Need to do significant interior construction including plastering. Floors are in and finished including stone, wood and cork.
Any suggestions on a cost effective material to lay down and protect the floors from the heavy traffic (Ladders & scaffolding, spilt paint, dropped tools…)?
Replies
Used carpet = free.
SamT
also, masonite works well. takes time to tape and cut but its recyclable for many jobs. Charge it to the job, or many. If you respect a clients belongings, they will always call you back.
Used carpet is cheap, but I need a better working surface and something I can easily tape around the edges and tight to the walls. The masonite sounds good but I know how heavy that stuff is. Plus, this is the last time I will need to do this so it most likely wont be used again. I have to cover 4000 sf of floor space.
Does anyone make a heavy duty paper (almost like cardboard) that is rolled?
1/4 inch is manageable, but I see your point 4k is a lot of space to cover all at once. Can you split the job into smaller areas? I wouldnt even know if you could find that much cardboard.
Always in those situations I use 1/4" luan on top of 4 ml plastic. Plastic should be taped to floor with painters tape and then the luan laid on top and seams taped with duct tape. It seems like a lot to go through but it's not at all, it's really worth it even for a smaller job. This way the worry of spills, or tools hitting the floor or any of that is eliminated. I always figure "masking time" and the materials into a job. If you have a place to store the luan, then use it on the next job like it.
Make sure you incorporate the costs to protect property. A job such as yours (4000sq ft) may take a day and a few guys to protect all that is necessary. You must charge for this in your estimate.
I use masonite, either 1/8" or 1/4. Lay down paper first then the masonite and tape all joints. If you drop tools you will not do any damage. It works great. Dont use carpet unless you want to scratch the wood floors. You will be surprised at the material that is used for the bottom of carpets.
Always think of protecting property, floors as part of the job and charge accordingly. Good luck.
I second the masonite. 1/8" sheets at hd are like $6. You could probably return most of the uncut ones when your done.
Fighter,
Check out this link this stuff is great we used it last year on a job for both hardwood floors and to protect tile.
http://www.dropcloth.com/
I got several large scrap pieces of sheet vinyl from Lowes for very little. Some was end-of-the-roll stuff, one large piece was damaged and unsalable, one piece was returned from a customer cuz it was the wrong color.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
http://www.pro-tect.com/
or ... http://www.homasote.com/
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I second the motion for the material from dropcloth.com. I've been working on top of about 4000 SF of their grey hardwood floor protection material and it is very serviceable. Not sure if it's cheap or not... but it's definitely cheaper than repairing the floor. Luaun door skins work well as a second layer over the dropcloth material, and are light and easy to cut with a knife. I don't use masonite much because it's slippery, especially with a layer of dust on it.
Also, check around for something called Gator Board. It's a heavy duty rolled cardboard material. Might find that online...
SOP for me is to remove any floor protection material after working in the area, shake it out (or toss it, depending on condition), sweep and vacuum, and replace. Many a guy has been sunk when he didn't realize that crap had worked its way under his protection material. Clean under it frequently. I worked on one very large job where we had a laborer doing almost nothing but cleaning and replacing protection.
In case you want another link:
http://protectiveproducts.com/index.html
Jon Blakemore