Protective Products Product Review

By Mark Clement April 15, 2006 — Here’s a bad rap many contractors deserve: They’re slobs. Plenty of homeowners complain — and rightly so — that their contractors spend as much time messing up as fixing up their houses. Drop cloths and plastic laid all over the place can do more harm than good. They're slippery, bundle up and are a general nuisance in most applications outside of painting. Protective Products' offerings provide dirt management solutions for contractors and their customers that leave drop cloths in the dust. One smart new idea is the Flip Guard, which protects the bottom rails of sliding glass doors during construction. The company also provides roll plastic that works well as a runner, creating a path through a house that helps with muddy boots and general debris — great for small jobs. The same products can also be rolled out over an entire floor (carpet or wood) to protect it from dirt and damage. Protective Products also makes thick rubber "skin" to safeguard tubs and showers from damage during construction. You paint it on and peel it off when the job is done. The company’s Protecta Reusable Protection is suited for wrapping door jambs and countertops; the 30-mil plastic wrap with foam backing is a nice barrier between an expensive counter or arched passageway and expensive accidents. www.ProtectiveProducts.com