Regardless of whether you’re moving out of a rental unit (you need your security deposit back, remember?) or you’re moving out of your own house or apartment (thinking of selling your place anytime soon?), it’s very important that you leave that home in good overall condition to prevent any subsequent problems.
By following a detailed moving-out cleaning checklist, you will have left leave behind a clean place. However, the last straw that could break the camel’s back, and thus get you in possible financial trouble, would be accidental property damage on Moving day.
You surely don’t want to break, damage, or ruin something while you’re moving out, so your best bet is to hire the services of a top-rated moving company. But if you plan to do some or the entire moving job without any help from the pros, then you should definitely know how to prevent property damage when moving.
Keep in mind that floor damage is one of the most common types of property damage during a move. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the costliest ones to fix too. So, while you’re getting ready to move out without having professional movers to help you out, you have to be very careful not to damage the floors of the home in any way.
Read on to learn the best way to protect floors when moving from one place to another.
Why floor protection matters
One of the major challenges when moving out of a home is handling super-heavy home appliances and furniture pieces – the ones that can easily damage your flooring if you’re not careful enough. Trust us, after the busy moving preparations, the last thing you would want is to burden your stretched moving budget with having to pay for repair works on floors.
Just think about this: floors and walls will suffer the most damage during a house move. Floors, for example, tend to endure scratches, scrapes, and dents each time a heavy and awkwardly-shaped item is moved across the room.
Polished hardwood floors usually have delicate top layers that might get ruined in an instant. On the other hand, tiled floors may literally break if something of considerable weight is dropped onto them.
What’s more, floor damage is never only about losing money. A damaged floor can also cause you to waste a crazy amount of time to get it fixed, and your nervous system will most likely get a hit as well during a transitional period that is notorious for being extremely stressful.
You must avoid floor damage at all costs!
The good news is that it takes only a bit of proactive planning and a number of simple precautionary measures to protect floors during a move and keep things running smoothly during the most important day of your residential relocation.
READ ALSO: How to avoid property damage when moving out
How to protect hardwood floors when moving
Effectively, you have three lines of defense when it comes to protecting hardwood floors when moving house. Take advantage of them all and you won’t have to worry about possible floor damage at all.
First line of defense
The very first line of defense for your floors is entirely proactive. Basically, it’s a set of safety measures aimed at not letting heavy items fall onto the hardwood floors on Moving day.
- Pack your boxes safely. Always use cardboard boxes of good quality that won’t easily break due to the weight of their load. When using second-hand moving boxes, remember to double-tape their bottoms and sides for added safety. Even though it’s tempting to use cardboard containers without paying for them, discard the boxes that have been compromised in any way and their strength and durability are in (serious) doubt. Also, don’t make cardboard boxes heavier than 20-25 pounds.
- Disassemble large furniture. Measure up the large pieces of furniture to figure out whether they can pass safely through all the doors, corners, and corridors of the home. If they don’t, then you have to disassemble partially the biggest furniture units until they are compact enough to be taken out without any issues. But how is floor protection relevant in this case? If you do get stuck with a large piece of furniture, there’s a good chance that you drop it on the floor and thus cause some kind of floor damage as a result.
- Pad all furniture pieces and appliances. Don’t forget to wrap all furniture units with padding blankets, especially the edges and feet of tables, desks, couches, and chairs. In addition to inflicting some sort of wall damage, unprotected protruding parts of furniture items can easily lead to floor damage as well when they get accidentally dropped on the ground.
Second line of defense
The second line of defense is about using the right type of moving equipment when you’re taking your household items out of your home and getting ready to load them onto the waiting moving vehicle outside.
- Furniture sliders. These small pieces of equipment can work wonders when it comes to protecting floors when moving furniture and appliances. They are made of durable plastic with surfaces of hard rubber and will let you slide huge and heavy items without inflicting any damage on your floors. Simply place a slider under each leg or corner of the furniture piece or household appliance, and start gliding it across the room with minimum effort. Be mindful that there are separate furniture sliders for wood floors and carpets.
