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Beautiful hardwood flooring is the hallmark of great home design. Hardwood is still the most coveted floor covering option. There’s just something about a natural wood floor that pulls a room together. It’s the ideal starting point for whatever furniture and decor you choose to add.
A scratch, ding or dent in hardwood flooring can be devastating, just as it is in a new car. We’ve all been there: a friend scrapes his chair across the floor and you hold your breath, waiting to see what the damage looks like. Sometimes, we get lucky. Other times, not so much. The best way to protect your hardwood flooring from incidents like these is to learn a few techniques for moving heavy objects such as furniture across your floor without causing damage.
5 Ways to Avoid Damaging Hardwood Flooring When Moving Furniture
1. Team Lift – You’ve seen the stickers on the side of large, heavy or awkward-shaped boxes that say, “team lift.” This is useful advice. Not only can you prevent injury to yourself, but you can also prevent damage to hardwood flooring when you work with someone else to lift the object up off the floor before moving it. It can be tempting to try to move something by yourself, especially if you’re in a time crunch and you want to get something done without having to wait for help. But think about the risks. The last thing you need is a damaged floor or a damaged back.
2. Add a Barrier – Chances are good that you’ve seen soft pads that can be purchased to move heavy furniture and appliances. (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you can find them here on Amazon.) These serve as a soft barrier between your heavy object and the floor. Many of them also work really well on carpeted floors. All you have to do is slide a pad under each leg or corner of a piece of furniture and move it across the floor without damage. It’s also a great option if you want to move something heavy and you don’t have someone on hand to help you.
3. Lift and Adjust – We already discussed lifting rather than sliding heavy objects across your hardwood flooring. Yet you might be temped to nudge the couch an inch or two to the left to get it exactly where you want it. Resist the urge. Any amount of sliding can cause damage to floors. Rather than pushing or pulling the piece into place, lift it again and set it back down carefully. It might seem like a pain to keep doing this until you’re happy with the placement, but it’s worth the added effort. Hopefully, you won’t do this often. It’s worth a little extra time to keep floors looking great.
4. Have a Plan – Whether you’re simply rearranging a room that bores you or moving into a new place, have a plan for how to lay out furniture before you start lifting. This will minimize the amount of time you spend going back and forth, which also minimizes the risk of accidental damage to flooring. There’s a good chance you will tweak your plan as you get more items in the room. But knowing roughly what you want and where you want it is a great starting point.
5. Use a Blanket, Boards and a Dolly – Professional movers know this trick well. If something is too heavy to lift, try this method. First, lay a blanket down on the floor. Then place two hard boards on top of the blanket. Ensure the short ends touch, forming a long path. Load your item onto a hard-wheeled dolly, then wheel it across the first board and onto the second. Take the first board and place it down after the second board. Keep doing this until you’ve successfully moved the item across the floor to its final location. This method is great for items such as refrigerators and solid wood pieces, which can easily weigh hundreds of pounds.
The hardwood flooring experts at Ogden’s Flooring and Design are great resources for keeping your floors looking great. We want our customers to be happy with their floors for decades to come. Keeping them in pristine condition goes a long way toward reaching that goal. Stop in or call your nearest Ogden’s store for great service, advice and products you’ll love.