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A little story- A house we built (since sold) had really awesome locally milled red oak, random width hardwood floors. The whole first floor. Our kids were told, at a very early age- DO NOT RUN AROUND ON THE HARDWOOD FLOORS. The floors are slick and you'll bust your fanny.
So one night I'm working late at the office and I get a call from my wife. My son, who JUST grew in his PERFECT adult front teeth was chasing the dog around the kitchen in his socks and slipped and hit the metal dog food bowl on the floor. Right..on..his..new.. teeth. Busted them down the roots, both of them .
Hardwood floors are great, and I would install them again if I had to do it over again, but they are not exactly 'kid friendly', lol.
This is one of my nightmares!
My kids have slipped on the oak floors but nothing that horrifying. We have carpet, too, so it isn't one big swath of slippery floor to run on. A friend just put in laminate throughout the house. So far they like it. I hope they don't have any incidents like yours.
People have been living on wood floors for generations, with both pets and animals. My last house had a medium stained oak and nothing showed on it. Now, I have dark stained wood and every speck of dust and dog hair shows on it.
Wood is fine, but keep the color medium instead of dark.
LOL. We have two Great Danes and a 14 year old mini Daschund. The Daschund has always been an intemittent house pooper, so I am throwing in my vote for tile. Most of our home has Italian tile, and it is the easiest to clean when she's sulking and soils the floor. It's also very easy to clean off mud and other nastiness, and doesn't need refinishing as wood does. I've heard laminates can stand up well, but they may mar if you're hard on them.
People have been living on wood floors for generations, with both pets and animals. My last house had a medium stained oak and nothing showed on it. Now, I have dark stained wood and every speck of dust and dog hair shows on it.
Wood is fine, but keep the color medium instead of dark.
IMO, the type of finish is important as well. We have a semi-gloss finish on our wood floors and footprint smudges show horribly. I'm also noticing fine scratches from our small dog's nails (and we've had the dog for just four months).
My sister has a satin finish on her hardwoods and I like that much better. Footprints hardly show and I haven't noticed scratches even though she has a larger dog.
IMO, the type of finish is important as well. We have a semi-gloss finish on our wood floors and footprint smudges show horribly. I'm also noticing fine scratches from our small dog's nails (and we've had the dog for just four months).
My sister has a satin finish on her hardwoods and I like that much better. Footprints hardly show and I haven't noticed scratches even though she has a larger dog.
I keep a bottle of Old English Scratch Cover handy for the occasional scratch.
I had a 1960's house with wood floors that we uncovered from the wall-to-wall carpet. My two little dogs' nails definitely scratched it up. I don't know what kind of wood it was -- probably not the most high-end type as it wasn't a high-end neighborhood. I had heard bamboo scratches easily too, but perhaps it depends what kind, as mentioned above.
I just installed laminate in my home in FL and it is very scratch-resistant to the dogs' nails. However, and I didn't know this until the installer told me, it's not supposed to get wet -- even the area around the dogs' water bowls, where they drip water as they're walking away, could warp if it gets water in the seams.
You're in Southern CA so tile would be a good option. The porcelain plank tiles are really on-trend right now, and can mimic wood so well, you can't even tell the difference. Tile is harder on your back and dishes if you drop them, but is pretty indestructible.
Hello, According to me, Bamboo floors are very reliable flooring choice for any location subject to comprehensive use and also can stand up nicely to polishing caused by pets and children. It's harsh sufficient to withstand the effect of a falling object in the kitchen.
I just installed laminate in my home in FL and it is very scratch-resistant to the dogs' nails. However, and I didn't know this until the installer told me, it's not supposed to get wet -- even the area around the dogs' water bowls, where they drip water as they're walking away, could warp if it gets water in the seams.
I'm sure some laminate is better than others but my parents have this issue with their kitchen floor. They have a mat under the bowl but it doesn't matter because the dog drips EVERYWHERE. Now that he's older it's even worse. The floor itself is in tact but the color is awful now.
We loved the wood-look porcelain tile we had in our previous home. I'd never heard of it until we were looking at that home. I thought it was real wood until the owner told me otherwise. She said her kids actually roller skated on the floors! Never showed a scratch. I miss those floors.
And, as someone else mentioned, don't choose anything too dark, as every speck of dirt and dust will show. We have dark hardwood now, and it always looks filthy.
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