Your floors need special protection when undergoing remodeling, throughout new construction, moving heavy furniture or equipment, and for different 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 hundreds of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors so to make informed selections on the best product to use on 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 forty eight mils thick).
(2) Products by the sheet: These include corrugated plastic, masonite, and different inflexible protection. Protective supplies bought by the sheet are commonly measured in thickness by the inch (e.g., 1/four-inch thick) and usually come as four feet 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 usually depart adhesive residue when removed. Common paper protection products include:
· Kraft paper is a lightweight brown paper that’s inexpensive but does not afford any impact protection and might easily tear
· Scrim paper may incorporate coatings or reinforcements to make them water-resistant as well as scrim threads to reinforce the paper and stop tearing. These improved papers are longer lasting than regular Kraft paper or rosin paper nonetheless they are also too thin to supply 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.zero to 11.5 mils thick. The large drawback of utilizing Rosin paper is that it could cause a permanent stain if the paper gets wet. Rosin paper may rip simply so it not normally advisable for use
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets can be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection however it is not coated with a water resistant end and must 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 various 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 don’t supply 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 do not use recycled materials making them a poor selection in sustainable protection. Protection films are available in quite a lot of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films will have a lower tack and colour 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 number 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 standard size of four ft by eight ft and are more costly per square foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/eight or 1/four inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/4 inch to three/4 inch thick. Both products provide impact protection on a variety of floor types and provide adequate protection towards heavy equipment use or furniture moving. Each plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nevertheless they are bulky to hold and store. These wood sheets ought to be used on prime of a softer protection similar to a rolled textile as they simply scratch flooring. These sheets work well to protect carpet as they prevent wrinkles when rolling heavy loads over the carpet. Plywood and Masonite do not offer moisture protection and might be harder to cut to dimension than different protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products usually have added benefits reminiscent of skid resistant backings or breathable plastic liners. For wood floors, these specialty textile rolls are highly beneficial as they’re breathable, skid resistant, reusable, typically leakproof and straightforward to chop to size.
So as to get hold of the full 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 alternative of protection ought to be made so that moisture is not trapped on floors which can be nonetheless curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and can invalidate a wood floor manufacturer’s warranty. For heavy site visitors or loads, a number of protection layers may be needed.
In abstract, there are numerous decisions in short-term floor protection available today. When choosing a protection product, it is wise to consider the price, duration needed, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Successful floor protection additionally consists of proper installation and preparation of the floor. Always comply with the manufacturer’s advice to be used so the potential for adhesive switch is avoided. Protecting valuable floors is a wise funding in time and money. Surface protection consultants are additionally available that can assist you choose the very best floor protection for your needs.
If you have any concerns relating to in which and how to use temporary floor protection, you can speak to us at our internet site.
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