stain it black and layer it with a flat polyurethane. 

Any thoughts?


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## NickVon (Apr 25, 2011)

Couple of good coats of Rosco Black Tough Prime?

At our venue we put a fresh coat on beginning of fall semester and begining of spring semester.
(granted, a 5 gallon bucket lasts us all season plus some for the size of our performance space.)

Though if your srage deck is not masonite i suppose some sort of very dark stain.... the problem i foresee is then potentially it being very difficult to paint later if your polyU over it to seal it?


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## Footer (Apr 25, 2011)

If you get a good base coat down, you can hit the floor later with a watered down black. That can work pretty well to get the stage "clean" looking again. However, nothing is perfect. If scenery is painted on deck or you have a tap show, there is nothing you can really do to make the surface last longer. Repainting the deck is just something that comes with having a stage. Most of the time designers want to paint the deck anyway, so very rarely is my deck actually black. 

And as far as what paint I use... whatever I can get for around 15 bucks a gallon at lowes. I don't feel rosco tough prime is worth it when the deck is just going to get shredded anyway.


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## sarahsliefie (Apr 25, 2011)

we use to use ProMar 400 flat black from Sherwin Williams. we get it for $12 a Gal. Cheap but very good.

We just switched our deck to sheets of HDPE plastic. It is the same stuff as plastic cutting boards, but it is black all the way through. We never have to paint it again. And if a sheet gets bad just switch it out. We never decorate the floor because the audience can not see it. It was about $3000 for the insulation of the whole floor, but it looks amazing all the time and never needs to be painted.


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## 2mojo2 (Nov 16, 2012)

I have been using an exterior flat acrylic paint on our masonite wear surface. I am dissatisfied with the result. The flat looks great until it is walked on. It grabs a and holds dust and cannot be cleaned effectively. After the paint is in use for a while, it wears down to a smooth, slightly lustrous surface. I think I need to buy a satin or an eggshell,OR mix flat with a glossier paint to reduce gloss and sheen.


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## techieman33 (Nov 16, 2012)

sarahsliefie said:


> we use to use ProMar 400 flat black from Sherwin Williams. we get it for $12 a Gal. Cheap but very good.
> 
> We just switched our deck to sheets of HDPE plastic. It is the same stuff as plastic cutting boards, but it is black all the way through. We never have to paint it again. And if a sheet gets bad just switch it out. We never decorate the floor because the audience can not see it. It was about $3000 for the insulation of the whole floor, but it looks amazing all the time and never needs to be painted.



We've had it on our deck for 9 or 10 years. It's held up amazingly well, it does fade though. When you mop it be sure to use cold water, hot water will speed up the fading.


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## blackisthenewblack (Nov 17, 2012)

Spray on truck Bedliner? It is bombproof after all...


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## Aman121 (Nov 17, 2012)

burn it


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## indigo7us (Nov 24, 2012)

We had this issue as well, so we put this:

LONSEAL Flooring: Search for SMOOTH BLACK

On it. It is a vinyl flooring that glues to the plywood, can be mopped, cleaned well, and never repainted. Really handy stuff.


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## techieman33 (Nov 24, 2012)

indigo7us said:


> We had this issue as well, so we put this:
> 
> LONSEAL Flooring: Search for SMOOTH BLACK
> 
> On it. It is a vinyl flooring that glues to the plywood, can be mopped, cleaned well, and never repainted. Really handy stuff.



I would never put a vinyl floor on my deck. It may work in some places, but I can't see it holding up very well at all in a road house or any other place with lots of activity on it year round.


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## avkid (Nov 24, 2012)

Once you do a glue down floor there is no turning back.


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## indigo7us (Nov 25, 2012)

techieman33 said:


> I would never put a vinyl floor on my deck. It may work in some places, but I can't see it holding up very well at all in a road house or any other place with lots of activity on it year round.



Its not perfect for every venue, but it might be a good option for a community theater. It is much tougher than the vinyl thats used in your kitchen. Its Very thick, and almost hard. We haven't had any issue rolling racks or dragging set pieces on it.

Once again not right for everywhere, but at least another durable option.


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## DuckJordan (Nov 25, 2012)

How dies it fare under the heat of let's say a strand lekolight or colortran?


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## indigo7us (Nov 25, 2012)

We have more than 30 1,000 watt par 64's about 12' above it and it holds up fine, so it should be able to handle the heat from lekos.


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## DuckJordan (Nov 25, 2012)

I've found that the 1k lamps in the lekos and ctrans are hotter than the pars...


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## teqniqal (Dec 7, 2012)

Has anyone tried *Gemthane*? GemThane Coatings


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