Surface protection products can prevent costly pet damage to your home and furniture

A cute kitten or puppy can be a great source of comfort and enjoyment for homeowners and renters everywhere. Unfortunately, these cute pets can also be the source of extensive damage to your home’s interior furnishings and finishes. From carpet stains to furniture scratches, the list of pet damage can be long. Fortunately, there are easy and cost-effective temporary surface protection products available to prevent this costly damage.

Carpet stains are the most common type of damage caused by pets. This damage occurs before the pet is housebroken or with older, incontinent pets. While there are products on the market to mask the odor from these areas, they do little to protect the carpet from further accidents. Carpet film or carpet “mask” routinely used during construction works extremely well to coat carpet so that urine or feces cannot penetrate the carpet and padding. Since the film can remain on the carpet for up to 45 days, it gives owners time to train their pet or to replace the film on a monthly basis as needed. Carpet films can be found at local contractor supply stores, as well as larger housing centers across the country.

Door scratches are one of the most costly damages pet owners incur. Whether constructed of wood, fiberglass or metal, doors can be temporarily protected with DoorGuard™ Door Guards. The DoorGuard™ easily attaches to the door with giant elastic bands and provides a tough ¼” layer of cardboard that pets cannot easily claw through. The DoorGuard™ can stay in place indefinitely, buying the owner time to install a pet door or other means To prevent scratches in the future DoorGuard™ is available online only To prevent scratches on door jambs, there are several products on the market, including Jamb Saver,™ a protector temporary plastic jamb protectors, or Jamb Pro,™ a compressed cardboard version that works in a similar way, jamb protectors are available at select surface protection or contractor stores or by purchasing online.

Perhaps one of the most common complaints from pet owners is scratching of wood or upholstered furniture. Millwork Protection or Protecta-foam™ is a safe and reliable product designed to protect wood and other surfaces from damage. This adhesive foam easily wraps around wooden chair legs or table legs to protect them from pet claws. In test studies, both kittens and puppies completely avoided surfaces protected by the adhesive foam. It was not clear if the pets avoided a particular foam odor or simply that the foam did not provide tactile satisfaction. Protecta-foam is readily available through online purchases or at select contractor retail outlets.

Sticky mats or “sticky mats” used during construction can also be a great way for pet owners to control the effects of hair loss on floors. These sticky mats are designed with plastic sheets that peel off and pick up pet hair or dirt. When the plastic sheet is covered in hair or dirt, the pet owner simply removes it and discards it to expose a clean adhesive sheet. The mats are packaged in packs of 30 sheets or 60 sheets and each sheet can last up to 7 days. Adhesive mats are available at pet stores, surface protection stores, or contractor-specific retailers.

In short, new pet owners can use many of the same products builders and contractors use during construction and remodeling to prevent costly surface damage. Surface protection products give new pet owners time to train their pets and cost-effectively protect them against normal damage caused by new pets.