Your floors need particular protection when undergoing remodeling, during new building, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for different 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 1000’s of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors so to make knowledgeable decisions on one of the best product to make use of to your needs.
Types of Protection Packaging:
Floor protection products are commonly packaged as either:
(1) Products by the roll: These include common 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 include corrugated plastic, masonite, and other inflexible protection. Protective supplies bought by the sheet are commonly measured in thickness by the inch (e.g., 1/4-inch thick) and normally come as four feet by eight 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 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 usually depart adhesive residue when removed. Common paper protection products include:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that’s cheap but does not afford any impact protection and can simply tear
· Scrim paper could incorporate coatings or reinforcements to make them waterproof 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’re 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.zero to 11.5 mils thick. The huge drawback of utilizing Rosin paper is that it may cause a everlasting stain if the paper gets wet. Rosin paper may also rip easily so it not usually advisable to be used
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets can be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection however it is just not coated with a water resistant finish and needs to be kept dry always in order that it doesn’t disintegrate. Cardboard products are also 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 various from 2.0 up to 3.5 mils in thickness. They trap any moisture from escaping so that they should not be used on any floors which might 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 provide any impact protection and are normally rated for short term use of 30 to 90 days only. Polyethylene films are designed for one-time use and don’t use recycled supplies making them a poor alternative in maintainable protection. Protection films are available in quite a lot of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films may have a lower tack and colour than carpet protection which wants 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 number of 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 usual dimension of four ft by 8 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 3/4 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. Both plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nonetheless they are bulky to carry and store. These wood sheets ought to 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 forestall wrinkles when rolling heavy loads over the carpet. Plywood and Masonite do not offer moisture protection and may be harder to chop to dimension than different 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 advisable as they are breathable, skid resistant, reusable, often leakproof and easy to chop to size.
In an effort to acquire the complete benefits of utilizing surface protection, proper application is a must. The floors ought to be clean (vacuumed or swept) prior to covering with the protection products. The proper selection of protection needs to be made so that moisture is not trapped on floors which might be nonetheless curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and will invalidate a wood floor manufacturer’s warranty. For heavy visitors or loads, a number of protection layers could also be needed.
In summary, there are various selections in temporary floor protection available today. When selecting a protection product, it is smart to consider the price, period wanted, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Successful floor protection additionally consists of 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 wise investment in time and money. Surface protection experts are additionally available to help you choose one of the best floor protection for your needs.
Leave a Reply