A metal fabrication shop is the hardest environment for floor protection there is. The debris is sharp, hard and heavy; the loads are concentrated; and the floor gets swept with a broom that drags whatever is on it across the surface. Protection that works in a fit-out gets destroyed here in a week.
Puncture, not abrasion
Steel swarf and offcuts stand on end and punch. A fibrous face that holds grit does nothing against a sharp point – that goes straight through and into the floor. What resists puncture is a dense, hard skin over a stiff core, which is the opposite of the soft-face specification used on finished floors. In a metal shop the soft face goes down against the floor, and the hard face takes the debris.
Point loads from material
Steel stock is heavy and it gets set down on whatever is nearest. A length of beam on a small footprint is a very high pressure, and on a coated floor it dents permanently. Load-spreading boards in the material set-down areas, and a rule that stock goes on bearers rather than directly down, prevent most of it. That is a stored-material policy rather than a product purchase.
Sweeping, and what it does
Daily sweeping is the most effective protection measure in a metal shop and it is also what wears protection out. A board that is swept daily wants a hard smooth face that releases swarf rather than holding it, and it wants to be heavy enough not to be pushed around by the broom. Light board in a fabrication shop moves and ends up in a corner.
What to buy
One heavy grade, in one size, kept as a consumable rather than an asset. In this environment board gets damaged and replaced, and the economics are about how long a panel lasts rather than about how many times it can be reused. Expect months rather than years, and budget accordingly.
Where it is not worth it
On bare concrete in a heavy bay there is nothing to protect and the board would be destroyed for no reason. Metal shops need protection on coated floors, in finished-goods areas and on routes where finished fabrications move – not across the whole plate.
What to put under stock
Steel stock is stored on bearers for good reasons – it keeps it off the floor, spreads the load and allows a fork under it. Where stock has to stand on a coated floor, a bearer plus a load-spreading board under the bearer does both jobs and costs very little. The alternative – stock straight down on the floor – is the most common cause of coating damage in a fabrication shop, and it is entirely avoidable.
Hot swarf, sharp offcuts and oil
A fabrication shop floor takes abuse that no construction site produces: hot swarf, sharp offcuts dropped from height, oil and coolant, and steel-wheeled trolleys carrying half a tonne. Cardboard protection lasts a day and film lasts less. What works is a panel that will not melt at the surface, will not absorb oil, and can be swept.
Polypropylene has a melting point well above anything swarf reaches once it has fallen, but it will mark – expect that and it is fine. Oil does not penetrate it, so panels can be wiped rather than replaced, which matters in a shop that works every day. The failure mode is cutting: a hot offcut can weld itself to the surface, so panels in the cutting area should be treated as consumable and the walkways protected properly. Where finished fabrications are staged, the felt face keeps a painted or polished surface from being marked by the panel itself. The point-load question is in protecting polished concrete during handover for comparison.
What we can do
We supply heavy grade PP honeycomb board with a dense skin for sharp debris, in stock sizes. Tell us what the floor is, what is being worked and how often it gets swept, and we will recommend a grade honestly – including when the answer is that nothing will survive and the money is better spent on bearers and a sweeping regime.