Should Painting or Floor Installation Come First for my Project?

One of the most important factors to consider when determining if you should have your interior painted first or your new flooring installed first is whether the flooring installers need to remove any of your trim prior to installing your new floors. If the baseboards, quarter round and/or door casing need to be removed in order to install your new floors, the floors should be installed before you have your painting completed so your wall/trim paint is not ruined by having the trim removed. At the same time, flooring installers frequently mar or damage trim even if they are not removing it.  It is also important to remember that it is a lot easier to match paint colors to floor colors than to match floor colors to previously painted walls.

If your flooring installers do not need to remove the trim prior to installing your new floors, the painting can be completed before or after the floors are done, however it is important to know if new quarter round needs to be installed to cover gaps around the perimeter of the room. If so, again it would make more sense to have your painting completed after the floors are done so the quarter round can be caulked, the nails filled and then painted to match the baseboards.

If your trim work does not need to be removed or new quarter round does not need to be installed, you can have your painting completed before your new floors are installed. If you plan to have your painting completed first, it is a good idea to let your flooring installers know so they use caution with the fresh paint. Depending on how soon the floors are done after your painting is completed, the trim work may require touching up if it has not gone through the 30-day curing process and/or if your flooring installers affect the trim work with carpet kickers, nail guns or the flooring itself.