Your floors need special protection when undergoing remodeling, throughout new development, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for other occasions past day-to-day use. Protecting flooring makes sense and saves money. A spill of paint, the drop of a hammer, a scratch from heavy furniture can price thousands of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors with the intention to make informed selections on one of the best product to use for your needs.
Types of Protection Packaging:
Floor protection products are commonly packaged as either:
(1) Products by the roll: These embrace widespread adhesive films, rolled paper products and rolled textile protection. Protective materials purchased by the roll are commonly measured in thickness by mils (e.g., 2.5 mils thick as much as 48 mils thick).
(2) Products by the sheet: These embody corrugated plastic, masonite, and different inflexible protection. Protective supplies purchased by the sheet are commonly measured in thickness by the inch (e.g., 1/four-inch thick) and usually come as 4 feet by 8 feet.
Type of Flooring Protection:
Paper
Paper protection is suitable for all hard surfaces and resilient surfaces but doesn’t work well to protect carpets as it can tear when flexing under footsteps. Paper products are breathable in order that glue fumes and cement curing vapors can escape. One disadvantage to paper products as they require tapes to secure them to flooring and tapes can typically go away adhesive residue when removed. Frequent paper protection products embrace:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that’s cheap however does not afford any impact protection and can easily tear
· Scrim paper might incorporate coatings or reinforcements to make them water-proof as well as scrim threads to reinforce the paper and prevent tearing. These improved papers are longer lasting than regular Kraft paper or rosin paper nonetheless they are additionally too thin to offer a lot impact protection.
· Rosin paper is thicker than Kraft paper and could be very low cost. Rosin paper is recycled, felt paper that ranges from 9.zero to 11.5 mils thick. The large drawback of using Rosin paper is that it could cause a permanent stain if the paper gets wet. Rosin paper can even rip simply so it not usually recommended to be used
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets can be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection nevertheless it isn’t coated with a water-proof finish and should be kept dry always in order that it does not disintegrate. Cardboard products are additionally available as single-, double-, and triple-walled corrugated cardboard sheets or as a fan-folded stack.
Polyethylene Film
Polyethylene (PE) films are sold as self adhesive rolled films varying from 2.zero up to 3.5 mils in thickness. They trap any moisture from escaping so they should not be used on any floors which can be curing. Two of the nice benefits of polyethylene films are that films will flex and contour to allow them to be used on carpets as well as hard surfaces. These films don’t provide any impact protection and are usually rated for short time period use of 30 to 90 days only. Polyethylene films are designed for one-time use and do not use recycled supplies making them a poor selection in sustainable protection. Protection films are available in a wide range of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films will have a decrease tack and shade than carpet protection which needs a more aggressive glue to hold onto carpet fibers successfully.
Wood Products
Plywood and Masonite are commonly used as protection on commercial projects with numerous foot traffic. Masonite is a wood product made from wood fibers unlike plywood which is an precise sheet of thin wood. Both plywood and Masonite are sold in the standard size of four feet by eight ft and are more costly per sq. foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/eight or 1/4 inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/4 inch to 3/four inch thick. Each products provide impact protection on a variety of floor types and provide adequate protection in opposition to heavy equipment use or furniture moving. Each plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nonetheless they are bulky to hold and store. These wood sheets should be used on high of a softer protection resembling a rolled textile as they simply scratch flooring. These sheets work well to protect carpet as they stop wrinkles when rolling heavy loads over the carpet. Plywood and Masonite do not offer moisture protection and could be harder to cut to size than different protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products usually have added benefits corresponding to skid resistant backings or breathable plastic liners. For wood floors, these specialty textile rolls are highly recommended as they’re breathable, skid resistant, reusable, usually leakproof and simple to chop to size.
To be able to acquire the total benefits of using surface protection, proper application is a must. The floors should be clean (vacuumed or swept) previous to covering with the protection products. The proper selection of protection should be made in order that moisture is just not trapped on floors which might be nonetheless curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and can invalidate a wood floor producer’s warranty. For heavy visitors or loads, several protection layers could also be needed.
In summary, there are lots of choices in momentary floor protection available today. When choosing a protection product, it is smart to consider the price, length needed, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Profitable floor protection additionally contains proper set up and preparation of the floor. Always follow the producer’s recommendation for use so the potential for adhesive switch is avoided. Protecting valuable floors is a smart funding in time and money. Surface protection specialists are additionally available to help you select one of the best floor protection for your needs.