Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

Using Medium-Density Fiberboard as a Deck Lid

Eric Weston

Over the long term, the most cost-effective decks may be those made of stock platforms covered with a thin show skin of Masonite® or medium density fiberboard (MDF). Each time a stock platform is re-used, its effective cost decreases: and though the show skins themselves are less likely to be useful as stock, whole sheets and larger scraps can often be used in two productions at least, as long as both faces of the material are equally “good.”

On the other hand, the initial cost of such platforming is relatively high, since each platform has to be covered twice — once with a lid and once with a show skin. In an attempt to reduce the material and labor costs of the four, large throw-away ...