# Gaff is pulling up maso



## Footer (May 28, 2011)

Our stage deck is 1/4" maso. We lay and pull our marley floor at least 2x and sometimes up to 10x a month. On each side of stage where the marley ends and we "seal" the ends, we have maso constantly being pulled up. It comes up in small chunks, large chunks, and something in between. It does not matter how the crew pulls the tape up, it happens no matter what. Right now we are using Pro-Gaff tape. The stage is painted flat black with some type of off the shelf paint (never totally standardized). 

Any advice? Anything to seal the deck with to keep this from happening? It is only occurring in this area.


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## techieman33 (May 28, 2011)

Have you tried using dance floor tape? It should come up a little easier than gaff, and much cheaper as often as your putting the floor down.


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## erosing (May 28, 2011)

How old is the floor? When was it last painted, was it primed first?

I've been using Pro-Gaff on maso floors, only had a few isolated instances; usually on a bad corner. Have you tried another brand of gaff tape? Pro-Gaff is good tape, but it does have seem to have more tack than some of the others. The brand I used before we moved to Pro-Gaff had less tack, but still would hold well, but I never used it with marley. Have you tried using any other tape in that area (or taping a different area of the floor) to better determine if its coming up is a result of the gaff or the floor?

Do you always lay your marley in the same spot? An alternative, though silly and expensive, could be to inlay some strips of metal into the area where you would tape the edge, if you never, or very rarely, use the marley in a different place.


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## MarshallPope (May 28, 2011)

As a quick fix, could you just lay a couple of semi-permanent strips of 6" gaff to protect the maso? Another idea, though I have never used it with marley, is paper tape. It comes up much easier than gaff, but I would imagine it would have enough tack to hold the marley.


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## jstandfast (May 28, 2011)

MarshallPope said:


> is paper tape. It comes up much easier than gaff, but I would imagine it would have enough tack to hold the marley.


 
Paper tape is not a great path to take here, it may or may not come off your meso floor OK; but your grandchildren will still be trying to get it off
the dance floor.........


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## Footer (May 28, 2011)

We use vynil tape for the seams unless the company we have in requests gaff. As far as paint is concerned, I have no idea if the floor has ever been truly primed. The issue we are having is that the spots where the marley lays is essentially raw maso. Therefore, its easier for the tape to grab and pull up. To add insult to injury, our marley is rather old and requires a good amount of stomping to get it to lay flat. Idealy, we would replace the floor where the marley has pulled up maso, prime it, paint it, and seal it, and then buy a new marley. However, that is not going to happen. Being a state owned building, having my crew replace the maso is a big no-no. Getting the bureaucratic types to do it will take 6 months or more. So, whats the solution for now? My feeling right now is to seal it really well with something like Kilz then hit the deck with black then put some type of sealer down.


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## Grog12 (May 28, 2011)

I have the exact same issue as Footer. Whether we use Rosco, ProGaff or anyother brand we have floor being pulled up with the tape. My thought is that our particular floor is dry rotting in some spots along wiht obvious water damage in others from never being sealed. I'm hoping to get the floor replaced but I"m in the same position as Kyle.


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## kicknargel (May 28, 2011)

I would think about painting and/or sealing with something that has some sheen to it. Maybe a glossy surface would be more willing to let go of the tape. Or maybe even some fiberglass resin--something to create a real cohesive skin on the floor.


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## jglodeklights (May 28, 2011)

I would definitely recommend a good primer like KILZ (at least two good coats). Then a good solid exterior black. It sounds as though your Maso has met what would normally be the end of its life, but that you have no choice to continue on with it. Because of this, while I would normally recommend against any sealer on a rep deck, as even a little bit of moisture can make it super slick, a good FLAT sealer over the primer and paint should prevent the tape from grabbing. You may also want to consider taking some 180, 220 or an even finer grit and refinishing some of the damaged areas to help prevent snaggies.


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## beachbum (May 31, 2011)

Having had some success in the past with 2-part epoxy as a sealer over many surfaces, you may want to try that. Just make sure you mix it thoroughly or it will never dry. Also, only mix as much as you can reasonably spread in about 5 minutes or so. Once had a painter make up a half gallon in a bucket for use on a slow and tedious project--we learned that large amounts catalyse very dramatically with lots of heat and smoke.
Another thought, which may not be possible in your situation is resurfacing your deck. about 6 years ago we tore up the maso on our mainstage and replaced it with 1/2" MDF which has gone through all manner of abuse since without surface damage.


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## venuetech (May 31, 2011)

most of these epoxy manufactures offer small trial kits / repair packs or handy kits
that you could test with. these work very well with fillers so if you have a hole to fill you can mix epoxy and fine sawdust to make a filler.

you would want to maximize penetration so if you heat the masonite with a hair dryer then apply the epoxy that would likely give good results.


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## mstaylor (May 31, 2011)

I would put in for replacement, to start that six month clock. Then either use a filler to fill any current holes then use gaff that will stay there and tape to that. It will hold and wo't screw up your floor.


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## venuetech (May 31, 2011)

I should mention that the epoxy would be best for repair of damage floor, not for the entire stage floor. you would need to find a epoxy friendly primer before it would take an latex paint

you could also try slightly watered down white glue on the damaged sections, that could prevent future damage.


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## MarshallPope (May 31, 2011)

Ah, I didn't even think about that. Like I said, I've never used it on marley before, just on the expensive reproduction-antique carpet in one venue in which I work.


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## AliciaB (Jun 11, 2013)

I am also having problems with gaff tape pulling maso up - its not coming up in chunks, but its enough of a layer that it creates a definite different look once repainted. I have the same problem with spike tape pulling up the first layer of fiber. The maso is not that old - I relaid it myself when I got here 4 years ago, and its been doing it since the first year (we lay a marley floor for our annual dance concert, which is where most of the problems with the gaff tape pulling up the maso comes from). I've put several coats of paint on in an attempt to make the lines go away, to no avail. Would using a sealer or an epoxy as mentioned above help fix that?


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## Footer (Jun 11, 2013)

AliciaB said:


> I am also having problems with gaff tape pulling maso up - its not coming up in chunks, but its enough of a layer that it creates a definite different look once repainted. I have the same problem with spike tape pulling up the first layer of fiber. The maso is not that old - I relaid it myself when I got here 4 years ago, and its been doing it since the first year (we lay a marley floor for our annual dance concert, which is where most of the problems with the gaff tape pulling up the maso comes from). I've put several coats of paint on in an attempt to make the lines go away, to no avail. Would using a sealer or an epoxy as mentioned above help fix that?



Here is what I went with: Coronado Paint Products (clear base colored as dark as they can). 

I have two coats of it on the deck now and it helps. After each show where the marley goes down I spend 10 minutes after strike touching up the deck where we got any pull up. It still happens but is happening less and less. I am using the BMI house brand gaff these days.


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