Moving your home is stressful enough without having to worry about scratching the hardwood floors in your new home. On the other hand, if the home you’re moving from has hardwood floors, you need to be cautious not to scratch them and incur damage fees from your landlord, or an earful from the new homeowners. The best way to prevent all of that hassle is to protect your hardwood floors before you move, and luckily it’s not difficult to do – simply follow our tips below!
Tip 1: Cover Your Floors
The most obvious solution to protect your hardwood floors while moving is to cover them. Whether you use a drop cloth, cardboard, or an old rug, covering your floor is the most foolproof way to prevent any scratches or dings from moving. The most important thing to keep in mind when implementing this method is to choose a floor covering that’s actually sturdy enough to protect the floors if something were to fall. On top of that, you want to ensure that your floor coverings are securely attached to the floor to prevent any slips or trips that could lead to further damages, or worse injuries.
Tip 2: Lift Instead of Drag
As appealing as it may be to push your furniture and boxes along the floor instead of lifting them, doing so has serious potential to scratch your floors. The best way to make sure you’re able to lift your furniture, appliances, and boxes is to recruit friends and family, or hire professional movers to ensure there are enough helping hands. Other helpful tools to discourage you from dragging heavy items across the floor include furniture dollies, upright and rubber wheeled dollies, and furniture pads.
Tip 3: Add Furniture Pads
Once you get into your new place, chances are you will be rearranging your furniture until you find the perfect setup for your lifestyle. To prevent floor scratching during this process, add furniture pads to the bottom of your furniture. Furniture pads are small velvet circles or squares that stick to the bottom of your couches, bed, chairs, and tables to keep from scratching the floor when the furniture is moved. By applying the pads prior to the move, it’ll make sure that you’re not scratching the floors from the beginning. As an added bonus, with furniture pads, you’ll protect your floors for the lifetime of your furniture!
Tip 4: Use Furniture Sliders
Although the word ‘furniture’ is in the name, furniture sliders can be used to move anything that’s too heavy to carry. Furniture sliders can be used on appliances, heavy boxes, mattresses, and of course furniture. Furniture sliders are pieces of thick plastic that go underneath the furniture feet to prevent scratching when they’re pushed along the floor. If you don’t have furniture sliders, you can use pieces of cardboard for a similar effect.
Taking the extra time in your moving process to protect your flooring will save you from potential headaches in the long run.
Author Bio: Stefan Volosen is the owner of Millennium Hardwood Flooring in Austin, TX, a premier flooring company that offers natural hardwood, engineered hardwood, laminate and vinyl flooring.