Finished Floor Protection While Mudding

Saul_Surfaces

Any else ever have to finish a whole house worth of drywall over top of finished hardwood floors? Obviously it's a non-ideal way to go, but that's the job. The cabinets are in too. Oh, and they prefilled all the tapers for me, so the entire job is butt seams, even where the tapers should be. Yay!! None of those items were missed in the pricing, but they're still opposed to replacing the board and finishing for a normal rate.

I've seen slightly self adhesive plastic on tv for masking stairs and such. Anyone know where to get that in Canada? I've never been able to find it in Manitoba.

Would you risk holding poly down by using masking tape onto the hardwood for 2.5 weeks? (the job's an hour out of town, so drying times are a bit sketchy, and since its vacant, I'll drag it out a bit--with the customers approval)

Maybe staple the ends of the plastic to the bottom inch of drywall?

Are there any great tricks for loosening the hold of painters tape after an excessive period if there's no better option for holding the poly?

Thanks for your suggestions.

A+ Texture LLC

That sucks, I'd inspect every inch of the floor before you start. Because somewhere damage will occur and you will surely get blamed. I'd even take pics with a digital.

Saul_Surfaces

Thanks A+, pics are a good idea. Cheap insurance.

Wallers

We always cover hard surface floors with rosin paper. Very cheap and it comes in large rolls, just overlap it a bit and mask it to itself. As long as you don't mix on it it should last the entire job. Roll it up when you are done, along with your mess! Stilts are okay on it also, as opposed to using poly.

wnybassman

I always hate using plastic on the floors. Seems like you always get little rips or punctures in it, then you get stuff under it, then you grind it in to the floor without knowing it. In individual rooms we have done with hardwood we put plastic down then put cardboard over it, but that's a lot of cardboard for a whole house.

All the tapers filled? Walls too? Wow, that sucks.

You'll earn your money on this one!

alltex

floor paper works good. I,v used a heat gun very carfuly so as not to hurt the finish to get old tape off .Works pretty good .

Saul_Surfaces

mmmm. . .some sort of paper does sound a whole lot better than poly. The job looks better already.

Since the screws are all mudded too heavy, in additional to ALL the tapers being filled with no tape, I finally ponied up the money for a used PC. Hope to hold the head at an angle and dig out a good part of the taper, then finish with my hand sander and 100 grit paper.

Might have a chance of finishing the surfaces like normal eventually. In any case it's nice to busy.

Quality1st

Use 90 wgt paper or heavier and pick your feet up when walking. Put plastic the cardboard, the paper, under your mixing area. Use 2 in blue to secure to trim , and leave room for the paper to move a little. I would allow xtra money on contract to have professional cleaning crew to wipe down all fixtues, doors and trim. Even have them polish the windows. Makes you look like a genius and builds confidence from your clients. After a fiasco the client wants perfection and no blooeys.

Saul_Surfaces

you figure the blue will be okay for 2 weeks on varnished wood? It'll be a slow job with lots of time for drying since the job is nearly an hour from home. The heat gun suggestion earlier in the thread was a good thought. I was afraid it would dry out the tape, but maybe it would just soften the glue.

Wallers

The PC is a good investment, times are tough and turd polishing requires one, but I don't think that is your best bet for this application. Use it to grind the screw spots down (QUICKLY), but I think on those joints, by the time you got enough mud out of the recess the edges would be so frayed that you might be through to the gypsum. Or at least all the frayed paper would be dragging down the wall by your box, or trowel, and causing a scratch nightmare! What about a 4" belt sander? just take the mud out where you need it gone! You would probably have it to a normal prefill state quick! You would probably have to broom them off before taping, but I think that would be my first assault on this kind of thing. Otherwise do you use tools? The other option would be just taping it the way they have it and splitting all of the joints with the 10" box for first coat. Not fun, but not the end of the world, either.

carpentaper

blue tape will come up fine . i've left it down for six months and not had a problem. i would not go anywhere near a finished floor with a heat gun. also sometimes wood that is exposed to the sun slowly bleaches. you can't see it until you cover one part and leave another area exposed. i would use blue tape and paper. keep the tape as tight to the walls as you can to avoid any discoloring of the floor. i also wipe down all the areas i apply blue tape to in advance to give it a better bond. it can be very frustrating to have the edges peeling up and crap getting under. doorskin in high traffic areas doesn't hurt either. i'm sure this is overkill to some of you guys but it is the bare minimum on most of my jobs because i am usually there from start to finish.

