How to prepare your room for new flooring

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Redecorating can be a lot of fun, especially when you’re jumping into big projects that will change the style of your house. But as the old saying goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail, so ensuring you prepare your home before you do any big renovation projects, like putting in new flooring, is crucial.

If you know now's the time to replace your flooring, then read on! In this guide, we’ll take you through the different steps you should tick off on your checklist when preparing to have new flooring installed, including how to keep the rest of your home clean and dry, and how to ensure your new flooring doesn’t get damaged when it is installed. Following these simple steps will simplify the process and make your new floor a reality sooner than you think! Alternatively, if you rent your home but want a refresh, have a read of our guide on whether you can change the flooring in a rented house.

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Why do I need to prep my room before putting in new flooring?

There are many reasons you should prepare your room properly before having new flooring fitted, the foremost of which is that if you don’t prepare your room properly, your new flooring may not look as good! Having a dirty or uneven subfloor could cause your new flooring to look and feel uneven and painting your walls after a new flooring installation could result in some unsightly paint splashes on your brand-new carpet.

It's also important to let the room (and the new flooring) have time to acclimatise, especially if the room is prone to humidity. It’s good to keep the room well-ventilated and allow your flooring, to have time to adjust to the temperature and humidity of the room it will be in – this helps with any shrinkage issues that might come up later. Prepping your room is truly the key to making your new flooring look and feel as good as it can be, so let’s jump into the steps you should take.

Steps on how to prepare your room for new flooring

There are several different steps you should take to prepare your room for new flooring, but it’s always best to start by blocking out your calendar for a few days while the process is happening. Your flooring contractors will need access to your home (and you!) while they work, and you may need some time to prepare before they come, if you’re having new flooring put into a large area or multiple areas of your home. Then, you roll up your sleeves and start prepping.

Ensure all other decorating is already complete

If you’re putting in new flooring, it’s probably likely that you’re renovating other parts of your home too, like painting a fresh colour on the walls, or potentially even knocking down walls or building new areas. It’s vital that you make sure all this work is already done and that your flooring is the final piece of work to happen. You won’t want dust, paint and heavy boots treading all over your brand-new flooring!

Move your furniture

If you haven’t already, you will need to move all the furniture in that room out of the way – this includes inside your wardrobes and cupboards too, as you don’t want to have to move it all unexpectedly! If you’re planning on putting new flooring in a much bigger area than just one room, then you may have to consider hiring a storage unit for a few days until the installation process is complete.

If you have furniture that cannot be moved, you should speak to your fitter and plan around this. However, Tapi can take away all the hassle of this with our wonderful Delivery and Care Package. For just £39, our trusted fitter will remove a reasonable amount of empty furniture and replace it (just let us know if we’re shifting a grand piano!), After their expert fitting, they’ve vacuum and tidy up so you can enjoy your new carpet or floor straight away!

Remove the existing flooring

You can’t often put new flooring down if your old flooring is still in place, so uplifting and removing your old flooring is essential. It may be part of your contract that your old flooring is removed by the team you hire, but if you don’t, you can always contact our team here at Tapi for our range of services, including uplift and removal of old flooring. This means you don’t need to worry about tricky techniques or getting rid of your old flooring – we’ll handle it all for you.

Have your subfloor assessed to ensure it’s in good condition

Your subfloor is the layer of building material underneath your old flooring, which is most likely to be made of wooden boards or concrete. Making sure that this subfloor is good to go is really important, because if there is any damage, dirt, or unevenness, then your new flooring is very likely to not look or feel right and may even become damaged. If you buy your new flooring with Tapi, this service comes free of charge, and we’ll make sure your subfloor is clean, even, and ready to go for your new flooring.

Check your new flooring height

Another good move is to check that the height of your new flooring isn’t going to affect other areas of the room like your doorways. With some new flooring, such as hardwood floorings like laminate or luxury vinyl tile, it can raise the height of your flooring, and this can make it difficult to close doors or wardrobes. Our Tapi professionals can help you measure and plan for all eventualities to ensure this is something you don’t need to worry about.

Disconnect your gas and electric supplies

Disconnecting your gas and electricity supplies is particularly important in rooms like kitchens where you may need to remove ovens and other large appliances to put down new flooring. This way, you ensure your safety when you’re removing items from the room, and the safety of your flooring contractors when they’re fitting new flooring.

Close other rooms and lay down protective coverings

To keep dust and residue to a minimum in other areas of your home, make sure all the doors are closed and lay down spare sheets or dust sheets on the rest of your floors while contractors are working.

Make sure the area is well ventilated

There will be a lot of dust and potentially fumes from adhesives used for your underlay and flooring, so make sure you have windows open, fans on and plenty of fresh air circling through the area.

Keep pets and children safe

While there is removal and fitting of new flooring in your home, make sure that pets and children are kept away from the area to ensure they don’t get hurt or cause an accident.

Make your prep easier with Tapi services

If you need help with prepping your room, there are plenty of services that our team offer to help you out, and if you buy your new flooring from Tapi, we can also help you out with fitting. Our expert fitters will fit your new flooring quickly and efficiently so that it looks just perfect. Why not book a free home appointment or a free store appointment to speak to our floorologists today?

Alternatively, for more handy DIY guides, including how to paint your skirting boards, and tips for laying a carpet, head on over to our Ideas Hub.