I put down red rosin paper or roof underlayment, not the black type. Forget the booties. People will be coming in and out continuously and won't bother with it.

Fiberglass-reinforced Kraft paper, or RamBoard. Red rosin paper will tear the first day; needs constant care and frequent replacement. The f-glass paper will not tear. The RamBoard is very heavy, stays flat and lasts until the job is done, even if that takes months. Tape it down; if any grit gets under you'll need a new coat of finish; which isn't a bad idea anyway: leaving the last coat of floor varnish as the last last thing, when no more workers are coming through.
Casey

Thanks so much. We ended up putting down some heavy duty construction type paper down that we found on a big roll in the paint department and then clean cardboard on top of that. We should only have workers coming in for another week or so(we're so close!), so hopefully it will hold and maybe even provide some protection while we move in too.

For anyone else who may need something:

I have stained concrete, and we use rolls of corrugated cardboard. Works great. The rolls are 4 ft wide, and 50 ft long. You can find them at packaging supply warehouses, etc. Look in the yellow pages under cardboard, moving supplies, packaging, something like that.

cs6000~ Do you mind posting a picture of your stained concrete as well as the stain color? We are doing stained concrete throughout our entire house and I would love to see a picture of yours. Also, i've been warned to make sure all the contractors know not to spill anything, hammer into the concrete, etc. What was your experience with this? We were going to lay down the heavy duty kraft paper, but the cardboard sounds like a much better idea. Thanks!

Sorry it took so long. I spend all week working on the house, come home an weekends:
We think we'll like the stained concrete, but will still have to buy area rugs. Our main reason for going with it was our two dirty dogs.

My advice is too research well who does the staining, see some of their work, and check them with the Better Business Bureau. Here, the field is still pretty new, and experienced guys are hard to find. You can get a feel in talking to them who knows what they are doing.

The stainers will need two days with no one else inside the house. The best time to do it is before the drywall is done, that way they can get the stain all the way up to the walls with ease.
Before they come out, get in there and clean the slab as best you can. Shop vac it, and try to clean water stains, etc, as they can show thru. The initial concrete work, condition of the slab all helps in the uniformity.

Afterward, they will probably put the cardboard down. Its very important. Even though it has a hard finish, the abuse of dirt, sawdust, ladders, tools, would be just too much.

After the drywall, get in there and shopvac again, or replace the cardboard. I shopvac'd then replaced it all when we finished with the closets, trim, etc because the dust and crap was unbelievable.

Sadly, I'm too dumb to figure out how to add the picture, will try to contact you to email.

Addendum: corrugated cardboard will leave corrugation marks on a finished wood floor if it is in place too long. It's not smooth like paper or Ramboard. A layer of paper under the corrugated is good insurance. Especially if you have gotten the corrugated for free (cabinet boxes).
Casey