Scratch Protection

Now that we’ve got spankin’ new flooring in the house, my number one concern is if we scratch it. True, we have gone out of our way (30 minute trips, to be exact) to get commercial grade laminate flooring, and we’ve given the upstairs floors (see the progress here and here) a test with letting Colby run amok and so far, no damage. But, for whatever reason, I’m still paranoid that we’ll ruin it in no time. Maybe it’s a honeymoon phase and I’ll mellow out as time goes on, but there’s nothing poor Scott can do to stop me from checking the floors when I walk around. I probably look very silly walking around the house with my head to one side. So, I’m doing my best to protect anything that might scrape across the floor, save for putting booties on Colby’s feet.

On a recent trip to IKEA (intending to only get one item, but isn’t that how it always goes?), I picked up several packages of floor protectors. Basically, they are pre-cut discs of padding that are sticky on one side, and you simply stick them to the bottom of the legs of your furniture. The intent is that they can move across the floor, and the pads will prevent scraping.

Because of the direction of the flooring planks, the living room and dining room have to be installed at the same time, which means we are finding it difficult to remove all the furniture from the room as we work. Although, I think it could be interesting having a couch in the kitchen for a while!

Our plan has been to move the furniture to one side of the room as we begin, then as that half of the room is completed, move the furniture onto the new flooring, then finish the other side. This means that before we move the couch, we have the opportunity to apply these flooring pads. Easy, inexpensive, and quick.

And in doing so, we’re already making great progress on finishing up these two rooms! I’ve given some serious thought to coming up with a new happy dance. I’ve been doing it a lot lately, and it’s getting a little played out.