Floor Protection
Floor protection covers finished and part-finished surfaces during building and refurbishment work, keeping floors, walls, stairs, doors and fixtures clear of scratches, spills and impact damage until handover. HERMEQ supplies protection to suit most surfaces, from 2mm correx sheets for foot traffic to 4mm heavy duty boards for wheeled scaffold towers and plant. The heavy duty polypropylene board is a honeycomb corrugated board that is lighter to carry and easier to cut than the hardwood and plywood sheets it replaces. Flame retardant, breathable and recycled boards, a long protection roll, and reusable Stockboard tiles and sheets cover the jobs a standard sheet does not.
Correx and corrugated plastic sheets, heavy duty boards and rolls
The range divides first by the traffic a floor will carry and then by the area to cover, with corrugated sheets for most rooms, heavier boards for wheeled loads, and rolls, tiles and solid sheets where a standard sheet is the wrong format.
Correx floor protection sheets
Corrugated polypropylene sheet, known on most sites as correx or corriboard, is the everyday cover for floors, walls, doors and stairs under foot traffic and the work of following trades. Our correx floor protection sheets come in opaque and translucent board across light and heavier thicknesses, and they cut, crease and curve with a knife to fit around almost any surface.
Flame retardant protection board
The flame retardant protection board is the same corrugated sheet made in flame retardant polypropylene. It is the board to order when the job specification asks for flame retardant protection on floors, walls, doors or glazing.
Heavy duty polypropylene board
The heavy duty polypropylene floor protection board has a honeycomb structure that resists crushing, tearing and puncture, and it is made for floors that will carry wheeled scaffold towers and heavy powered plant. Choose it over standard correx sheet when trolleys, towers or machines will cross the floor, because the heavier board spreads wheel loads over the surface beneath.
Ultra tough protection board
The ultra tough protection board is the heaviest duty corrugated board in the range, made for floors that carry scissor lifts and fork trucks as well as towers and plant. It is flame resistant as standard, so one board covers a heavy load and a flame retardant specification on the same floor.
Breathable protection board
The breathable protection board is micro-perforated, so moisture rising from the floor can escape through the board. Choose it for new screeds, concrete slabs and other floors that are still curing, where a sealed sheet would hold condensation against the surface while it dries.
Recycled protection board
The recycled floor protection board is made from recycled corrugated polypropylene and can be recycled again after use. It covers the same floors, walls, doors and stairs as standard correx sheet and suits jobs where recycled content forms part of the specification.
Large protection board
The large protection board is longer than a standard sheet, so a long room or corridor takes fewer boards and fewer taped joins. It is a light, flexible board for foot traffic and general trades.
Floor protection roll
The floor protection roll unrolls along corridors, landings and open-plan floors in one continuous strip, which leaves far fewer joins than sheets laid end to end. It comes in a standard and a flame retardant version.
Reusable floor protection tiles
Stockboard reusable floor protection tiles are thick, anti-slip tiles of recyclable plastic that lift, wash and go down again on the next job. They suit long fit-outs and contractors who protect floors on job after job, where buying fresh corrugated board each time adds up.
Stockboard building sheets
Stockboard sheets are solid boards of recycled polyethylene, used as spoil boards, mixing boards, levelling boards and ground or floor protection where a corrugated sheet would be too light for the work. The Stockboard agriculture sheet is the same material made for animal housing, feeders and trailer lining, and it doubles as a ground protection sheet on farm and construction work.
Floor protection board thickness for foot traffic, trolleys and plant
Board thickness and weight should follow the heaviest load that will cross the floor, because a thicker, denser board spreads wheel and point loads further and stands up longer to repeated traffic. Corrugated boards in the range run from 2mm to 4mm. The thinnest board is the usual cover for foot traffic, decorators and the lighter work of following trades, while the thicker boards are the step up for trolleys, barrows, stepladders and busier routes through a building.
