How do I protect floors and walls on moving day?

Protect one clear route through the house and the spots where furniture is most likely to hit. Clean the floors first, cover the main path, pad door frames, banisters and corners, and make sure nothing heavy is dragged. An hour of preparation saves floor refinishing and wall repairs, and the same steps work whether you hire movers or move with friends.

Start with clean floors

Most moving-day scratches come from grit, not from the furniture itself. Grit under furniture legs, dolly wheels and boots grinds into a floor's finish, and pads do not protect a dirty floor. Sweep or vacuum the route the day before, and again in the morning if it has been raining. Put a coarse mat outside each door the crew will use, so they wipe their feet before stepping onto anything finished.

Cover the route

Choose one path from the rooms to the door and protect it well. Covering the whole house loosely tends to leave gaps where people actually walk.

• Wood, tile and vinyl. Non-slip runners or heavy paper protect against grit and scuffs. For dollies and heavy pieces, sheets of hardboard spread the weight and stop wheels from denting the floor. Tape sheets to each other, not to the floor.
• Carpet. Self-adhesive film made for carpet keeps mud off and lets dollies roll. Peel it up the same day.
• Stairs. Covering stairs can make them slippery. Use runners that grip, or leave the treads bare and keep them clean.

Be careful with feet as well as furniture: hard heels and pointed shoes concentrate weight and can dent wood floors, so ask helpers to wear flat, clean soles or go in socks.

Protect walls, door frames and banisters

Walls get damaged at the same few places: door frames, outside corners in hallways, the bottom turn of a staircase, and banister posts. Wrap those with moving blankets or foam corner guards. Hold padding with bands, or tape it to itself, rather than taping to painted surfaces; where you must tape to a wall, use low-tack painter's tape and pull it off slowly.

Take down pictures, mirrors and hooks along the route, so nothing gets knocked off a wall. Where a large piece must pass through a tight doorway, lifting the door off its hinge pins buys an inch or two and protects the door itself.

Older homes need extra care. EPA says a home built before 1978 is more likely to have lead-based paint,^[1] and that old or worn lead-based paint on surfaces subject to constant friction, like doors or window sills, can produce chips and dust that become a hazard.^[1] Padding door frames and trim in an older house protects your family as well as the paint.

Protect the furniture so it protects the floor

Heavy pieces cause the deepest damage. Carry them, or use a dolly or furniture sliders. Never drag a dresser, piano or appliance across a bare floor.

Before furniture goes down in the new house, put felt pads on the feet, thick enough for heavy pieces, and check that each piece sits level, since a rocking leg digs into the finish. Keep hard plastic-wheeled chairs on a mat rather than rolling them over bare floors, and use a rug pad made for your floor type when the rugs go back down.

Keep the route clear

Stage packed boxes in one room or the garage, not along the hall. A crowded hallway is where people squeeze past and scrape walls. Keep pets and children out of the route, and prop doors open with a soft stop, not a box.

If something gets damaged

Lift the coverings and walk the route in good light before the crew leaves. Photograph any new scratch, dent or scuff and tell the company that day, in writing. Ask which of the company's insurance policies covers damage to your home, and get the insurer's details. For the claims process, see what to do if movers damage your furniture.

Small scuffs often come off with a damp cloth. For chipped paint in a pre-1978 home, EPA advises fixing small areas of damaged paint, under 6 square feet, as soon as possible without sanding.^[1] Larger repairs are a different matter: anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978 must be certified and trained in lead-safe work practices,^[1] and EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires firms doing that work in pre-1978 homes to be EPA- or state-certified.^[2] For a small dent in drywall, see how to patch a small hole in drywall.

Stop and call a pro if

• A hardwood floor is gouged through the finish or a board is cracked. A flooring contractor can tell you whether it needs a spot repair or refinishing.
• A banister, railing or stair tread has come loose. Keep people off it and have a carpenter fix it before the stairs are used.
• Paint is chipped or gouged in a home built before 1978 and the damage is more than a small spot. Hire a lead-safe certified contractor.
• A drywall hole is larger than a patch kit covers, or a door frame is split.

Plan the rest of the move

For the full timeline, see how to plan a local move. Browse more junk removal and moving answers, see local moving companies, or describe your move and get quotes.