In my 20 years as a drywall contractor, I’ve worked on a lot of two- and three-story houses. In just about every one, the finished stairs are in place when I start my work. My crew and I make numerous trips up and down those stairs. We work over them and on them, carrying drywall, tools, and 60-lb. buckets of joint compound. The steps need to be protected when we are working so that they’ll be spotless when we finish the job.
I’ve tried all kinds of protective layers on the stairs to keep them safe. Plastic is the answer for dust control, but it isn’t heavy enough to stay put without some ballast. Cardboard isn’t heavy enough to hold down the plastic. Plywood is heavy enough, but it tends to curl up and then move around when you walk on it. Drop cloths keep sliding down and are easy to trip on.
As shown in the drawing, my conclusion is that a combination of polyethylene plastic sheeting and drywall scraps is the answer. The heavy drywall holds down the plastic and stays in place. It also is quick, easy, and free in most situations.
Cover the stairs with 4- or 6-mil. plastic first, leaving it long, wide, and loose-fitting. Push each piece of drywall back into the riser so that its leading edge is about 1/2 in. back from the tread nosing. That will keep the drywall from tipping up when you walk on it. If the ends of the treads are open, the drywall can be scored and flopped down to protect the edge.
—Myron R. Ferguson, Galway, NY
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #170
View Comments
The drywall and plastic don't slip around? If it works, it's a great idea, but What Would OSHA Say? #WWOS
This tip is from issue 170, like, 10 years ago. These days, I'd bet Ferguson uses one of the self-adhesive plastic roll products. Might be a bit more $$, but quick and secure.
FHB could do their readers a great service if they weeded out these old out-of-date tips and at the same time looked around for what is actually available in the marketplace.
Another thing: FHB ought to look into what their liability is when they publish nonsense such as putting pieces of sheetrock on plastic sheeting - especially on a stairway! In the company where I used to work, our lawyers would go bananas if an image of something like this got in any correspondence, leave alone in a publication.
Where I am now, the popular floor protection is a product named FLOORLINER from a Swiss company (Landolt AG). FLOORLINER is sweepable on top, has some padding and has a funny felt-like underside that doesn't slip. There's a German company (Albert Bauprodukte GmbH) that has a similar product named FLOOROTEX. Albert has a sales office in California. For those of you who don't like buying imported stuff, Home Depot has something called RAM BOARD that probably works the same way. 38in. x 50ft costs $30.
I bet the labor costs of putting plastic and pieces of sheet rock on a stair is more than $30. And that's aside from the cost if a worker goes sliding down the stair.
Taped Ram Board and good old resin paper also work just fine.