Weight is given in gsm, grams per square metre of board, and it separates boards of similar thickness better than thickness alone: a heavier board has more material in its walls and flutes. The heavy duty board comes in two weights, and the heavier grade is the one for wheeled scaffold towers and heavy powered plant. For scissor lifts and fork trucks, choose the ultra tough board.
Flame retardant floor protection
Flame retardant board is the choice wherever the protection must not add to the fire load of a building. That covers refurbishment in occupied homes, offices, schools and hospitals, fit-outs in buildings that stay in use, and floors and walls near hot works such as welding, grinding and soldering. Where the site fire plan or the protection specification calls for flame retardant protection, it is the board to order from the start.
The range carries flame retardant versions of the correx sheet, the flame resistant heavy duty board, the ultra tough board and the protection roll. The flame retardant correx sheet is tested to LPS1207, in opaque and translucent board.
Construction floor protection for stairs, doors, glazing and paving
Stairs and landings
Stairs take the hardest wear on any job, with every trade carrying materials up and down them. Corrugated board creases cleanly along its flutes, so one piece can fold over the nosing to cover tread and riser together and keep the nosing, the edge that chips first, under cover.
Doors, frames and walls
Doors and frames are struck by every barrow, ladder and length of timber that passes through. The door-size correx sheet covers a standard leaf in one piece, and full sheets fixed along corridor and stairwell walls protect plaster and paint at the height materials are carried.
Windows and glazed doors
Translucent board over glazing keeps the glass and frames covered against splashes and scratches while daylight still reaches the room, so interiors are not left dark for the trades working in them.
Footpaths, driveways and external paving
Outside, the recyclable road mat protects footpaths, kerbs, driveways and block paving from scrapes and scuffs where plant, skips and materials are set down. It is a reusable mat of 100% recyclable plastic that goes down where plywood spoil boards were once laid and thrown away.
Halls, events and warehouse floors
Interlocking indoor construction matting covers sports halls, exhibition floors and warehouses for pedestrians and light equipment. The mats join by tongue and groove without bolts or fixings, so a large floor goes down quickly and lifts again for the next venue.
Laying and taping floor protection sheets
Grit left under a board is ground into the finish by the traffic above it, so the floor is swept or vacuumed clean before the first sheet goes down. Corrugated board cuts with a sharp knife and creases along the flutes, which lets one sheet turn a corner or wrap a step without a separate piece. Joins are butted tight or overlapped in the direction of travel and taped board to board along their full length, so wheels and feet cannot catch a lifting edge.
Tape stays on the board and off the finished floor, skirting and paintwork, where the adhesive can lift or mark the surface. Boards run through doorways and past the threshold so the protection does not end where traffic turns. On long jobs, sections are lifted at intervals to check for moisture, grit or damage beneath and then relaid.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Correx is a brand name for twin-wall fluted polypropylene sheet, and on site the name is used for corrugated plastic protection sheet in general, as corriboard is. The corrugated boards in this range are the same type of material: hollow fluted polypropylene that is light, cuts with a knife and creases to fit.
The corrugated polypropylene boards are waterproof and resist chemicals, so water, paint and plaster stay on the board and wipe or wash off. Liquid can still reach the floor through untaped joins and around cut edges, so joins on wet trades are taped along their full length.
Divide the floor area by the area of one sheet, then allow extra for cuts, overlaps and doorways. A room of 4m by 5m takes seven standard 2.4m by 1.2m sheets before waste, so the minimum order of ten boards covers it with spares for cuts and doorways.
Corrugated boards that come up clean and undamaged can go down again on the next job, and they stack flat for storage. Boards that have been crushed by heavy traffic or cut to fit one room are usually replaced, and the Stockboard tiles are the format made for repeated use.
Polypropylene board is recyclable, and the recycled floor protection board and the Stockboard building and agriculture sheets are themselves made from recycled plastic. Boards are kept clean and stripped of tape at the end of a job, then kept out of the general skip and sent for plastics recycling.
The corrugated protection boards are sold with a minimum order of ten boards, which is shown on each product page. The floor protection roll is not subject to that minimum.