Years of on-the-job experience in West Vancouver and North Vancouver have taught me that site protection is one of the key things to pay attention to during any renovation. Proper site protection can be quickly setup and easily adapted to any location while ensuring that the protection itself does not unintentionally cause any damage.

How to Protect Your Site During the Renovation Process

A good example of this is the following procedure that I use to protect and preserve an existing floor from damage while construction is taking place:

    1. The first thing to do is clean the surface that needs to be protected.

 

    1. Then place painters tape at the surface perimeter, about 3/4” away from the wall or baseboard
      (to allow for painting).

Blog Floor Protection1

    1. Then roll out and cover the entire surface in Ram Board (a thick cardboard-like product that can be cut easily with a utility knife), connecting the board to the painters tape and to itself with sheathing tape (a red tape with a very strong adhesive; used to seal vapour barrier). I like this tape as it’s quite sticky and will stay adhered while not allowing in dust. Keep in mind that it isn’t a good idea to forgo the painters tape as the adhesive on the sheathing tape is so strong it could damage many floor finishes.

 

  1. The next step is to cut and adhere a door skin to the layer below and to itself with sheathing tape. For those not familiar with it, door skin is 1/8” plywood veneer that can be found at most lumber supply stores. I have toyed with many similar products but door skin seems to be the strongest option while still being easily cut and shaped to fit.

Once the steps above are complete your floor will be protected from most possible mishaps and will look no worse for wear when the work in your home is successfully complete.

Not all renovators will take the needed steps to protect your property, but a good renovator will. And they won’t mind discussing the measures that they take for this kind of protection of your property. So feel free to ask before any work begins. This will give you the peace of mind that you deserve and will also tell you that you’re working with the right people that care about your home.

Stay tuned for additional site protection tips, coming in the near future.