5 Reasons You Should Never Use Plywood To Protect Floors On Your Jobsite

Protecting floors during construction is vital. General jobsite traffic, dropped tools, and heavy machinery are only a few of the potential causes of damage. Issues such as weather conditions and spills can easily cause safety issues and expensive damage that can ruin your project’s budget, timeline, and your company’s reputation.

For many, plywood seems like it’s the perfect solution. It’s easily accessible, not to mention heavy-duty; that must mean it’s perfect for protecting floors, right? Not quite. In this blog, we cover the top reasons why using plywood for floor protection is less than ideal before giving our top solutions for affordable, effective alternatives.

Reason 1: Labor Intensive

When it comes to floor protection plywood is far less straightforward than it initially seems to be. It’s bulky, heavy, and thus difficult to maneuver. It often requires two people just to lift and install a single sheet. On large jobsites, the high square footage directly translates to a greater area to protect, and using plywood quickly adds up in both time and cost. Multiply that by every floor, hallway, and transition space, and your installation time is instantly inflated.

Reason 2: Warping

Weather and environmental factors can render plywood as a protection solution completely useless. When it gets wet, plywood is highly susceptible to swell and warp. As it buckles, it exposes the floors underneath, leaving them vulnerable to damage.

Furthermore, the raised edges and uneven surfaces caused by wet plywood creates tripping hazards, highly compromising site safety and leaving you liable to lawsuits and a damaged reputation.

Reason 3: Shifting

Unlike our surface protection solutions that feature grip or anti-slip backing, plywood has no friction control, sliding easily on smooth or finished floors. The constant traffic throughout jobsites increases the risk of scuffing, scratching, or gouging the surface it’s supposed to protect. On high-value finishes, one shift of a plywood board can mean a costly repair or replacement.

Reason 4: Poor Tape Adhesion

To ensure security in floor protection, taping the seams is crucial. However, due to the rough, porous surface of plywood, tape doesn’t stick well. This results in ineffective protection, as even the lightest traffic can cause the tape to peel off.

Reason 5: Uncleanable

Plywood may look solid, but it’s far from clean. Its textured, absorbent surface is a trap for dirt, dust, and all kinds of moisture and contaminants. This makes it nearly impossible to wipe down or sanitize. On sites such as healthcare facility projects where cleanliness is paramount, this quickly becomes a liability. It can introduce bacteria and debris into sensitive areas, falling short of the standards required on today’s modern jobsites.

Our Solution

Where plywood falls short, Armour Protection Board – Green HD is there to step up to the plate. This game-changing solution mitigates all of the issues presented by plywood as a temporary surface protection solution. Its 5mm thick plastic composition with a honeycomb core absorbs serious impact while remaining shockingly lightweight and easy to maneuver – no longer do you need two people to move one sheet at a time. With this innovative solution, one worker can easily move multiple sheets at once.
In addition, unlike plywood, Armour Protection Board – Green HD lays flat every time and resists warping. It’s fully waterproof with an anti-slip surface, so you don’t have to worry about moisture seeping through and damaging your finished floors or workers slipping on wet surfaces. For extra security, the board is fleece-backed to both prevent shifting and protect floors from unnecessary scuffing and scratching.

Easy and quick to installs, the protection board can be seamed with either Armour Tape or Armour Pro-Clean Tape for UV stabilized, durable seaming that prevents shifting of the floor protection.

In short, Armour Protection Board – Green HD delivers superior protection: waterproof, UV stabilized, suitable for exterior use, and easy to handle. It’s reusable and lightweight, bringing a greener, more cost-effective solution to your jobsite.

Conclusion

Plywood might seem like a quick fix for floor protection, but it often causes more problems than it solved; it’s heavy, prone to warping, hard to secure, and nearly impossible to clean.

For a smarter alternative, Armour Protection Board – Green HD delivers. It’s lightweight, waterproof, reusable, and built to stay in place, helping you save time and money and keeping your jobsite looking clean and fresh.

Protect your floors right with a solution made for the demands of today’s jobsites; just reach out for free samples, we’re here to help.

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