Installing new flooring in a newly built or remodeled home is exciting. Once the flooring is installed, your project is almost done. The floor looks perfect, clean, and professional-looking, and you want your builder or contractor to keep it looking good. Surface protection helps builders and homeowners avoid damage to newly installed floors such as scratches, paint spills and more. What are the surface protection options available for each type of flooring installed?

There are several key points to consider when choosing a floor protection product:

• How long should floor protection be used?
• Is the floor glued?
• Will there be only foot traffic or some type of machinery used on the protected floor?
• Should the protection be waterproof or spill-proof?

The thinnest and lowest cost floor protection product on the market is cling film. The highest quality films are typically 0.003 mils thick and are green or blue in color. They are available in a variety of convenient size rolls. These films are recommended to protect sealed tiles and stones from scratches for up to 45 days. They work well to keep tile floor grout clean. Before applying to vinyl composition tile (VCT) floors, be sure to verify which cleaners or polishes may have been used on the VCT so that the adhesive does not react with polishes. The use of cling film on hardwood floors is not recommended.

Ram Board® and other compressed paper products are an inexpensive protection commonly used to protect hardwood, tile, stone and VCT floors. Ram Board® is 0.04-mil thick and protects against wheels, cars, and foot traffic. Ram Board® is not reusable; although it is made from recycled paper and can be recycled making it an environmentally friendly construction product. Unfortunately, Ram Board® is not a good choice on projects with high construction traffic or with exposure to liquids. It should be taped and on the floor to prevent dirt and grime from getting stuck under the shield and scratching the floor. Ram Board® is a breathable product, so it can be used on any glued floor as it allows the glue vapors to release the gases.

There are also floor protection products made from textiles, including Clean & Safe®, Surface Pro® and Top Guard. Both Clean & Safe® and Top Guard are thick enough to be used on busy job sites. They can be used on laid hardwood floors, tile, VCT and stone floors. To protect a freshly glued hardwood floor, it is mandatory to use a breathable floor protection such as Surface Pro® to keep the floor under warranty. Textile floor protection products can be reused in other projects and can be cleaned by shaking off dirt or debris before rolling up for storage until next use.

Wooden stairs can be protected with Multi-Shield runner, a fabric product with a leak-proof top and sticky base. It is capable of holding onto wooden ladders, but only has enough tack to grip the ladder without leaving any residue. It can be reused if the sticky bottom is kept clean of dust. The Multi-Shield runner can also be used on hardwood, VCT, tile, and stone floors.

For commercial projects with heavy foot or machine traffic, Coverguard® Floor Protection is the best choice. Coverguard® is available in 3 thicknesses; 0.01 mil, 0.025 mil, and 0.04 mil and it had a diamond pattern on the top that makes it slip resistant. Since it is made of plastic, it is waterproof and reusable. Coverguard® is also fire resistant and can be used in hospital projects or other projects that require fire resistance.

These products and other surface protection products are available from Surface Protection vendors through store sales or online.