INSTALLATION MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT LOOKS
by Contributor
(Apr. 25, 2020) — Selling your home can be bitter-sweet at times. The “sweet” part about selling your home is that you’re paving the way to create new memories in your new home… The “bitter” part is the actual process of getting your home ready to sell… But you have to get through the bitter in order to get to the sweet.
So how do you do that, exactly?
Well, it’s all about preparing your home in ways that are appealing to potential buyers. If you’ve ever watched any of the home renovation shows on HGTV, you know that potential home buyers always have a “wishlist.” A home wishlist is a checklist of all the things that they are looking for in their potential home.
Most potential home buyers are looking for open floor plans, the perfect location, a basement, a nice yard, and you guessed it, new flooring. Homes not having or meeting the expectations of potential home buyers aren’t always deal-breakers… Sometimes the potential home buyers will buy a home that meets a few of the items on their wishlist and will do the other renovations on their own.
But for most home buyers, if they had to choose which renovations the home seller could do, it would be the flooring. Why? Because flooring can get expensive, depending on the type of flooring they want. As a home seller trying to meet the needs of a potential home buyer’s flooring wants, you have to decide whether or not you want to hire professionals to do the work for you, or if you want to try it on your own.
Most home sellers, in efforts to save money, will attempt flooring projects on their own. This isn’t recommended unless you have experience in flooring and have the right tools and equipment to do it.
Sure, installing new floors is a great way to enhance your home’s interiors, and it will definitely pay off in the staging of your home. But all too often, homeowners who want to DIY their floors tend to neglect and fall prey to the other aspects of flooring, making their floors a huge eyesore to potential buyers. In fact, CBS News states that installing your own flooring is one of the worst DIY projects for your home and highly recommends a professional do the work,
So before you make the final decision to take on a major flooring project in efforts to save in selling your home, first take a look at some common flooring mistakes to ensure you don’t make the same ones.
Flooring Mistakes to Avoid
Overestimating Your DIY Flooring Capabilities
You may have “dabbled” in some DIY projects last summer and they turned out great. But just because you successfully completed a few small projects, that doesn’t mean you’re ready to take on a major project like flooring, especially if you’re trying to sell your home.
When home buyers look at homes, they want to see professionalism, and anyone can spot out a poorly installed floor a mile away. A poorly installed floor is not only aesthetically unpleasing but it can also lead to serious issues over time.
Take the time out to look past how much you’ll save and understand the real complexity of the project and realistically measure that against your skill level. If the two don’t match, you need to hire a professional.
Not Doing Enough Research Before Installing
Homeowners who “dabble” in DIY think that watching a few YouTube videos is research enough, and that’s just not the case at all. Before starting any flooring project, sure, you can look up YouTube videos for reference but you also need to see if the room needs a subfloor or a transitional piece to separate rooms.
It’s crucial to have a full and complete understanding of ALL the things you’ll need to ensure you install your flooring properly.
Not Preparing the Subfloor Properly
As mentioned above, you need to see if you need a subfloor, and if you do, you need to make sure it’s properly prepared. Some homes have epoxy floors as subfloors but there are also very nice decorative epoxy floors as well.
If you want to install epoxy flooring, you first must have the right type of dispenser machine, and if that surface isn’t cleaned and prepared properly, the epoxy won’t adhere. Floors can be covered in dust and grease/oil and you may not even see it… that’s why you have to properly clean the floor first in order for the epoxy to adhere.
Measuring Incorrectly
In the world of flooring, they say “measure twice and cut once,” but for the DIY’er working on flooring for the first time, you might need to measure three times! The whole point of the saying is to make sure you don’t order too much or not enough, so really make sure you get your measurements right.
Not Thoroughly Following Installation Instructions
When installing any type of flooring, there will be certain products you need in order to make sure the floors are installed properly… meaning there are no substitutions. Depending on the type of flooring you’re installing, you might need adhesives, grout, or tile trowels… So follow the installation instructions and don’t even think about taking any types of shortcuts.
Failing to follow installation instructions properly can cause your home to sit on the market for much longer than you anticipated.
Remember, if all of this is overwhelming to you, then you need to hire a professional because these are the basics of installing flooring. This will only overwhelm you when you know your skill level isn’t up to par with installation requirements…