Getting Your House Ready for New Floors: A Before-Install-Day Checklist

The crew does the hard part on install day, but the day goes smoother when the house is ready before they walk in. Best Budget Flooring puts its expectations in writing in an installation agreement, and most of what it asks of the homeowner is simple. Here is what to do, roughly in the order it matters.

Protect what you care about

Remove valuables from the work area before install day. That means jewelry, small electronics, collectibles, papers and anything breakable or easy to misplace. Installers carry material, tools and underlayment through the house all day, doors stay open, and a cleared room is a safer room for things you would hate to lose.

Secure your pets too. Open doors and unfamiliar people are the usual recipe for an escaped dog or a cat hiding where nobody can find her. Put pets with a friend, in a room well away from the work, or at a sitter for the day. Animals underfoot are also a safety problem for installers carrying heavy material.

Furniture, electronics and the toilet

Clear the floors in the rooms being done. Furniture moving is available for an additional cost, so if you want the crew to handle your couch and bed, say so when you schedule instead of on the morning of the job.

Electronics and appliances are where people get surprised. Installers will unhook electronic equipment and appliances, but they do not re-hook them. Take a photo of the cables behind the TV and the entertainment center before anything comes apart, and plan to plug everything back in yourself. Toilets work the same way: the crew will remove the toilet but not reinstall it. If a bathroom floor is part of the job, line up a plumber or a handy friend for the reinstall, and plan how the household will manage without that bathroom in the meantime.

Get the temperature right

Flooring materials react to the air around them, so the agreement sets conditions in advance. For carpet, the job site must be acclimated to no less than 67 degrees for 3 hours before, during and after the installation. In practice, set the thermostat the morning of the job and leave it alone until the carpet has been down for a while.

Hardwood and laminate need more lead time. The house should be at normal living conditions for 2 days before the wood is delivered, so the material can settle to the air inside your home before it is fastened down. That means the heat or air conditioning running the way you normally keep it, not a house shut up and switched off while you are away.

Plan for the details people forget

• An adult 18 or older needs to be at the home during the installation. Plan who that will be before the day arrives.
• If the new floor height will keep a door from opening and closing, the crew can cut the bottom of the door for an extra fee. Point out any door that already scrapes, so it can be handled the same day.
• New quarter round and trim are not painted by the crew. If you want it painted, schedule that yourself or have paint ready.
• Carpet seams are professionally constructed and durable, but professionally constructed seams are not invisible seams. Walk the room with the estimator and talk about where they will fall.
• When the work is done, the installers clean up and remove all trash, so there is no need to rent a dumpster or hold the bags back.

If plans change

Schedules shift, and a sitter falls through or a house is not ready. The agreement gives a clear line for that. An installation cancelled before 12 p.m. on the previous business day costs nothing. After that, a $25.00 fee is assessed for late cancellation. If you are on the fence about the date, call before noon the business day before and sort it out then.

Ask your questions at the estimate

Everything above is easier to plan when you have walked the rooms with someone who knows the job. Best Budget Flooring offers a free in-home estimate around Tyler and across their 50 mile radius, and the visit is a good time to ask which of these steps apply to your floor. Call or text (903) 805-0018 to set it up, and use the list above to get the house ready once the date is on the calendar.