How to Protect Floors
Packers and movers (professional and amateur) usually take the right steps to protect furniture and breakables during transport and installation in their new rooms. However, the rooms themselves are sometimes not as well protected as they could be. All too often floors end up damaged by the sharp corners of heavy furniture or scarred by metal, wood, or plastic boxes.
This can happen when removing items from their old places or when putting them somewhere new, but it’s usually a bigger problem at the end of the journey. People are more likely to be tired and the end of a long day is in sight. Mistakes can be made, and sometimes they are. The last thing anyone wants when moving an office or changing homes is to damage their beautiful new space (or to scar the floors in the old one), so it pays to take precautions.
One of the most popular and effective methods for protecting floors is to use furniture sliders. These are disks that go under the legs of heavy tables and wardrobes. They have a twofold role. First, they spread the load on the floor round the point of contact, and second, they make it easy to slide hefty, bulky items. The right sliders can keep floors pristine and save on effort. They also reduce the chance of accidents.
However, you do have to get the furniture up onto the sliders in the first place. Shifting a big piece of furniture may still call for two or more people if it is to be done safely and easily. Sliders won’t help you move furniture down stairs, for example. Another good tip is to make sure every slider is the right way up. The smooth sliding surface should be against the floor.
If you don’t want to buy special sliders (and your packers and movers don’t provide them), thick rugs can be cut up and used to protect floors. Old rug or carpet pieces can be tied around the legs of heavy furniture and left there til they’re safely in their new location. This means the delicate legs are protected too.
When moving a particularly difficult piece of furniture, it can be very tempting just to lift it only any old rug and attempt to push or pull it along. This can be extremely dangerous, as a tall wardrobe or dresser can easily tip over and hurt both the floors and the movers. If you’re struggling, find more helpers rather than resorting to risky methods.
It is also worth remembering that slippery rugs and sliders can pose risks too. If a person carrying the corner of a table steps on a rug that moves, they may well fall and have a nasty accident. Make sure rug pieces and sliders are cleared away when not in use, so they never get underfoot.
There is plenty that long distance movers and their clients can to do make sure floors aren’t damaged in transit. Whatever method you decide to use, the key is forward planning- having the sliders or the cloth pieces ready and waiting to be used.
