The importance of flooring can’t be understated enough – as it bears the heavy burden of foot traffic from people stepping on it all day every day. But if your flooring has already grown old due to constant wear and tear, you might have considered renovating it with a flooring contractor who can better handle the work compared to doing it all by yourself. For your flooring to come out exactly the way you want it to be, you might want to discuss the tips that you’re about to read below with the contractor that you’ve hired before proceeding with the renovation itself.

If your floor is looking past its best, it might be time to hire a contractor to help you bring it back to life!

Why Hire a Flooring Contractor?

As much as you might be tempted to either repair or completely replace your old flooring DIY-style so that you can save money, you would want to hire a flooring contractor instead for the following reasons:

1. A flooring contractor can renovate your old flooring in less time.

While some minor renovation projects can be easily accomplished in your own spare time with some elbow grease, you might not have enough time to focus on renovating your old flooring as you find yourself juggling between that and all your other responsibilities.

• Most flooring contractors commit to a schedule that both of you have agreed upon as they serve other clients as well aside from you.
• A project as intensive as a flooring renovation might be better off left to a contractor who can ensure that the job gets done in the shortest time possible for it to be completed.

2. A flooring contractor has all the tools needed for them to renovate your old flooring.

If you don’t have enough or even any experience at all in flooring renovation, chances are you might not have some of the tools required for you to do it.

• Buying all the tools you’ll need to renovate your old flooring might end up with you spending more than you should, and you might not even have to use some of them in the foreseeable future anyway which would lead you to just put them in storage.
• On the other hand, a flooring contractor has a complete set of tools at their disposal that they use for various flooring renovation projects involving different clients.

3. A flooring contractor can help you more easily decide what to replace your old flooring with.

With so many flooring options for you to choose from, you might get easily overwhelmed and even postpone having your old flooring renovated to some other time when you’ve already made up your mind about it.

• You would want to look for a contractor who can walk you through various flooring options ranging from the most commonly used to some that are slightly unconventional yet just as functional.
• Each flooring option has its own advantages and disadvantages, and a contractor can guide you through them so that you don’t have to rack your brain trying to figure out which one you should choose.

Make sure you talk through the flooring demands and suitable materials with your contractor.

What Should You Do Before Allowing a Contractor to Renovate Your Old Flooring?

While the reasons mentioned above should be more than enough to convince you to go look for a contractor who can renovate your old flooring so that you don’t have to do it on your own, you would also want to read these tips on what you should do before having your old flooring renovated by a contractor.

1. Have your contractor assess your old flooring if it should indeed be renovated or not.

Before a flooring contractor would be able to recommend what your new flooring should be, they would have to evaluate first if renovation of your old flooring is necessary or if it can be refinished instead.

• If your old flooring is made of concrete, the most common renovation that your contractor would do is to level it using a grinder before installing your new flooring.
• However, if your old flooring is made of hardwood and still in good condition, your contractor would most likely just refinish it by sanding, cleaning and applying coats of varnish to it.

2. Remove every object that’s currently on top of your old flooring.

It might be an obvious point, but bear in mind in the planning stages that for your contractor to fully renovate your old flooring, everything on top of it has to be transferred to somewhere else where there’s no renovation being done.

• Your contractor may not agree to moving all the objects that are currently on top of your old floor as it’s not their responsibility to do so at all, so factor in the extra time, labour and expense that it will take to clear the floor area before the contractor gets started.

3. Find out if your flooring contractor is insured.

Many untoward incidents can happen whenever a contractor is renovating your old flooring, which is why you would have to make sure that they have general liability, commercial auto, and workers’ compensation insurance.

• If ever you get injured or your property has sustained a significant amount of damage after the contractor that you’ve hired has renovated your old flooring, their general liability insurance covers their legal expenses as well as the damages that they owe you.
• If your contractor is driving a vehicle with tools and materials in tow then it qualifies as commercial work and they would need to avail themselves of commercial auto insurance so there’s cover in case they get involved in a vehicular accident while on their way to your property.
• Flooring businesses are often required by the law to provide workers’ compensation insurance that shoulders all medical expenses and lost wages in case any of their workers get injured while renovating your old flooring.

Your flooring which might have looked good before has now turned old after years of having to put up with people’s feet stepping on it, portable air conditioner systems rolling over it, as well as objects being dragged across it which might have damaged it at one point or another. Thus, you might have looked into having your old flooring renovated by a contractor so that it can be presentable once again. If it’s your first time hiring the services of a flooring contractor, the tips listed above should be able to help you know what to do before letting them into your property to renovate your old flooring. Here’s to hoping that your new flooring would last just as long or even longer than your old one.