# Polyonyx use for stage floors



## Andrew Johns (Sep 12, 2017)

We are building a new facility and the architects have specified polyonyx for the main proscenium stage. 

What are the pros and cons?


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## BillConnerFASTC (Sep 12, 2017)

Its expensive, but maybe not your concern.

Lost of good things but my concern about these floor products is what happens if you spill/splash/drip paint on them and don't get it off before it dries? It may be fine but I'd worry that unlike hardboard, you may not want to just repaint entire floor. I would worry it becomes like a glossy maple stage floor -don't touch. But I could be all wrong and its fine. Texture could be a concern.

Please report.


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## Andrew Johns (Sep 12, 2017)

The covering is currently under review. The manufacturer says it can be painted and is an inherently non-slick surface that is also able to be screwed into. We will be using the stage for theatre as well as concerts (performing arts center for small university), so painting will happen as well as re-painting. 

I am going to try for a sample to play with.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Sep 12, 2017)

I think I thave a stack of samples on my desk if you get stuck.

Yes, it can be painted, but then what is advantage over hardboard? For something like $250-300 per 4 X 8. For my typical high school stage in the 3500-4500 sf range, thats like $40,000. Lot of good LED fixtures.


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## teqniqal (Nov 10, 2017)

Andrew Johns said:


> The manufacturer says it can be painted and is an inherently non-slick surface that is also able to be screwed into. We will be using the stage for theatre as well as concerts (performing arts center for small university), so painting will happen as well as re-painting.


Why are you painting on your floor? This makes for so much extra work and paint cost later when you have to repaint it, and then sand and repaint it, and then sand and repaint it . . . (just painting on top of paint compounds the 'scrappy look' and it tends to absorb water even faster which shortens the next repaint cycle).

Keep it black and don't allow painting on it, _not even drips from inattentive scenic painters_. Put down floor coverings and paint them if you need a 'look'. If a stage floor is painted with a good quality black epoxy paint at the outset, and kept clean and damp-mopped, it will last for years before it even needs a touch-up.

As to the 'screwing into the floor', I do hope you mean drilling a hole and inserting a threaded fitting (AKA an 'improved stage screw'). After your show you can remove the threaded insert for reuse elsewhere and plug the hole with a piece of hardwood dowel rod; or cap it in-place for re-use, and it provides much more holding power than any wood screw / lag bolt. If you aren't continually repainting your stage floor, a black finished counter-sunk Allen or Phillips head machine screw can be used for a cap the fitting hole without concern for the tool grove / recess filling-up with paint, and it will be invisible to the audience. Or use sand / steel shot bags to weigh-down scenery rather than semi-permanently bolting it to the floor (much less likely to stub a toe on a weight bag than on a steel brick!).

Take care of your floor and it costs less time and money to do upkeep. As Bill Conner said, spend the money on a good high density (not junk density) tempered hardboard 'sacrificial' layer and some lights rather than on the fancy plastic. Good quality high density tempered hardboard* will last decades if it is not abused, and even if a section is damaged, you only need to replace those pieces that are a problem, not the whole floor.

As to the Polyonix, my concern with any plastic material on the stage (or in shops or storage areas, too) is that if there is a fire it will generate a lot of black toxic smoke that will stick to everything much worse than 'wood / fabric ash' type smoke. Also, when plastic burns it becomes 'greasy' so if you are trying to run past the edge of the fire (because maybe that is the only way out) you might step on the slippery surface and loose your footing. This may seem to be a 'stretch' of concern, but I have personally had boot soles that were overheated and they became dangerously slippery, so I suspect that the plastic floor would, too.

One use for a plastic flooring material might be for an outdoor amphiteatre stage (assuming good drainage and Trex-like under-layment so the sub-floor does not rot-out), if you can get a material that won't prematurely fail due to it UV exposure (the Achillies Heal of most plastics).

* Garden variety 'cheap' tempered hardboard is what you get at the big box stores. It swells-up and flakes apart when it gets wet, and is not very durable against point-loads. The 'good stuff' is special order (but not super expensive) and usually has a burst strength of 4500-6000psi. You have to watch the flooring contractors like a hawk, as they will buy the cheap stuff and try to pass it off as the good stuff thinking you won't notice until a year after the warranty has past. Get some samples of the good stuff so you can compare it to the materials being provided. The material generally isn't marked 'good stuff' so you have to know what you are looking for. The same goes for the floor paint. Know what is being applied, don't assume it is what was spec'd.


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