Saul_Surfaces

Yeah, worst case I can split all the seams. The boxes would be a life saver there. It's a shame to lay tape on that much mud though. I'll throw the belt sander in the trailer too. It has a dust bag port that could go to the vacuum to reduce dust a bit (nice to see where I'm sanding). I'd been hoping to hold the PC sanding head at an angle to dig out the tapers, but eating through the paper at the edges is a concern.

Carpentaper: glad to hear your experiences pulling blue back up. I think I'll try the tape. The trim at the floor isn't in yet, so the tape should get nice and close to the wall, and should hide well below the trim (well, where the tape was). In a pinch the other option was to staple the paper to the bottom inch of the drywall, but that's non-ideal.

Wallers

Good luck, Saul! Hope you make some money on it!!!

FOR THOSE ABOUT

Go in stealth and coat it all (in the cover of darkness) with the Vario. We used it on some angles in Maine, ran both sides, no tape, no cracks...

kgphoto

I strongly recommend against using tape on the floor. Test a piece on the inside of a closet if you have the time. I have used blue tape and it always pulled up a liquid applied finish, even in one day. Catalyzed varnish finishes are more resistant to the tape.

I do recommend the Rosin Paper tight to the walls and taped to itself and a 12 inch paint masking paper taped to the baseboard and NOT taped to the Rosin paper. That way it can all move and won't pull off. That 12 inch overlap will keep the bulk of the dust off the floor. It I was hanging too, I would double up the layers of Rosin paper.

Saul_Surfaces

Me too Thanks

Saul_Surfaces

Ah, finally a way to get skirts on the job. And perhaps a pretty good application. Thanks for the tip

Quality1st

Don,t split em out, if you have everything covered correctly to protect and to survive the finishing and spraying process/ take an eighty grit 6inch sanding block and get that mud out of the bevel, and make room for the tape coat. Us e fairly loose taping mus when you,re stringing and wipe tight. They,ll almost be flush when that dries and you can blade em to perfection. Easy finish once you mask ect for a day and spend 4 hrs sanding before you open a box of mud. GIDDYUP

smooth muderator

Hi mate, we have this dilemma quite a bit in the U.K due to refurbs and modifications in properties with old original floorboards which need preserving. Cover the floor primarily with thin polythene taping down at the edges then cover with dust sheets or the paper referred to earlier, pick up any big splodges dropped during the working process.After sanding lift both coverings and have someone follow up straight behind vacuuming dust up etc in front of them as they walk through the room to the exit. Try not to tread anything into the floor. Cheers

P.S Remember that anything on the coverings will get dragged around other rooms as you exit the working space so cover routes accordingly

Cousin-itt

Yeah, and it got ruined....Not my fault though.

I installed the hardwood floor (5,000 sq ft.) and sanded it and it was immaculate when I was finished. Then they decided to follow up with taping and painting while leaving the floors bare - no finish! That's the way they wanted to do it and I was in just to do the floors - that's all. I URGED them to first put down mil plastic before anything else is done so it doesn't get water damaged. The owner owned a carpet company and thought jute carpet underlayment was enough without the plastic. Like I said, I was back in sanding it all over again. The jute underlayment provided a good shock and scratch protection but it leaked paint and water through.

So definately use the plastic first with the blue painter's tape. I've also used cardboard over plastic in the non traffic areas and light plywood in the heavier traffic areas. Go over every square inch and use masking and/or duct tape to lock it all together so it doesn't slide on you and scratch the floors. Works great for me. I hope this can help you.