Protecting Contents
This material should be used to cover and protect contents from dust and debris during demolition.
plastic/poly sheeting
Furniture sitting on wet carpet should have these placed underneath its legs to prevent additional water damage or staining.
furniture blocks
Before beginning demolition, technicians should do this to contents remaining in or near the work area.
protect or move the contents
Before starting demolition, technicians should look around the immediate work area and do this.
identify and protect anything that could be damaged
When wet materials and debris must be carried through an unaffected part of the home, technicians should establish this first.
protected travel path
During extraction, contents removed from the wet floor should not automatically be placed here just because it is convenient.
items such as a bed or other unaffected furniture
Before setting a dehumidifier or other heavy equipment on a finished surface, technicians should consider this.
whether the surface needs protection underneath the equipment
Floor protection becomes soaked and covered in demolition debris halfway through the job. What should the crew do?
clean, repair, or replace it as needed?
Wood furniture legs sitting on wet carpet should be blocked to help prevent this type of damage to the carpet.
furniture stain/wood-dye transfer
When carrying large pieces of drywall through a finished home, crews need to pay attention to more than the floor. These vertical surfaces can easily be damaged.
walls, corners, doors, and trim
A technician is ready to remove wet drywall, but the customer's TV and furniture are still uncovered nearby. This should happen before demolition begins.
move or properly protect the contents
When plastic is used to protect furniture during demolition, it should be positioned to prevent this from settling directly onto the contents.
demolition dust and debris
A technician attaches tape directly to a finished cabinet without considering what will happen when the tape is removed. What is the concern?
damaging or removing the cabinet finish
Plastic is covering a cabinet, but sharp demolition debris is allowed to accumulate on top of it. Why is the plastic alone not enough?
debris can puncture the protection or damage the surface underneath
After contents are moved out of the work area, technicians should make sure they are not blocking these areas needed for safe access.
walkways, exits, and work areas
During extraction, a technician picks wet clothing and boxes off the floor and piles them onto an unaffected mattress. This creates the risk of this.
secondary damage/cross-contamination to previously unaffected contents?
The affected bathroom is upstairs, but the only route outside passes through an unaffected bedroom, hallway, stairs, and entryway. Which areas should be considered when planning protection?
entire travel path, not just the affected room
Your crew protected the floors at the beginning of the job. At the end of the day, the protection is torn and dirty. What responsibility does the crew still have?
maintain and document the protection throughout the job, not just install it once?
Demolition has already started when a technician realizes nearby contents were never covered. What important step was missed?
protecting the contents before demolition
When contents are moved because of mitigation work, photos should show not only damaged items but also this information when useful.
their location and condition before/after moving
Your crew is about to start drywall demolition in a kitchen. The hardwood floor is uncovered. The countertops have tools sitting directly on them. The base cabinets are covered, but the upper cabinets are not. The debris route goes through an unaffected hallway with no protection. A dresser in the adjacent wet room was placed directly back onto wet carpet after extraction. Plastic installed yesterday has torn in several locations.
Unprotected hardwood flooring; unprotected countertops; tools directly on finished surfaces; upper cabinets exposed to demolition; no protected debris/travel path; furniture not blocked; and damaged/torn protection that should be repaired or replaced before work continues.
A customer has several expensive furniture pieces immediately beside a wall scheduled for demolition. Name the three basic steps that should occur before demolition.
document the contents, move them when practical, and protect remaining contents with appropriate covering
You walk into a kitchen where drywall will be removed behind and above cabinets. The cabinets and countertops are staying. There is hardwood flooring and the debris route goes through an unaffected living room. Before demolition starts, name four things that should be addressed.
cabinet protection, countertop protection, floor protection, and a protected debris/travel path
A technician covers furniture with plastic before demolition but leaves electronics and several small items exposed on top of a nearby table. What is the problem?
contents protection is incomplete because exposed items remain vulnerable to demolition dust and debris
You enter a heavily furnished room with wet carpet that requires extraction followed by drywall demolition. Put these actions in the proper general order: demolition, protect contents, document affected/damaged contents, extraction, move/block contents.
document contents → move/block contents as needed → extract → confirm remaining contents are protected → perform demolition