Hardwood floors are beautiful and expensive. When you move, the last thing you want to do is leave all kinds of scratches behind, or even worse, create scratches on the floors of your new home. Dragging appliances, marking shoes and dropped items can all cause damage to a hardwood floor. Instead of allowing your hardwood floors to become damage, protect them. Here are a few ways you can keep your floors looking great during a move.

Rugs and Runners

You can use runner and rugs to create a walkway from the door to the area you need to get to in your home. This will help to protect the floor from your shoes and anything you might set down or need to drag.

Make sure the rugs and runners don't have any wrinkles or tripping hazards. You can use a non-stick backing to help keep them in place, if necessary. When using a dolly, make sure the path is very smooth to make it easier to get the dolly through. If you hit a bump, you could cause major damage to your floors.

Cardboard

Another good way to protect your floors is by covering them with cardboard. It's sturdy enough to take some of the blow if you make a mistake and drop something. However, it does slide around quite a bit, so you may need to tape it down. It's best if only used as a quick fix for sliding a heavy appliance, but it's not the best solution.

Red Rosin Paper

A better alternative to cardboard is red rosin paper. This type of paper will help to protect hardwood floors. It's made of 100% recycled paper and often used for flooring and siding. It will help to reduce the moisture and some types of red rosin paper are moisture and tear resistant.

Furniture Sliders

Furniture sliders are a great way to help protect your hardwood floors. They make it easier to move larger items and they are often created to help protect the floors. You just need to lift the corners of the item you are moving, slip them under and slide the item across the floor. These work great for chests, sofas, armoires and many other larger items. If you are looking for Professional Furniture Movers you have come to the right place.

Ram Board

Another great choice is ram board. While it can be a bit expensive, it provides a heavy duty way to protect your floors. It's a contractor-grade product and it can be reused many times. Contractors use ram board when they need to drag tool boxes or materials into a home. It will provide the maximum protection for your hardwood floors.

Dealing with Scratches

If you do make a mistake and scratch your hardwood floors, you can fix it yourself. It you've made it to the bare wood with the scratch, you can use a stain to fill it in. For an even deeper gouge, you may need a pre-colored latex wood floor filler to fix the scratch. Usually, surface scratches can be buffed out without much issue.

The best thing you can do, when moving, is make sure your hardwood floors are protected. You don't want to have to pay to repair the floors when you first move in or lose your deposit because of damage you caused on your way out.