Your floors want particular protection when undergoing remodeling, throughout new building, 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 price 1000’s of dollars in replacement and repair costs. This article describes surface protection products for floors in an effort to make knowledgeable choices on the most effective product to use on your needs.
Types of Protection Packaging:
Floor protection products are commonly packaged as either:
(1) Products by the roll: These embody frequent adhesive films, rolled paper products and rolled textile protection. Protective materials bought 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 different inflexible protection. Protective supplies purchased by the sheet are commonly measured in thickness by the inch (e.g., 1/4-inch thick) and normally come as four toes by 8 feet.
Type of Flooring Protection:
Paper
Paper protection is suitable for all hard surfaces and resilient surfaces however 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 leave adhesive residue when removed. Widespread paper protection products embrace:
· 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 waterproof 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 nevertheless they are also 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 9.0 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 easily so it not usually recommended to be used
· Corrugated cardboard rolls or sheets will also be used to protect flooring. Corrugate provides impact protection nevertheless it just isn’t coated with a waterproof end and must be kept dry at all times so 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 so they shouldn’t be used on any floors which 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 offer 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 a wide range of adhesion “tack”. Hard surface protection films may have a lower tack and coloration 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 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 usual size of 4 toes by eight feet and are more expensive per square foot than paper or polyethylene products. Masonite is commonly 1/eight or 1/4 inch thick. Plywood is commonly 1/4 inch to three/4 inch thick. Both products provide impact protection on quite a lot of floor types and provide adequate protection towards heavy equipment use or furniture moving. Both plywood and Masonite are breathable and reusable nonetheless they’re bulky to carry and store. These wood sheets ought to be used on prime of a softer protection reminiscent of 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 provide moisture protection and will be harder to chop to size than different protection types.
Textile Products
Textile products are commonly manufactured from recycled cloth. In addition, these rolled protection products usually have added benefits corresponding 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, usually leakproof and simple to cut to size.
As a way to obtain 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 ought to be made so that moisture shouldn’t be trapped on floors which might be still curing. Trapping moisture can cause a full product failure and will invalidate a wood floor producer’s warranty. For heavy 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 selecting a protection product, it is smart to consider the price, duration needed, breathability and potential to reuse the product. Profitable floor protection also 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 smart investment in time and money. Surface protection specialists are also available to help you choose the most effective floor protection in your needs.
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