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Should I Paint Before Or After Installing Flooring?

Should I Paint Before Or After Installing Flooring?
Should I Paint Before Or After Installing Flooring?
Should I Paint Before Or After Installing Flooring?

Most of the time the order we do things in is obvious: cereal before milk, pants before shoes, wash before dry. Sometimes, however, the order isn't so clear.

As they plan their interior renovation, many Bay Area homeowners wonder whether to install new flooring or to repaint the walls and trim first. While either order can work when done right, MB Jessee Painting recommends installing flooring first for several reasons.

3 reasons why you should install flooring before painting

There are two main problems that can occur if flooring is installed after painting:

  1. Potential damage to the new paint job. Since a roll of carpet is always the width of the room, it's easy to scrape walls as you enter and place the new floor covering. When tiling a floor, working with a trowel near the walls can often lead to dents in the baseboards. Installing a wood or laminate floor can also entail using glue and tools near your baseboards and lower walls, often leading to unsightly mishaps and damage. Any of these dents, scratches, and scrapes will take time and money to repair correctly.
  2. New flooring might be a different height than the previous flooring. This could leave you with a small stripe of unpainted baseboard that the old floor covered but the new floor does not. You might also find yourself needing to lower your baseboards, which is not something you want to have to do after repainting your walls.

What about drips or splatters???

The main hesitation that homeowners have in finishing floors before walls is the fear of drips, splatters, and spills on their new wood or carpet. This problem, however, can be easily prevented, and is not nearly as serious a risk as those involved in painting first. A professional painting contractor should take proper care in setting up the room to prevent any possibility of damage to your new flooring.

Have questions about your Bay Area interior painting project?

If you need more information or would like our team of professional painters in San Francisco, East Bay, and Contra Costa counties to work on your next project, contact us today for a free estimate.

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Customer Reviews

“MB Jessee painters are stellar! As a designer I've worked with numerous companies over the years, and MB Jessee is a top-notch firm. From the first phone call to the final clean up, every person is courteous, professional, and hard working. The owner, Matt, is a charitable leader who has instilled his team with integrity and honesty providing the customer with a first class experience at a fair price with a paint job that is guaranteed to last. I highly recommend MB Jessee. Thank you Matt and your STAR crew-Daniel, Rigoberto, Vicente, Edy, Pedro, and Mario, for a job well executed! Cynthia Brian, ASID, Starstyle® Productions, llc”

— Cynthia Brian
Morgan, CA

“My entire experience with MB Jesse was very professional. The crew were very friendly and super accommodating of my ridiculous schedule and geriatric pets in the house. The finished product, which was pretty much my entire house, far exceeds my expectations. Would definitely work with them again!”

— Heather Jordan

“MB Jessee just finished our exterior and we couldn't be happier with our experience. The foreman (Pedro) and lead painter (Ricardo) were incredible to work with: they communicated scheduling clearly, Ricardo was a joy to be around every day, the showed up early every day, were incredibly tidy and did great paint work. The final walkthrough experience was incredible. Pedro pointed out items I missed demonstrating a clear desire to complete another quality project. I highly recommend them. As others have noted they definitely aren't the cheapest but you quickly realize that you're getting what you pay for. The 3-year guarantee is also a nice touch since there are likely touch-up items that will show up after the job is done.”

— Joshua J.
Oakland, CA

“Everyone I dealt with was nice, helpful, and very professional. The price was reasonable! (I didn't feel like I was getting the "San Francisco price." The attention to detail and work quality was excellent. They did what they said they would do in the exact timeframe they said they would do. Highly recommend!”

— Tim Tyson

“I can't say enough about how courteous and professional my foreman was. He was on time every morning and arrived cheerful and ready to go. He is highly organized and very thoughtful. He was extremely careful and respectful when moving my belongings - a mature professional.”

— Nora Robinson

“Charles finished yesterday and did a fantastic job. We really enjoyed meeting Charles and having him in our home. He is a great guy in addition to his attention to detail in his work, the protection of our floors, walls and furnishings, and his overall interaction with us both. I would be pleased to recommend him to any of my clients.”

— Ken Morrison
Oakland

“It was a great experience working with MB Jessee. The crew was careful and thorough as they painted the house, sealed stucco cracks, repaired dry-rotted wood, stained the deck, etc. Robert, Gersson, Jose, and all of the people involved in the process from the estimate to the job completion were friendly and professional.”

— Mike C.
Livermore, CA

“The entire MB Jessee team is courteous, efficient and professional. From scheduling and estimating to the crew managers and crew, they all did an excellent job on a small (but complicated) two room project in my house. I'm already thinking about getting them scheduled for the next project in the spring.”

— Cari Cheney

“I loved working with M.B. Jessee from start to finish on a relatively small paint job that grew a bit. I felt in very good hands from the moment Matt Jessee came out to give me the estimate and talk about my job. He was very easy to talk to and he handled my changes very well. Then the actual work done by Rigoberto and Mario was impeccable. They were neat and meticulous and the paint job looks beautiful. I could not have asked for more and when I did, they accommodated me 100%. I will not hesitate to call M.B. Jessee again and to refer them to friends.”

— Nancy Kurkjian

“The finish on my kitchen cabinets had failed, becoming tacky and grimy around the handles. M B Jessee gave me a reasonable quote, far below some others, and did an outstanding job, striping the original varnish and refinishing with a new lacquer finish. The cabinets look like new. Work was done 1 day faster than estimated. The crew was extremely hard-working, considerate, and neat. Highly recommend M B Jessee.”

— Thama B.
San Francisco, CA

“I love the article in the paper on your company. Thank you for supporting our community by painting at the Claremont Middle School. Thanks!”

— Carla Banks

“Julie, by the way, I have never been so impressed with the service of a painting job before! It was like magical elves came and painted our walls without us having to do a thing! It looks amazing and just wanted to let you know how happy we are. Thanks”

— Anja
Piedmont