Pre-Opening
Protection
Temporary film over finished surfaces while the trades behind you are still working.
The stone, the joinery and the glass are in. The doors are not open yet. That gap is where most of your snagging budget gets spent — and it is entirely preventable.
Where Fit-Out Damage Actually Comes From
Almost none of it happens during installation. It happens afterwards.
The window between finishes going in and the doors opening is when the expensive surfaces are most exposed and least protected.
The finishes land before the work stops
Stone, millwork and glass are installed, then twelve more trades walk past them for weeks.
Why it works+
It is nobody's fault and everybody's problem. Ceilings, lighting, AV, furniture and commissioning all happen after the expensive surfaces are already in place, and every one of those trades needs access to the space those surfaces are in.
Snagging is priced as if it were rare
It is not rare. It is a line item everybody quietly expects.
Why it works+
Ask any project manager what the punch list looks like on a fit-out and a meaningful share of it is damage to finishes that were perfect on the day they were installed.
Nobody owns the damage
By handover, proving which trade scratched the counter is impossible.
Why it works+
So it comes out of contingency, or out of the main contractor's margin, or out of your opening budget. The argument costs almost as much as the repair.
Repairs at handover are the worst time
You are days from opening and the space is full of people trying to finish.
Why it works+
Refinishing stone or re-polishing joinery at that point is disruptive, expensive, and sitting directly on your critical path. It is the single worst moment in the whole programme to discover it.
Improvised protection does not work
Cardboard, dust sheets and painter's tape on a finished surface cause their own damage.
Why it works+
Tape lifts finishes. Cardboard traps grit and moves underfoot. Sheeting slides off the moment somebody leans on it. Improvised protection is better than nothing and considerably worse than the proper product.
What We Protect
Anything finished, expensive and installed before the work stopped.
We work off your drawings and finishes schedule and tell you which surfaces are actually worth protecting — not all of them are.
Stone & solid surface
Reception counters, bar tops, vanities, feature walls, thresholds.
What it covers+
The highest-value and most damage-prone surfaces on any fit-out. Film goes on as soon as they are installed and comes off at handover with the stone exactly as it arrived.
Joinery & millwork
Veneer, laminate and painted casework, panelling and reception furniture.
What it covers+
Thin finishes with no tolerance for a scratch. Once you are through a veneer there is no sanding it back, which makes protection cheaper than the alternative by a wide margin.
Glass & mirrors
Partitions, doors, balustrades, feature mirrors and shopfronts.
What it covers+
Glass is easy to scratch during a fit-out and impossible to repair once it is. A scratched pane is a replacement, with the lead time that implies at exactly the wrong moment.
Metalwork
Stainless, brass and anodised finishes on doors, lift surrounds and trims.
What it covers+
Directional finishes scratch visibly and cannot be spot-repaired. Lift lobbies get the worst of it because every trade uses the lift.
Floors in traffic routes
Protection along the paths carts and trades actually use.
What it covers+
Not necessarily the whole floor — the routes. Where materials get carried in and rubbish gets carried out is where flooring gets destroyed.
Corners & wall protection
The outside corners every cart and ladder finds.
What it covers+
Cheap, fast, and it eliminates a whole category of make-good. Service corridors and back-of-house are where this pays for itself twice over.
When It Goes On and Comes Off
The value is entirely in the timing.
Protection applied late has already missed the damage, and removed early leaves the surface exposed for the worst part of the programme.
| Stage | What happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Finishes installed | Protection goes on within days | The clock on exposure starts the moment the stone lands |
| Second fix & services | Everything stays covered | Ceilings, lighting, AV and sprinklers all work above and around your finishes |
| FF&E delivery | Traffic routes and corners protected | The single highest-risk day in the programme — furniture arrives and gets dragged in |
| Commissioning | Still covered | More trades, more access, and the finishes are now completely installed |
| Deep clean | Protection removed room by room | Peel, inspect, hand over a surface nobody has touched |
| Handover | Permanent film applied if specified | The best possible moment — flawless surface, empty building |
Why It Pays
This is the cheapest insurance on a fit-out and the easiest line to cut.
It gets cut because the damage it prevents is invisible when the decision is made and obvious three months later.
It is a fraction of one repair
Protecting a whole counter costs less than refinishing part of one.
