Refinishing Hardwood Floors and Repainting Your Main Line Home: What Comes First?
Whether you’re planning a totally new look for your colonial-era living room in Merion, or just moving into your first home in Devon, a comprehensive interior renovation can be exciting. You plan out each step, and you start to have a vision just sitting there in your imagination of your gorgeous new room—and now it’s about to come together in real life! To make it live up to your hopes and dreams, it’s important to plan each step of your renovation ahead of time, and save the most delicate parts for last. A little up-front organization can ensure that your renovation comes together smoothly and lives up to your expectations.
Construction and Demolition: Do It Before You Refinish the Floors
If you’re going to refinish your hardwood floors and repaint your interior walls, the order depends on how much construction or demolition you need to do before painting. If you need to do major repairs to your drywall or plaster, it’s going to involve a lot more heavy tools and debris than your average paint job, so you’ll want to do that before you refinish the floors. Even wallpaper removal needs to be done before refinishing the floors. The removal process involves a lot of water and a lot of labor. Nolan’s team is great at keeping the renovation contained, but when possible, it’s better to save the floors for after the serious renovations are complete.
Good Preparation Keeps Those Floors Looking Gorgeous
Once the flooring team has done their thing, your hardwoods are probably looking like the close-up shot in an Orange Glo commercial. Taking the time to adequately prepare the room before painting can keep them looking shiny as you repaint the walls. Nolan’s team has a comprehensive approach to prep that includes some serious protection for your hardwoods.
First, we cover the floors with rosin paper. We also use a great new commercial product called ram board. We’ll overlap the rosin paper and ram board, taping the sheets together to form a solid protective surface—even the tape won’t touch the floors, only the paper and board. This layer will provide wall-to-wall coverage for the floor throughout the duration of the paint job.
Painting: Save the Best for Last
Alright—your floors are looking great; the walls are cleaned, prepped, and ready for painting; and you’re about to get to the most exciting step in your renovation, which is a fresh coat of color for those walls. Some homeowners may wonder why the paint needs to be saved for last, and the answer is that it’s actually the least likely to damage any element of the room, especially when it’s done right by Nolan’s team. Whereas hardwood refinishing may cause damage to the baseboards and edges of a new paint job, the hardwoods are highly unlikely to be damaged during a paint job because they’re going to be so thoroughly protected by a wall-to-wall layer of rosin paper and ram board.
Can I Do Both at Once? Misconceptions and FAQ’s
If you’ve just refinished your floor and you’re ready to paint, many homeowners wonder if they need to give their floor time to cure before doing the paintwork. However, it usually just takes a few days. Nolan will consult with your flooring professional before making the call, but flooring products are advancing just like paint products, so the dry time has become very speedy.
Likewise, homeowners may be concerned about performing both renovations at once because of the fumes associated with renovation. However, flooring products are actually moving toward lower VOC formulations, which keep your interior air safe and breathable. Considering the widespread availability of , it’s actually entirely feasible to refinish your floors and repaint your interior, and still have nice, fresh air.
Getting Started on your Brand New Interior
Nolan offers comprehensive painting services for the Main Line. We’ve been working on homes in the area since 1979, so no matter what you need for your next interior renovation, our team’s got the skills and experience to tackle the job. If you’re ready for a fresh coat of color to match those newly-refinished hardwoods, get in touch with our team today for a consultation!