Masonite: good side up vs down
School of Dramatic Art
that you should put the good side down. The floors I have seen
done like this have been missing chunks (a highly technical
term) after a very short time period (no they did not apply ten
base coats immediately). What do you think?
Tefred
mye...@server.uwindsor.ca
Jeff Darden
>
> Were looking at refinishing our floor and I have been told
> that you should put the good side down. The floors I have seen
> done like this have been missing chunks (a highly technical
> term) after a very short time period (no they did not apply ten
> base coats immediately). What do you think?
What do I think? I think Masonite is a horrible surface. It absorbs
moisture and "chunks" as it were. It is susceptable to damage from
heavy castered units. It warps. It's slippery. It requires fairly
frequent replacement. Painting it a number of times only exacerbates
these flaws. What type of suface are you covering. The easiest decks
to maintain and use that I've worked with are hardwood stained black.
You can always put down a ground cloth or other temporary floor (luaun
or (sigh) masonite) when you need something other than black.
Jack Etheridge
bottom. The tempered side is hardened to take abuse and not flake apart.
While masonite is a good floor covering, you may wish to take this a bit
further and use a product called "Duron." This is an extremely hard
masonite like material that holds up well to flooring demands. It is
tempered on both sided and uses far better glues and materials than your
stock tempered-one-side masonite does. The cost is about $6-$9 more than
a sheet of normal maso, but it is well worth it.
BTW, it is critical to gap the seams of all masonite products. This
should be at least 1/8" to allow for expansion and contraction of the
flooring surface. If you do not gap the maso, it will bubble up in
places as soon as you paint it.
Good luck,
Jack Etheridge
Technical Director
Marin Theatre Company
Mill Valley, California
David L Radunsky
days? Way down in Florida where I've been TDin (the in are in
italics) we don't get much goooood maso no mo.
We have been using something that is Masonite (all applicable
trade marks acknowledged).
We buy Masonite T2S (tempered two sides). Therefore, there is
not up and down (did away with gravity just like that :).
The T1S (tempered, or hardened if you prefer) is generally only
available (here) as underlayment (not exactly square or 4x8).
What exactly are you using?
--
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."
-Albert Einstein
David L Radunsky
Itinerant Manager.
Thorvaldur B Jonsson
Dear Tefred.
I had the great joy of building a stage last summer using the good
side up,painting it 2 times with indutrial strength polyurethan,the
first coat dilluted 20% and no sanding between.After 150 shows it is
still fairly good looking, no missing chunks and only small scratshes.
Another theater i know of,used the soft side up 6 years ago and they
have been strugling with putty and paint ever since.
E-mail: th...@isment.is
Tel: 354 588 9393
Fax: 354 588 9395
Adr: Skutuvogi 4
104 Reykjavik
Iceland
Company: Svidsmyndir stagecrafts
Kit Lane
In article <Dq9qL...@news.uwindsor.ca>
mye...@uwindsor.ca "School of Dramatic Art" writes:
> Were looking at refinishing our floor and I have been told
> that you should put the good side down. The floors I have seen
> done like this have been missing chunks (a highly technical
> term) after a very short time period (no they did not apply ten
> base coats immediately). What do you think?
>
> Tefred
> mye...@server.uwindsor.ca
>
>
Masonite is not very hardwearing as a floor. This subject was
discussed a few months ago. We use 9mm MDF (Medium Density
Fibreboard) - I can't remember if it has a different name in the US
and Canada. We replace it once a year - mainly because the floor
for our christmas show is painted away from the stage. It would
last longer if we didn't drill so many holes in it throughout the
year. The old floor is not thrown away - we recycle it to make
groundrows etc.
--
Kit Lane Derby Playhouse, Derby, UK
Tim "Toolslinger" Resch
Kit Lane wrote:
> Masonite is not very hardwearing as a floor. This subject was
> discussed a few months ago. We use 9mm MDF (Medium Density
> Fibreboard) - I can't remember if it has a different name in the US
> and Canada. We replace it once a year - mainly because the floor
> for our christmas show is painted away from the stage. It would
> last longer if we didn't drill so many holes in it throughout the
> year. The old floor is not thrown away - we recycle it to make
> groundrows etc.
>
> --
> Kit Lane Derby Playhouse, Derby, UK
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong... We use MDF here occasionally, but
I've heard it called Medite as well. (by someone from the west coast) Is
it the same thing? So in some places in the US at any rate its
definatly called MDF, others may use a different...
--
***********************************************************************Tim "Toolslinger" Resch
tools...@psu.edu
Tech Direction, Lighting, Carpentry, Electrics, Etc....
"Don't be any one thing, specialization is for insects!!!....
***********************************************************************
Jim Jenkins
"Tim \"Toolslinger\" Resch" <tar...@psu.edu> wrote:
>Somebody correct me if I'm wrong... We use MDF here occasionally, but
>I've heard it called Medite as well. (by someone from the west coast) Is
>it the same thing? So in some places in the US at any rate its
>definatly called MDF, others may use a different...
On the East Coast, it's sometimes referred to as "barra board."
d'Avid
If you want to be able to screw into your floor put it good side
down - the "soft" side will absorb screw holes with a new coat of
paint.
If you plan on running lots of heavy tracking units over it on
very hard wheels use the good side up. It will absorb that kind
of stress better.
The soft side gets beat up (another highly technical term) faster
but show it much less.
My preference is to go with the rough side up as it gives a nice
texture to walk on after its a little worn down, and is such a
beautiful matte black that it basically disappears. I also
tend to screw into my floors a lot.
Here in Montreal we can get a product called "high density"
masonite which stands up a little better.
David d'Anjou
--
d'Avid
roger traviss
d'Avid (70673...@CompuServe.COM) wrote:
: If you want to be able to screw into your floor put it good side
: paint.
Are you talking about 'Tempered' Masonite the trade name for hardboard? I
plan to recover my floor with 1/4" tempered Masonite (or hardboard)
prepainted both sides to avoid warping. I will also lay it with the
had, or glossy side 'Up'. This, I feel, will be better for dancers as it
will enable them to slide. I feel that the rough side up will restrict
their movements. Have you considerd this or don;t you have much to do
with dance?
: Here in Montreal we can get a product called "high density"
: masonite which stands up a little better.
We have the same material here in Victoria, BC. BTW, I lived in Montreal
from 1966 to 1977 and loved it. I visit often.
Cheers
Roger Traviss
Mark W. Gebhardt
Roger Traviss <roge...@islandnet.com> wrote:
I will also lay it with the
>had, or glossy side 'Up'. This, I feel, will be better for dancers as it
>will enable them to slide. I feel that the rough side up will restrict
>their movements. Have you considerd this or don;t you have much to do
>with dance?
>
Roger,
It is safe to use 'dance floors', ie. linoleum rolls. In most cases, screws
that hold the maso sheetings down sometimes can 'pop' up, thus providing
obstructions and hazards to the dancers.
Mark
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Mark W. Gebhardt
mark...@pacificnet.net
"Theatre is life. Film is art. Television is furniture."
Eric Norris
I have worked in theatres that have put down 1/8" Maso(Tempered side
up) down and used 4d finishing nail to tack it down. this seemed to work
fine and never popped up.
I have put a maso floor down in anoter small black box and used 1/4" maso
(temper side up.) I used 6d finishing nails. Painted it after I put it down
with thick Latex. It has been down for three years and has yet to Warp.
I think warping has to do alot with the climate that you live in and the type
of heating and cooling system that is in the theatre more thant anything
else.
ERIC