Your floors want special protection when undergoing remodeling, during new construction, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for different 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 1000’s of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors in an effort to make knowledgeable selections on the very 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 include widespread adhesive films, rolled paper products and rolled textile protection. Protective supplies purchased by the roll are commonly measured in thickness by mils (e.g., 2.5 mils thick as much as forty eight mils thick).
(2) Products by the sheet: These include 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 normally come as four 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 so that glue fumes and cement curing vapors can escape. One disadvantage to paper products as they require tapes to safe them to flooring and tapes can typically depart adhesive residue when removed. Frequent paper protection products embrace:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that’s cheap however doesn’t afford any impact protection and may easily tear
· Scrim paper might incorporate coatings or reinforcements to make them water resistant 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 much impact protection.
· Rosin paper is thicker than Kraft paper and is 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 may rip simply so it not normally advisable for use
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets may also be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection nonetheless it shouldn’t be coated with a waterproof finish and must be kept dry at all times in order 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 as much as 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 great 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 do not supply any impact protection and are normally rated for short term use of 30 to ninety days only. Polyethylene films are designed for one-time use and do not use recycled materials making them a poor choice in maintainable protection. Protection films are available in a wide range of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films will have a lower tack and coloration 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 plenty of foot traffic. Masonite is a wood product made from wood fibers unlike plywood which is an actual sheet of thin wood. Both plywood and Masonite are sold in the standard size of 4 feet by eight ft and are more expensive per sq. foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/eight or 1/4 inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/four inch to three/4 inch thick. Each products provide impact protection on a variety of floor types and provide adequate protection against heavy equipment use or furniture moving. Both plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nevertheless they’re bulky to hold and store. These wood sheets must be used on high of a softer protection comparable to a rolled textile as they easily scratch flooring. These sheets work well to protect carpet as they stop wrinkles when rolling heavy loads over the carpet. Plywood and Masonite don’t supply moisture protection and might be harder to cut to measurement than other protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products often have added benefits equivalent 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, typically leakproof and simple to chop to size.
In an effort to receive the full benefits of utilizing 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 must be made so that moisture isn’t trapped on floors which might be nonetheless curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and will invalidate a wood floor producer’s warranty. For heavy site visitors or loads, a number of protection layers could also be needed.
In summary, there are many selections in short-term floor protection available today. When selecting a protection product, it is sensible to consider the cost, duration wanted, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Profitable floor protection also contains proper set up and preparation of the floor. Always follow the manufacturer’s suggestion for use so the potential for adhesive transfer is avoided. Protecting valuable floors is a smart funding in time and money. Surface protection consultants are additionally available to help you choose the best floor protection for your needs.