What To Complete First - The Floors Or Walls

Are you feeling inspired and motivated to embark on some home improvement projects? If the urge to make a change has struck, we highly encourage you to channel all your energy and time into initiating and conducting a transformative project. Don’t hesitate to set ambitious goals and aim for bold transformations—whether it's refreshing those dull wall colours or replacing that old, dusty carpet. While we advocate for a comprehensive makeover, it’s important to prioritize your tasks effectively. This means not attempting to paint your walls and installing a wooden floor simultaneously. Why is this crucial? Today, we’ll explore the best approach to home improvement, examining whether to tackle flooring or walls first.

The Wood Floor Installation First

Let’s say you’re eagerly anticipating the installation of your stunning new hardwood flooring and can hardly wait any longer. You decide to prioritise the flooring installation first. However, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. Most crucially, you must ensure that your new floor matches the height and thickness of your previous flooring. An unsightly gap between the newly installed floorboards and the walls can create a jarring visual effect.

While it's essential to leave an expansion gap during the installation process—typically a small space between the walls and the floorboards to accommodate the natural expansion of wood due to moisture and humidity—this gap should be minimal. Ideally, it can be easily concealed with skirting boards afterwards. However, if the gap is larger, it may not be easily covered or camouflaged, leading to a noticeable flaw. Furthermore, even slight colour variations can be glaringly obvious if the paint is different or even just a few shades darker.

Another important factor to consider is the potential for damage to freshly painted walls. If you choose to paint your walls before installing the floor, removing skirting boards and baseboards for the new flooring installation can inadvertently damage the newly applied paint. To avoid this, our qualified fitters recommend using high-quality masking tape to protect your walls during the installation process, ensuring a clean finish without unsightly paint chips or marks.

Pros:

• Immediate Enjoyment: Allows for the quick installation of the desired hardwood flooring.
• Controlled Expansion Gap: Ensures that the expansion gap is minimal and can be easily covered with skirting boards, preventing large unsightly gaps.
• Prevents Damage to Paint: Avoids potential damage to freshly painted walls during the floor installation process.

Cons:

• Height and Thickness Concerns: Requires careful consideration of the height and thickness of the new flooring to avoid noticeable gaps.
• Risk of Wall Damage: Removing skirting and baseboards for installation can damage freshly painted walls if done without care.
• Inconvenient Touch-ups: This may lead to additional work in touching up paint due to scuffs or dents from the installation process.

Painting The Walls First

While the prospect of painting your walls before installing new flooring might seem appealing, there are several factors to consider that could complicate your plans. Firstly, during the floor installation process, you may inadvertently cause scuffs and dents on your freshly painted walls, leading to the need for further touch-ups. This can be frustrating, especially after putting in the effort to achieve a polished finish.

Additionally, not all wooden floorboards come pre-finished and ready for installation. If you opt for an unfinished wooden floor, it will require sanding and finishing after installation. Applying multiple coats of protective finish is essential for any unfinished wooden flooring. Wood floor sanding beforehand is crucial for several reasons: it opens up the wood's pores for better absorption of the finishing products and helps remove fine imperfections that may have occurred during transport.

However, sanding creates sawdust, and while modern sanding machines are designed to capture most of it, some dust will inevitably remain and may adhere to your freshly painted walls, particularly if the paint isn’t completely dry. Furthermore, sanding machines are bulky and can inadvertently bump into walls, potentially leaving scuffs or dents, which can also occur during the installation process itself.

On the flip side, if you choose to paint your walls after installing the flooring, there’s no need to worry about damaging your new floor. This approach allows for a more relaxed painting experience, free from the anxiety of needing to refinish or clean paint stains from your newly fitted wooden floor—a scenario you would certainly prefer to avoid.

Pros:

• Protection from Floor Damage: Reduces the risk of paint stains on the newly installed floor, allowing for a cleaner painting process.
• Less Concern About Scuffs: No need to worry about accidentally damaging the floor during the wall painting process.
• Flexibility in Finishing Touches: Allows for the walls to be finished without the stress of protecting new flooring.

Cons:

• Potential for Wall Damage: Newly painted walls may get scuffed or dented during floor installation, leading to additional touch-ups.
• Sawdust Contamination: Sanding unfinished floors can create sawdust that may settle on wet paint, causing imperfections.
• Requires Extra Care: Greater caution is needed to avoid damaging walls while installing the floor, especially if the walls are still drying.