If you go through the effort to have beautiful hardwood flooring in your home, you don’t want that charm being tarnished by scrapes and damage. Unfortunately, you also need appliances in your home and depending upon where that hardwood is installed, appliances can cause damage to the wood. 

There are two common situations where you need to protect your hardwood. The first is a situation in which the appliances are being installed or otherwise moved, where the bottom of an appliance might scrape against the wood. More serious scrapes or even dents are possible if not moved safely because of the weight of the appliance and the amount of movement involved to install it.

The other situation in which hardwood floors are at risk of being damaged because of appliances is one in which the appliance is installed on hardwood floors and prone to movement. This might be the case if appliances like washers or dryers are installed over the wood, as the vibrations from the functioning of the appliance might cause wear to the floor over time.

As hardwood flooring specialists, we’ll take a look at these two common situations and give you some tips on how to keep your hardwood floors in good condition.

Protecting Hardwood During a Move

If appliances are being installed by an expert, they should be trained on how to properly move the appliances without damaging the floors. However, it’s also possible to install these large appliances yourself, and you don’t need to be an expert to do it, you just need the right equipment. 

The first piece of equipment you’ll need as a dolly to place the appliance on. Rolling the appliance to the location it’s going to be installed. Rolling the appliance is much safer than pushing it across the floor or trying to carry it.The other tool you’ll want to be sure to have with you is a large solid surface like plywood that can take the weight of the appliance but can also be shaped to fit within a specific space. Use this surface to take the weight of the first two legs that touch the floor before gently lowering the rest of the appliance with the dolly.

Protecting Hardwood Under Appliances

The other situation that can pose a threat to your hardwood is one in which you have to place an appliance on top of it. While it’s always best to try to put appliances like ovens or refrigerators on concrete or tile, we understand that it’s not always possible if there are changes that have been made to a home or if there’s existing hardwood in a home.

There are a number of steps you can take to reduce the potential damage to your floors. The first thing you can do is to try to ensure that the appliance is level with the floor and that the area the appliance is installed in is level. Even a slight slant can cause much more movement in the appliance and cause it to scoot across the floor as it operates.

Another step you can take to reduce damage is to install a thick piece of plywood underneath the appliance. This plywood will reduce the amount of shock that is distributed into the floor by creating a barrier between the appliance and the hardwood.

Lastly, you can install anti-vibration pads on the appliance. These pads can be purchased from the appliance retailer and also prevent damage to the hardwood by providing a protective barrier between the appliance and the hardwood.

So, while there are a couple of threats posed by appliances, there are also a number of easy to apply solutions to keep your floors safe.