How to Prevent a Stove From Scratching a New Laminate Floor
Laminate flooring, originally created by Pergo in 1979 and now offered by manufacturers all over the world, provides home and business owners with all of the beauty of stone, wood or other traditional floor materials but with faster and easier installation. One downside to laminate, though, is its soft, easily-scratched surface that makes it a difficult product to care for---especially in kitchens where owners must often move heavy appliances such as stoves for cleaning purposes. Use of sliders, plastic circular or square disks, beneath stove feet and soft glides or felt pads can help prevent this type of damage and maintain your laminate floor's beauty for years.
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Contact the manufacturer of your stove to determine if the feet currently on the stove can slide across laminate floors without scratching. If they cannot, ask whether you can affix glides and/or felt pads to the feet of your stove. For safety reasons--to prevent fire caused by heat generated from the stove igniting certain products--the manufacturer may make a specific recommendation.
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Purchase furniture/appliance sliders with hard surface pads/covers and glides and/or felt pads for each foot of your stove like those from Waxman Consumer Group or All Glides.
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Prepare each slider beforehand by pulling the hard surface pad/cover, if not already attached, over the edges of the slider.
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Lift one corner of your stove an inch or two off the floor, with the assistance of helpers to protect against injuries related to lifting heavy objects, and place a slider with hard surface pad/cover beneath. Repeat with the other feet of your stove.
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Slide your stove, again with assistance from your helpers, to the spot on your new laminate where you plan to use it.
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Remove the sliders with hard surface pads/covers and replace with glides or felt pads depending on the recommendations of your manufacturer and your personal preferences. If using an adhesive backed product, pull the paper backing from the first glide or felt pad and affix the glide/felt pad firmly to the bottom of a foot. Repeat with the other glides/felt pads.
References
Resources
Tips
- If you want a more permanent solution to protecting your new laminate floor, purchase screw-type laminate-safe feet or glides to replace the feet that came with your stove.
Warnings
- Always ask helpers or installers to wear shoes with soft rubber white or tan soles as hard and/or black rubber soles on shoes, sneakers and boots can scratch, scuff and/or scar laminate flooring.
- Never affix adhesive-backed glides or felt pads to the bottom of your stove's feet to slide across a large floor surface, unless otherwise stated in product instructions, as certain products slide off or fray from the sliding motion/friction when used in this fashion. Instead, always use sliders with hard surface pads and affix glides or felt pads within a foot or less of the spot on your new laminate floor where you plan to use it and then wait at least a half day (more or less depending on product instructions) for the adhesive to bond and final positioning of the stove.
- Always keep your kitchen laminate floor clean of dirt and debris as such material trapped beneath any type of foot, glide or felt pad can scratch laminate flooring.
Writer Bio
Based in Southern Pennsylvania, Irene A. Blake has been writing on a wide range of topics for over a decade. Her work has appeared in projects by The National Network for Artist Placement, the-phone-book Limited and GateHouse Media. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Shippensburg University.
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