Protecting Hardwood Floors During a Move

Whether you’re moving out of or into a rental property or an owned home, hardwood floor protection is possible with a well-planned moving process.

How to Protect Hardwood Floors When Moving

Taking a few proactive measures and having a solid plan will set you up for success when moving:

1. Prepare your boxes: Use high-quality cardboard and double-tape the bottom of the boxes.
2. Measure large items: Make a plan for angling large furniture pieces through doorways and around tight corners by measuring side lengths.
3. Wrap furniture legs and edges: Cover anything that pokes or sticks out with protective blankets or towels.
4. Cover your walkway and resting surfaces: Put old blankets, rugs, drop cloths, ram board or other floor protection measures in your walking paths. When you have to set things down — including any tools, nails, screws or equipment — make sure you place them on a protected surface.
5. Lift everything: Raise furniture and boxes off the floor instead of sliding them. For furniture or appliances that are too heavy to carry, use rubber-wheeled dollies to move them safely.
6. Wear nonslip, rubber-soled shoes: Lessen the chance of injury and dropped loads with nonslip rubber shoes.

Types of Hardwood Floor Protectors

Taking steps to keep the floor safe is one of the first things you should do when moving into a new place or out of an old one. Protect your flooring during a move with these proven materials:

• Floor sliders: Soft sliders prevent furniture from leaving scuffs and scratches.
• Floor protection paper or film: Paper or plastic in walkway paths keeps foreign material off floors.
• Cardboard: Cardboard can line walkways or serve as furniture sliders in a pinch.

Caring for Flooring After a Move

With careful planning, you’ll be in great shape for protecting your wood floors when moving. Still, accidents happen even with the best plans, so it pays to know how to make minor repairs and safely clean up messes. Make sure you’re prepared to do the following after moving out or in:

• Stain: Fix small damaged areas with a stain touch-up marker that matches your floor.
• Clean: Use hardwood-friendly floor care products and materials to clean up after moving.
• Repair: If your floor suffered substantial damage, hire professionals to sand and refinish it to restore its appearance and integrity.

Find Floor Care Solutions and Advice at District Floor Depot

At District Floor Depot, we provide the products and services you need to make an old floor look new again or keep a new one pristine. Whether you want to restore your original flooring or install something entirely different, we can help. Get in touch with our team today for a consultation!