Hard floors get scratched and can usually be buffed or recoated. Carpet gets ground with grit, marked with adhesive or stained, and once that happens the answer is replacement. It is worth ten minutes of planning.
Use a film made for carpet
Self adhesive carpet film uses a low tack adhesive developed for cut pile and loop. It holds through foot traffic and lifts away without residue and without pulling fibres out with it.
What causes the damage is general purpose tape and builders film used as a substitute. Packing tape adhesive is designed to grab and stay grabbed. On carpet it takes pile with it. If someone has taped plastic down at the edges with whatever was in the ute, that is where the problem starts.
Watch the clock
Adhesive films are meant for weeks, not months. The longer the adhesive sits, particularly somewhere warm, the harder it works to release. If the program is going to run long, say so when you order and use a shield roll instead, which sits on top rather than sticking down.
Stairs need their own answer
Stairs are the worst wear point in any occupied job and the most awkward to cover. Film over a stair nosing tends to lift because the surface curves away underneath it. A temporary stair runner made for the purpose grips better and is much safer underfoot than film that has started to peel at the edge of a tread.
Stop the grit at the door
Protection film keeps adhesive and paint off the carpet. It does not stop grit that is already trapped underneath. In an occupied home or office, put a walk off mat at the entry, protect the route from the door to the work area first, and vacuum that route regularly rather than only at the end.
Dust is the other half
Sanding and cutting dust settles into pile and is very hard to get back out. If there is going to be dust, a barrier across the opening does more for the carpet in the next room than any amount of covering on the floor. Zip doors let people through without the barrier coming down every time.
Lifting it
Pull slowly, at a low angle, back on itself. If a section resists, stop and work it loose rather than pulling harder. Check a corner first if the film has been down longer than intended.
Tell us the carpet type and how long the job runs, and we will tell you whether film or shield is the right call.
