What should I do in order to protect carpet from a woodworking project?

Question

How to keep the carpet from getting sawdust ingrained into it. How to keep the carpet from getting ripped up by power tools. I thought about putting down a large sheet of plastic, but I don't know how resistant to wear and tear that would be.

Answer 1

First lay the plastic down to cover the entire carpet.  Then lay a sheet of plywood down (or more than one if needed).  This should do well to protect the carpet.  Good luck.

Answer 2

A strong vacuum worked for me. I did wood working in my apartment and I did clean the carpet and vacuum and got it up.

but, you could use a tarp

Answer 3

If you are especially paranoid about dust and protecting your carpet, you can do the following:

(Everything you can get from the paint department of your local hardware store)

1- Lay down plastic sheet to cover the entire carpet. Lay it so that it goes up the wall at least 6 inches, and tape the edges to the wall with blue painter's tape. Don't use regular beige masking tape, it's too strong and will take wallpaper/paint with it when you remove it. This will give you a complete coverage of the floor, and will also prevent you getting sawdust down into the corners along the wall and carpet.

2- Lay heavy painter's canvas dropcloth on the floor. Look for the kind with a waterproof lining on one side too. This will prevent most stuff from digging through the plastic and into your carpet. Preferably you want to make this as smooth as possible so you won't have a lumpy surface to walk/trip on.

3- Get some of the heavy rosin paper that comes in a roll, lay it out over the top of the canvas, and tape the edges together. This will give you a smooth top surface so you don't trip over the canvas, and it also makes it easier to find anything that you might drop during your project.

When you're done, take a light broom or even a feather duster, and wipe off the sawdust from the ceiling and walls so that it falls onto the paper. You can also sprinkle some water onto the sawdust to make it clump up so it doesn't fly around when you're wrapping up.

Roll/fold up the rosin paper to take most of the sawdust/scraps/junk in a single bundle. Set this aside on the plastic, and fold up your canvas (should be clean) and put it away. Then, carefully remove the taped edges of the plastic from your walls. Bundle all that up with the rosin-paper bundle inside it, and you now have a sawdust-free carpet, and you have a clean package to take to the trash without tracking anything through the rest of your house either!

This is also how you would prep a room if you wanted to scrape away that acoustical ceiling "popcorn" (except you can omit the canvas dropcloth part) and re-texture/paint it.

Good luck

Answer 4

I would use cloth dropcloths and plastic on top to be sure.