Dogs and Wood Floor

[Pernelf]

Well we are about to get a new house and are going to pull up the 45 year old carpet. I want to put down a new floor for the living room, kitchen and hallway. I'd like to do wood but have two rambuncious dogs. Does anyone have wood floor and dogs? How does the floor stand up to dog nails? I don't want a laminate and don't want tile (to cold underfoot) I'm leaning to pergo but am not sure how it stands up to the wear and tear of running/playing/wrestling dogs.

[fishinbuc]

Any laminate wood floor should hold up well. Pergo is just a brand name. Hope you can stand their nails clicking against the floor.

Oh yeah, get a video camera for the first few days. I'm sure you'll get some good footage of your dogs wiping out.

[Muttling]

I have a lot of hardwood with a great dane and a german shepard. The nails on the dogs aren't an issue. Here's some things that are....


1 - Doggie pee or vomit. Clean it up the same day or it will discolor the floor. This is a big problem if you have a rug on part of your hardwood and there's a accident that you don't catch for days or months.

2 - ALL your funiture. EVERYTHING needs to have a cloth padded buttong on the bottom of it. Chairs, sofas, dressers, end tables, etc, etc, etc. You can buy them pretty cheaply at Home Depot and Lowes, but make sure you put cloth under everything. Even the plastic buttons will scratch the floor.

[clavery]

I put hardwood floors in our kitchen/dining area, livingroom and hallway a few years ago, and I love them. Had them put on three coats of satin poly. It's held up well despite three teenagers and a large GSD. But furniture will definitely scratch the floor. Fortunately, the scratches eventually take on a darker color and blend in much better than scratches in laminates, and I actually like the patina of older hardwood floors, anyway.

[DEEC77]

I have two dogs and four kids - hardwood floors throughout the house the only thing that really scatches badly is sand or any gritty dirt.

[Ocicat]

Don't some woods scratch more easily than others?

I have new maple floors, and two cats with claws... Occasionally if they are really wound up and racing around, chasing each other, they will put a few minor scratches in the floor. Fortunately because it is light maple, the scratches aren't really that visible unless the light hits them right.

Also, as was said, furniture (chairs in particular) is the floor's biggest enemy. Even if you put pads on the furniture's feet, be aware that it can still cause scratches if there is any dirt/sand/grit on the floor that gets caught under the pad when the furniture is moved. Muttling mentioned those plastic buttons -- I agree; in fact, I think they're worse than having nothing!

Over all we LOVE having hardwood... I'd much rather deal with a few scratches here and there than have big dogs (or kids) come in from outside onto carpet. It's soooo much easier to clean than carpet.

[Ocicat]

P.S. I have Mercier solid wood, not laminate like Pergo.

[Muttling]

Originally posted by Ocicat

Don't some woods scratch more easily than others?

I believe it's the type of finish instead of the type of wood that determines how easily it will scratch. The newer finishes are a LOT harder then what was being used about 10 years ago.

[Wolverine]

Originally posted by Muttling
Doggie pee or vomit. Clean it up the same day or it will discolor the floor.

I try to clean that up the same day even if it's just carpeting, tile, or linoleum.

Dave

[barleychown]

I have had an overactive great dane on Wilsonart estate plus floring for the last 16 months. Even when I look for scratches, I can't find any.

I am so happy with them I will be putting the same floor in the house we are currently building.

[smleee]

I don't understand how those with wood floors and dogs don't have scratches.... We have a Malamute and she is definately not active like typical. One crazy run though and the floor is toast. It's not just the finish either, the wood is gouged and it's Alder wood (not laminate) which I think is preety hard. Not sure how many times it can be refinished, but after that we're going to stone. Hate wood floors, why'd I buy a that damn house!

eee

[oz]

I have 2 dogs and have brazilian cherry hardwood throughout.

My dogs have the run of the kitchen and family room where I have tiles in kitchen and Pergo in family room.

I would recommend Pergo for where your dogs are, where you do rough housing and where you have most traffic.

[oz]

BTW, I got my brazilian cherry hardwood at bellawood dot com.
They offer 50-Year Finish warranty (on all their wood), one of the best in the industry.

[Wilafur]

depends on the wood flooring. some are harder than others. cherry is one of the hardest woods and does not scratch/dent as easily as lets say, um, pine.

[jenghes]

I am not sure what type of wood that I have, it is not pine though. My dog's nails scratch it to all heck.

A word of advice - do not use a glossy finish. It shows the dust so much. I can wash it and an hour later it looks dirty in the sunlight. If I go to the basement, the floor gets foot prints on it.

I second the felt. My father-in-law used a folding chair on mine and I now have dents from the legs on it too.

I HATE my hardwood floor.

[oz]

What you're really saying is you hate your father-in-law.

[jenghes]

Nah - can't say that. He'll hear me May he rest in peace.

[smleee]

Originally posted by oz
What you're really saying is you hate your father-in-law.

Bahahaha. My father-in-law put the first "dent" in our hardwood floor while helping us move in. He dropped the table on the floor! Of course we were both a little upset, but hey, he's helping us move. Then him and I rolled the fridge out to hook up the water lines......damn thing left wheel tracks on the floor! After the first week we just said to hell with the floor, it's ruined, lets not cry over spilled milk.

eee

[Wilafur]

you can refinish the floors.

[oz]

Some of you may want to try this

It restores shine to dull, worn polyurethane-finished floors and works especially well on scratches.