Your floors want special protection when undergoing remodeling, during new construction, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for other occasions beyond 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 cost hundreds of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors so that you can make knowledgeable choices on the perfect product to use to your needs.
Types of Protection Packaging:
Floor protection products are commonly packaged as either:
(1) Products by the roll: These embrace common adhesive films, rolled paper products and rolled textile protection. Protective supplies bought by the roll are commonly measured in thickness by mils (e.g., 2.5 mils thick up to 48 mils thick).
(2) Products by the sheet: These embrace corrugated plastic, masonite, and other 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 toes by 8 feet.
Type of Flooring Protection:
Paper
Paper protection is suitable for all hard surfaces and resilient surfaces however doesn’t work well to protect carpets as it can tear when flexing under footsteps. Paper products are breathable so 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 leave adhesive residue when removed. Common paper protection products include:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that is inexpensive but does not afford any impact protection and may simply tear
· Scrim paper might incorporate coatings or reinforcements to make them water-proof as well as scrim threads to reinforce the paper and stop tearing. These improved papers are longer lasting than common Kraft paper or rosin paper nonetheless they are also too thin to supply a lot impact protection.
· Rosin paper is thicker than Kraft paper and may be very low cost. Rosin paper is recycled, felt paper that ranges from 9.0 to 11.5 mils thick. The large drawback of utilizing Rosin paper is that it might cause a everlasting stain if the paper gets wet. Rosin paper also can rip easily so it not usually really helpful to be used
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets may also be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection nonetheless it just isn’t coated with a water-resistant end and needs to be kept dry at all times so that it doesn’t 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 in order that they shouldn’t be used on any floors that are curing. Two of the good benefits of polyethylene films are that films will flex and contour so they can be used on carpets as well as hard surfaces. These films do not provide any impact protection and are normally rated for brief term use of 30 to ninety days only. Polyethylene films are designed for one-time use and don’t use recycled supplies making them a poor choice in maintainable protection. Protection films are available in a variety of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films will have a lower tack and color 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 a lot of foot traffic. Masonite is a wood product made from wood fibers unlike plywood which is an precise sheet of thin wood. Each plywood and Masonite are sold in the usual measurement of four feet by eight ft and are more costly per square foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/8 or 1/four inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Each products provide impact protection on a wide range of floor types and provide adequate protection against heavy equipment use or furniture moving. Each plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nevertheless they’re bulky to hold and store. These wood sheets ought to be used on high of a softer protection akin to a rolled textile as they simply scratch flooring. These sheets work well to protect carpet as they forestall wrinkles when rolling heavy loads over the carpet. Plywood and Masonite do not offer moisture protection and might be harder to cut to size than other protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products typically have added benefits equivalent to skid resistant backings or breathable plastic liners. For wood floors, these specialty textile rolls are highly really useful as they are breathable, skid resistant, reusable, usually leakproof and simple to chop to size.
With a view to get hold of the complete benefits of using surface protection, proper application is a must. The floors needs to be clean (vacuumed or swept) prior to covering with the protection products. The proper choice of protection needs to be made so that moisture just isn’t trapped on floors which might be still curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and will invalidate a wood floor manufacturer’s warranty. For heavy site visitors or loads, several protection layers may be needed.
In abstract, there are a lot of decisions in temporary floor protection available today. When choosing a protection product, it is sensible to consider the price, duration needed, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Profitable floor protection also consists of proper set up and preparation of the floor. Always follow the producer’s advice for use so the potential for adhesive switch is avoided. Protecting valuable floors is a clever funding in time and money. Surface protection consultants are additionally available that can assist you choose the most effective floor protection for your needs.