Why it works+
That comparison holds across nearly every surface on the schedule. You are buying out a risk for less than the cost of it happening once.
It comes off your critical path
Damage found at handover is discovered at the worst possible moment.
Why it works+
Refinishing stone days before opening means specialists, disruption and a delay you cannot absorb. Preventing it removes an entire category of late surprise.
It ends the argument
No damage means no dispute about who caused it.
Why it works+
The time spent litigating a scratched counter between main contractor, subcontractor and client is a real cost even when the repair itself is small.
It protects the opening date
Snagging on finishes is one of the most common causes of a late handover.
Why it works+
For a hotel or a restaurant a delayed opening is lost trading, cancelled bookings and marketing spent on a date you missed.
Perfect surface for permanent film
If you are specifying permanent protection anyway, this is the ideal lead-in.
Why it works+
Temporary film comes off, the surface is flawless, and permanent surface film → goes straight on. No correction step in between.
It is priced off the drawings
We can quote from the finishes schedule before you are even on site.
Why it works+
Which means it can go into the tender package as a known number rather than appearing later as a variation.
Straight Talk
Six things worth knowing before this goes in a tender package.
Most of them are about sequencing, which is the part that actually determines whether it works.
Not every finish likes film
Some surfaces should be protected a different way, or not at all.
What to know+
Freshly applied paint and certain soft-touch and oiled finishes need to cure fully or should not have film on them. Very porous unsealed stone is another. We check the finishes schedule and tell you which surfaces are candidates before quoting.
Leave it on too long and removal gets harder
These films are designed for a project duration, not indefinitely.
What to know+
Adhesive gets more tenacious with time and UV. If the programme slips significantly, tell us — changing the film part way through is cheaper than fighting it off at the end.
It is not impact protection
Film stops scratching, scuffing and staining. It does not stop a dropped scaffold pole.
What to know+
For genuine impact risk you want physical board protection over the film in the worst areas. We will tell you where that is worth doing.
Somebody has to control access anyway
Protection reduces damage. It does not replace site discipline.
What to know+
It is a layer, not a substitute for controlling who goes where with what. The best results come from doing both.
Removal needs to be scheduled
Peeling protection at handover is a job, and it takes time.
What to know+
It has to sit in the programme after deep clean and before client walkthrough. If it gets left to the last morning it becomes a panic. We plan it in with you.
We are not the main contractor
We do a defined package. We are not managing your site.
What to know+
We come in, protect what is specified, come back and remove it. Coordinating trades and controlling access is somebody else's job and we will not pretend otherwise.
Pre-Opening Protection FAQ
When should protection go on?+
Within days of the finishes being installed. The exposure clock starts the moment the stone or joinery lands, not when the trades get busy.
The most common mistake is applying it late, after the first damage has already happened.
How long can it stay on?+
These films are designed for a project duration — typically months rather than years. Adhesive becomes more tenacious over time and with UV exposure.
If your programme slips significantly, tell us. Changing the film mid-project is far cheaper than fighting aged film off a finished surface at handover.
Will it damage the finish when it comes off?+
Correctly specified film on an appropriate, fully cured surface peels cleanly. The risk comes from the wrong film on the wrong finish, or from film left on far too long.
That is why we review the finishes schedule first and tell you which surfaces are candidates rather than blanket-covering everything.
Can you quote from drawings?+
Yes, and that is the normal way it happens. Give us the finishes schedule and the drawings and we can price the package before anybody is on site.
That lets it go into the tender as a known cost rather than appearing later as a variation.
Do you remove it as well?+
Yes, and it should be scheduled into the programme after deep clean and before client walkthrough. Removal is a job in its own right and it takes time.
We peel room by room and inspect as we go, so anything underneath is found while there is still time to deal with it.
Can you apply permanent protection afterwards?+
That is the ideal sequence. Temporary film comes off, the surface underneath is flawless, and permanent surface protection film goes straight on with no correction step in between.
It is also the cheapest time to do it, because the building is empty and there is no guest impact.
What does it cost?+
Priced per square foot by surface type, quoted off the finishes schedule. It varies with how much there is, which surfaces are included and how long the programme runs.
It is consistently a fraction of the cost of refinishing even a small proportion of what it protects.
Send Us the Finishes Schedule
We can price the protection package off your drawings before anybody is on site, so it goes in as a known cost instead of a variation.