Preparing For Your hardwood Floor Installation
So you’ve made the decision to splurge a little and have new hardwood floors installed in your home. How should you prepare for your upcoming hardwood floor installation? Fabricio Hardwood Floors is a Charlotte based hardwood floor installation and refinishing company. Part of our process is to educate and inform our customers on what to expect and how to ready their home and themselves for the installation of new wood flooring. Installing new hardwood floors is quite involved, especially if unfinished hardwood floors are installed. To facilitate the installation process, we recommend you do a few things to get yourself, your family and your home ready.
6 STEPS TO GET READY FOR YOUR HARDWOOD FLOOR INSTALLATION
1. Create a workspace inside your home where installers can store and cut planks and trims as needed and store equipment
Before solid wood floors are installed in your home, wood planks need to acclimate to your home temperature for several days. Wood is hygroscopic – it will take on moisture from the environment it is in. Taking or losing too much moisture will cause wood to expand, shrink, check or split and will result in wood planks appearing cupped or swollen when installed.
Saving a space inside your home where wood planks can be stored for a period of time for the acclimation process to take place is a must. Our installers will also need a place where they can cut trims and wood planks as well as store their tools that is convenient to where your new hardwood floors will be installed. Planning ahead is key to a smooth process.
2. Decide how to handle debris created by the new hardwood floor installation
Installing new hardwood floors oftentimes requires the removal of existing floors and possibly repairing / replacing some of the subfloors. The amount of debris generated can be quite substantial and you will need to make arrangements beforehand on where to store the debris during the installation and how to dispose of it once the work is complete. The hardwood floor installation process will also generate construction debris from cut trims and wood planks. If you live in the Charlotte area, Fabricio Hardwood Floors can assist you with planning for the removal of debris from your property.
3. Decide where to store your appliances, furniture and personal things
Appliances, furniture, wall hangings, rugs, and other personal property will need to be moved away from the work area where hardwood floors will be installed. Planning ahead who will be responsible to move those items and when to move them is part of the planning process so that no delay or unplanned expenses occur or get in the way of the installation.
4. Planning for floor height differences
When removing your old floors and installing new hardwood floors, the thickness of the two floors might be different. That difference may require you to adjust your doors, baseboards and trims. Planning ahead with your professional hardwood floor company for heigh difference is key to avoid unplanned delays and expenses.
5. Protect your valuables and personal property
Installing unfinished hardwood floors will require sanding. Professional hardwood floor companies in Charlotte like Fabricio Hardwood Floors use dustless sanders that eliminate most of the dust generated in the process of finishing wood floors. However, some dust might still become airborne. For this reason, you should plan to protect or move items that could be exposed to dust including covering HVAC air vents, electrical outlets, ceiling fans, removing blinds and curtains, sealing rooms where wood floors won’t be installed.
6. Plan where you will keep you pets during the hardwood floor installation process
If you have pets, you should plan ahead where you will keep them during the hardwood floor installation process. Installers will come in and out of your home numerous times during the installation process and a door or gate left open by mistake might lead to your pets escaping your home. Further, the dust that can be produced from sanding when finishing your new hardwood floors may cause harm to your pets if they are exposed to it.
Having new hardwood floors installed in your home is a great investment, but the installation process requires a lot of planning. If you live in the Charlotte area and are interested in having new hardwood floors installed in your home, contact Fabricio Hardwood Floors. We are a professional hardwood floor installation company serving the Charlotte market. We have been involved in hundreds of hardwood floor installations and can assist you in planning the right way for the installation of your brand new floors.