I'm pretty sure I've responded to a similar post in the past, as I know others have too, but I can't find them either, so here goes...
I actually talk about this same issue in the Financial chapter of my book:
In another instance, I saved a district that was painting their stage deck about $4000 from the previous time they'd had it painted, simply by making more informed choices about the process.
And also, we address this in the Financial section of the online theatre management course:
As a Theatre Manager who is in the trenches, you know what's important and what's not important about how your finances are distributed. For example, whether to hire a "professional" to paint your stage deck for $5000(!) or whether to buy the paint on your own and pay your technicians to paint the deck; a total cost of about $1000 for supplies and labor.
Basically what I'm saying here (those were both in the context of a larger discussion) is that I would definitely have a flooring company repair the cracks, but as for painting afterwards, that's something you can do yourself with your technicians (if you have them, or perhaps even students – check with the school on that one), and your local hardware store should be able to recommend the correct paint (but you can also purchase it from a theatrical supplier, such as Rosco), which would leave more of your budget for other things.
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Beth Rand, EBMS
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