- Moving dolly. Moving dollies have rubber wheels that inflict zero damage to floors regardless of whether those floors are hardwood, tiled, or carpeted. Make sure you secure safely your heavy and big furniture on a furniture dolly (a low 4-wheel platform) and your appliances on an appliance dolly (a 2-wheel L-lever, also known as a hand truck) via suitable straps, rope, or stretch tape. Also, check to make sure the wheels of the dolly are not wet and are free of dust and mud. Moving dollies not only minimize the risk of dropping whatever it is that you’re about to move, but they also reduce considerably the strain you will put on your body.
- Shoulder moving straps. A shoulder dolly is a lifting system that consists of two shoulder harnesses and a strong lifting strap between them. The idea of the shoulder dolly is for two persons to be able to lift and carry large and heavy objects safely and easily by distributing the weight of the load evenly on their shoulders without straining their backs while leaving their hands free to support and balance the item that is being carried. So, consider using a shoulder dolly with a trusted friend to carry out the heavy items without inflicting any floor damage or any type of property damage for that matter.
SEE ALSO: What moving equipment to rent when moving by yourself
Third line of defense
The third and final line of defense is all about protecting your floors directly before the house move gets underway. How to protect wood floors on Moving day?
- Plywood sheets. The best way to protect floors when moving is to place hard covers over them. It is not a secret that hardwood floors and tile floors are very susceptible to damage on Moving day, so if you have the chance to use plywood sheets along the move-out route, don’t hesitate to do it. However, such protective sheets can be fairly expensive so you may be forced to look for cheaper alternatives, such as sheets of cardboard.
- Floor runners. Another excellent way to protect floors when moving is to get floor runners – self-adhering coverings that are usually made of neoprene. Good quality floor runners ate designed to have their bottoms manufactured in an anti-slip fashion so that the floor protectors won’t move around when people walk on them. As a bonus, floor runners can be also used to protect stairs – the zones in a home when a potential slip can prove to be too costly. Again, specialized floor runners will cost you money, so if you’re moving on a budget, you may be better off using sheets of thick cardboard.
- Thick cardboard. One thing is sure – you won’t be short of cardboard during your house move. Take a few big boxes made of thick cardboard that you won’t be using anyway and break them down into large pieces which you should use to cover the intended path in your home. Create a safe pathway for your heavy items, and if necessary, use tape to fix the cardboard pieces in place. This way, your floors, including carpets, will be protected against dirt and mud as well.
- Furniture blankets. Furniture blankets provide excellent protection for your floors and household items alike. They always prove to be very versatile, and you are encouraged to use their safeguarding ability as temporary floor protection as well. Place thick protective blankets in strategic places to eliminate any chances of getting your floors damaged during one of life’s most transitional periods.
- Doormats. Large doormats placed on both the outside and inside of the home can provide an extra level of protection for the floors. This is especially relevant when it’s been raining or snowing on Moving day since the people who are working on the move can easily introduce water, mud, snow, dirt, or even salt into the home and stain the hardwood floors or carpets. Also, wet spots on the floor may lead to dangerous slips on the day of the move – something that you have to prevent from happening no matter what.
SEE ALSO: How to move heavy furniture by yourself
How to protect your carpet when moving
Now that you are familiar with the best way to protect floors when moving (hardwood and tiled floors, that is), it’s time to say a few words about safeguarding carpeted floors as well.
Here are the top 3 things to remember if your floors are covered with carpets on Moving day.
- Remove the carpets. If possible, roll up the carpets and remove them before the actual moving process begins. Yes, this is the best way to protect carpets when moving! Once your floors are carpet-free, use any or a combination of the protection methods explained above to prevent floor damage.
- Use a dolly or sliders. If removing your carpets is not an option, make sure you use a furniture dolly with 100% clean wheels or a suitable set of furniture sliders to prevent untimely damage to your carpets and area rugs.
- Film protectors. Special carpet film protectors are ideal for providing a tear-free and non-slip surface over your expensive carpets. The protection of such plastic films is a great idea but they can also be kind of costly. If your budget is limited, stick to large pieces of cardboard to protect carpeted stairs or carpeted room floors when moving house.
Ultimately, the only guarantee you can have for completing the move with zero property damage – floor damage in particular – is to hire the services of properly insured movers who just know what it takes to keep things damage-free from start to finish.
MUST-READ: What mistakes to avoid when hiring movers?
i want to back home in dormana