It is important to protect the surface of your wood floors to maintain their appearance and durability over time. Wood floors are an investment and protecting them can help to prolong their lifespan and prevent costly repairs or replacements.
Here are our recommendations on how to protect the surface of your engineered wood flooring after they have been installed.
Post-Installation Surface Protection: Recommendations
- Avoid using tape on the floor (if required, use delicate masking tape and do not leave on the surface for longer than 7 days).
- Keep foot traffic to a minimum for first 24 hours to allow the glue to set. Wait 24 hours before placing furniture or heavy objects into the room.
- Residential or Low risk - A breathable floor protection card like Protecta Board for hardwood floors. Place this over the floor and butt the board joins together then tape over the joins and tape to skirtings etc. (Be careful not to have tape anywhere near the timber floor.)
* This will prevent dust, dirt and grime from getting onto your new timber floor.
- Commercial or High risk – A hard-wearing surface protection is required for high-risk or commercial areas. A foam protection like Mason’s Floor Guard is to be placed down first. Butting the Masons Mat together and taping the joins. Then overtop of the matting place a 3mm or 4.5mm Hardboard or ply again butting the boards together and tapping the joins. (Be careful not to have tape anywhere near the timber floor.)
* This will prevent dust, dirt and grime from getting onto your new timber floor as well as added protection against damage from things being possibly dropped onsite.
- To minimize the possibility of fine dust (usually from plasterboard/drywall products) getting into the grain of the flooring, ensure all cutting machines have dust collection bags. If fine dust has been generated in the surrounding area during installation, ensure the floor is vacuumed after installation and immediately covered with a breathable floor protection product after vacuuming.
About Protecta Board
Protecta Board is a versatile, durable and reusable surface protection product.
With the roll out feature – Protecta Board is easy and fast to apply which can be used on many surfaces requiring protection and can prevent soiling and damages to many hard surfaces.
This project can be easily trimmed and folded to required size. Suggested to use with our ECO tape for joining.
About Mason’s Floor Guard
Masons Floor Guard is a heavy-duty protection sheet and is designed to protect surfaces from moisture, marks and damage. The closed-cell foam backing protects the surface from impact and is fused to a strong poly-fabric blue weave that gives the product its hard-wearing finish.
Read our article on how to clean your wood floors to ensure they are protected and maintained the right way in order to keep them looking their best.