If you want to learn how to protect hardwood floors when moving a refrigerator then you’ve come to the right place.
Our preferred method of protecting a hardwood floor when moving a refrigerator is to use a sheet of Masonite, also known as hardboard, underneath the fridge to protect the floor below.
If you don’t have any hardboard to spare, then don’t worry, we’ve also included a couple of different materials that you can follow for a similar result.
How To Move A Refrigerator On Hardwood Floor
Before we jump into the materials to use to move your refrigerator, you’ll need to understand how to properly move it first without causing damage to the floor below.
The first thing you need to do is thoroughly clean the floor from where your refrigerator is to where it is going to be moved. you don’t have to mop up every square inch of floor, but a vigorous vacuum is necessary to remove any residue or dirt on the floor.
Once you’ve vacuumed your floor then the likelihood of scratches occurring from the moving process is greatly reduced.
After vacuuming you’ll want to completely empty your refrigerator, as well as disconnect it from any electric and water supplies. If you have a built-in freezer, you’ll need to defrost it out completely before moving takes place.
Once this is done you can use one of the materials below to prop under the legs or the entire bottom of your refrigerator to slide it across the floor. This is where the vacuuming will come in handy as there will be no dirt underneath the material that would otherwise likely cause scratches as it is dragged underneath the refrigerator.
3 Materials Your Hardwood Floor Whilst Moving A Refrigerator
Let’s take a look at three of the best materials to protect your hardwood floor when moving a refrigerator. We’ve tried to include a variety of materials to cover your personal circumstances as well as what materials are available to you.
1. Hardboard – Our Favourite
Masonite, also known as hardboard, is our personal choice for moving a refrigerator on a hardwood floor for many reasons.
Firstly, hardboard can be bought in a variety of different thicknesses at most local hardware shops which is great as you can adapt the size to the weight of your fridge. The fact that hardboard is so easy to come across is also another reason why it is a great choice.
The other key benefit to using hardboard is that it is quite durable and can be used multiple times for moving refrigerators. This is great because some other materials like cardboard that are much cheaper are also more likely to break down after repeated uses.
Hardboard is great to use in a thickness of between 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch, depending on how much protection you need and how heavy your refrigerator is.
2. Cardboard – The Cheaper Alternative
Cardboard works essentially the same way as hardboard, but it is cheaper to buy and there is also a good chance that you may have some laying around the house somewhere.
When it comes to cardboard we recommend using a thicker layer, usually around 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick if possible, or even stacking a couple of layers together. Cardboard is more of an old fashioned method that a lot of people still swear by today, it’s just not as durable as hardboard, but it can still get the job done in most cases.
3. Furniture Sliders – Honorable Mention
Furniture sliders are developed especially for moving around large pieces of furniture and household appliances and equipment.
They can work really well to move a fridge, but in our opinion, there are cheaper alternatives such as hardboard and cardboard that can do the job just as well. The benefit of buying furniture sliders however is that they can be reused multiple times and on more than one piece of furniture.
If you are in the middle of moving an entire house and not just a refrigerator, or if you are looking for a more specialised solution that you can use multiple times, furniture sliders are a viable choice. Just be willing to pay a bit more than the other materials in this list.
What Damage Can A Refrigerator Cause to A Hardwood Floor?
A refrigerator can cause a lot of damage to a hardwood floor. Typically, the damage will consist of surface scratches, sub-surface scratches as well as indentations.
Surface scratches are not too big of a deal, but if you get deep scratches that penetrate through the surface then these can be quite the handful to deal with.
Considering the weight of a fridge it is very likely for a hardwood floor to become damaged during moving, even more so when all the weight is distributed a smaller area like when tipping it over.
This is why we recommend a thicker layer of protection when you first tip the fridge over to be moved as it is at this stage where indentations and deep scratches are more likely to happen due to the weight distribution.
Final Thoughts
Moving a refrigerator isn’t as hard as you would expect, and you can easily avoid damaging a hardwood floor beneath it by using the right materials underneath the fridge.
If you have any other questions regarding this topic then don’t hesitate to let us know here!