Your floors want special protection when undergoing remodeling, during new development, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for other events 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 cost 1000’s of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors so as to make informed choices on the most effective product to use in 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 supplies purchased by the roll are commonly measured in thickness by mils (e.g., 2.5 mils thick up to forty eight mils thick).
(2) Products by the sheet: These embrace corrugated plastic, masonite, and other rigid protection. Protective materials 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 but does not 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 often go away adhesive residue when removed. Widespread paper protection products embrace:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that is cheap however doesn’t afford any impact protection and can simply tear
· Scrim paper may 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 supply 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 might cause a permanent stain if the paper gets wet. Rosin paper can even rip simply so it not normally recommended for use
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets will also be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection nonetheless it is not coated with a water resistant end and needs to be kept dry at all times 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 various from 2.zero as much as 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 great 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 don’t supply any impact protection and are usually rated for brief term 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 alternative in sustainable protection. Protection films are available in quite a lot of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films can have a decrease 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 measurement of 4 toes by 8 feet and are more expensive per square foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/eight or 1/four inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/four inch to 3/four inch thick. Each products provide impact protection on quite a lot of floor types and provide adequate protection in opposition to 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 should be used on high of a softer protection reminiscent of 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 offer moisture protection and can be harder to chop to measurement than different protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products often have added benefits corresponding 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, often leakproof and easy to cut to size.
So as to receive the complete benefits of utilizing surface protection, proper application is a must. The floors needs to be clean (vacuumed or swept) previous to covering with the protection products. The proper alternative of protection ought to be made in order that moisture just isn’t trapped on floors which can be nonetheless curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and will invalidate a wood floor producer’s warranty. For heavy traffic or loads, several protection layers could also be needed.
In summary, there are numerous selections in temporary floor protection available today. When selecting a protection product, it is wise to consider the cost, duration wanted, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Successful floor protection additionally contains proper set up and preparation of the floor. Always observe the producer’s suggestion to be used 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 that can assist you choose the very best floor protection in your needs.
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