One of the nice things about studio photography is that you can change the look and feel of an entire picture with little adjustment. The most impactful change can be made with lighting and aperture but what if you wanted to make changes to your set? You can hoist a new backdrop and add some props, that will give you a fresh new look, that is everything but the floor. Wait, now you can change your floor too.

My home studio is on my second floor and has carpeting on the floor. Usually I don’t take many pictures that include the flooring for the simple reason that it is carpeting (and beige carpeting at that). So my portraiture is usually no longer than 3/4 length unless I extend my backdrop to allow clients to sit down on it. It’s commonly done and looks pretty good but again I am still limited to having my clients sit or have their portraits no longer than 3/4 length.

I came up with an idea for a moveable floor, one that would allow me to lay it down when needed and pick it up when not in use. I “floated” the idea past a few flooring guys (sorry, couldn’t resist) and they gave me the thumbs up. So, two Saturdays ago I went off to Lowes hankering to “git ‘er done”. I picked up 2 sheets of OSB to create an 8×8 square for my moveable floor (each sheet is 4×8′). I then estimated I needed 64 sq feet of flooring plus 15-20% extra for fixing those errant cuts I knew I would make. I selected 4 boxes of flooring containing 21 sq feet each; plenty for what I was doing (I hoped). I also picked up a tube of Liquid nails and a caulking gun. (Listen to me: you will need 2 tubes of Liquid Nails, trust me. I had to return to the store to buy another tube and finish the job) With all the essentials in tow I brought everything home.

NOTE: If you don’t have a pickup truck or a friend with one, rent the Lowes truck, it’s only $20 for 75 min; well worth it.

I let the floor acclimate for a week and this past Saturday, I set out to build my moveable floor. I laid down the OSB side by side and made sure they were butted up against each other and square. Starting with one side, I laid two floor boards down and measured where I would cut one board for excess. Down to the garage I went and with my table saw, cut the board to the appropriate length. I counted how many boards would fit on one OSB sheet. Counting 5, I took 4 more floor boards and cut them the same length as the earlier one. I then went back upstairs and laid down the flooring alternating the cut board in front one row and in back the next, gluing them down as I went. When I reached the edges of the first OSB sheet, I added one row of boards but did not glue them down. This row overlapped onto the 2nd OSB sheet. Again, I did not glue this row down. I then added another row of flooring on the second OSB sheet. This “first” row (on the second OSB sheet) I glued down.

OK, let’s discuss this. Why didn’t I glue the connective boards? Anyone? Anyone? If you said for easy separation you are right. I should be able to slide the OSB apart so the connective floor board is easily removed and allowing for easy pickup and storage.

NOTE: I clamped the flooring down as I went to make sure I got good adhesion.

Anyway back to the process. I measured how many rows of floor board I would need to cover this OSB sheet (4 I believe) and took that number of boards down to the table saw and cut them to the proper length. I went back upstairs and repeated the process so I covered almost all of the second OSB board. When done, I had a 4.75″ row left to cover. I took two boards down and cut one to the correct length then cut both length-wise to 4.75″. I went back upstairs, fit the perfectly cut boards to the edge of the OSB and glued them down. Once I was done I let it sit overnight.

NOTE: You can NEVER have too many clamps.

Click here for some pics of the job.

The next day, I set my new Dennys Manufacturing backdrop back up and took some test pics.

Hope you enjoyed this post.