floor installation -- at beginning or end of renovation?
We are renovating and will be installing new wood floors. Our contractor says that we should install them now, very early on in the renovation process before walls go up and so on. He says he’ll put plywood over them so they don’t get damaged. This seems wrong to me. It seems like they should…
We are renovating and will be installing new wood floors. Our contractor says that we should install them now, very early on in the renovation process before walls go up and so on. He says he’ll put plywood over them so they don’t get damaged. This seems wrong to me. It seems like they should be the last thing to go in. I generally trust him but I want a second (or third) opinion on this one.
Thanks.
you can always lay the floors first and the finish them after the rest of construction. I appreciate our moulding that we installed on top of the new flooring (where you’d have to be on the floor to see the seam) vs. the floor cut around the flooring where you can see the seam from just walking by
Plywood is tough and should protect them from anything less than a bath tub or cast iron radiator crashing down on them so I wouldn’t worry about following your contractor’s advice. But I like Brewse’s suggestion of laying plastic (or maybe construction paper) between the new floors and the plywood to prevent scratching. We covered our new floors (also are refinished staircase) with masonite and it was protected just fine.
There are so many variables involved in a decision to place the floors down early or late in the renovation process. If you trust your contractor then he is probably laying them early for a reason. Typically the floors go down at the end of a renovation but if you are doing a high-end modern renovation without floor molding it might make sense to put the floor in early. Are your walls going to be sheetrock or plaster? How wide are the planks?
There are so many variables involved in a decision to place the floors down early or late in the renovation process. If you trust your contractor then he is probably laying them early for a reason. Typically the floors go down at the end of a renovation but if you are doing a high-end modern renovation without floor molding it might make sense to put the floor in early. Are your walls going to be sheetrock or plaster? How wide are the planks?
If you are building on top of your floors – you need to lay your floors first. If you are using pre-finished floors, lay plastic then masonite and finally carpet to protect the floor. Otherwise – just lay masonite over the floors and finish later.
Brewse – http://www.summitsurfaces.com
Are you using factory prefinished wood? Or unfinished? Prefinished I would wait till most of the other trades are finished. Plumbers electricians and other subs wont care about the floor like your G.C. would. If if gets scratched your stuck.
Unfinished floors like oak for instance will need to be sanded anyway so they can go down early and with a protective covering like masonite hard board and good house cleaning (vacuuming) at the end of the each work day will turn out just fine.
they need to go in first because of any baseboards and casing needs to go on top of it (or walls in your case). he’s right.
My guess is that he feels he will save time by installing new walls over a finished floor. I’m sure it can be done, however the traditional way to do it is to have your new walls put in over the subfloor and then put your finished floors in.