Best type of flooring for dogs? (hardwood floors, to rent, house) - Huntsville-Madison-Decatur area - Alabama (AL) - City-Data Forum

techochic · 07-20-2011, 07:29 PM

Does anyone have suggestions for a flooring solution that looks good and able to stand up to wear/scratches of dogs?

In the process of neg. to build a house, plan to skip on the carpet. House foundation is slab. Leaning toward tile for the entire living areas instead of hardwood.

Elizabeth_G · 07-20-2011, 08:22 PM

I would be afraid of resale with a home full of tile...Hardwood is always a favorite but does show scratches for sure. There is an engineered "hand scraped" hardwood that isn't supposed to show scratches as badly but I would investigate that first.

It may be cheaper in the long run to go carpet and replace right before selling

Mawoods · 07-20-2011, 09:09 PM

Elizabeth is correct. A resale of all tile would be hard unless it is Florida and even now hardwood is getting more popular down there.

We have had that handscraped hardwood and we personally did not find that it showed less scratches.We now have floors that were finished on site. They are definitely more expensive but in the long run easier to refinish many times and easy to use a little Old English in the meantime!!

writerwife · 07-21-2011, 07:32 AM

I put some of that 'resilient' plank flooring in that Home depot carries (It's made specifically for them so only they have the stuff that I got). It really looks just like wood planks but it's sort of rubber. It's rather inexpensive and very easy to install and goes right over almost anything that's already there, including concrete. I put it in myself about 3 yrs ago (3 dogs) and I'm loving every moment of it. I am not a fan of laminate, I don't like that painted on look, this is not a laminate floor. I got walnut, I believe. It comes in planks and essentially, the floor floats. Everyone that has seen it thinks it's a wood floor. It was originally created for boats so it is also waterproof and it does not have a shiny surface but it is more textured. I see no effect from the dogs and more importantly, my husband, in a little over 3 yrs. It is all I hoped it would be. It has glue strips along 1 side of each plank that the next plank overlaps and adheres to. And it does. Just make sure to rent a heavy roller to go over each section as you do it and it'll hold forever. It's also a quiet floor. Since it's a resilient floor, you will not hear footfalls.
It's called Traffic Master.

Mawoods · 07-21-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by writerwife

I put some of that 'resilient' plank flooring in that Home depot carries (It's made specifically for them so only they have the stuff that I got). It really looks just like wood planks but it's sort of rubber. It's rather inexpensive and very easy to install and goes right over almost anything that's already there, including concrete. I put it in myself about 3 yrs ago (3 dogs) and I'm loving every moment of it. I am not a fan of laminate, I don't like that painted on look, this is not a laminate floor. I got walnut, I believe. It comes in planks and essentially, the floor floats. Everyone that has seen it thinks it's a wood floor. It was originally created for boats so it is also waterproof and it does not have a shiny surface but it is more textured. I see no effect from the dogs and more importantly, my husband, in a little over 3 yrs. It is all I hoped it would be. It has glue strips along 1 side of each plank that the next plank overlaps and adheres to. And it does. Just make sure to rent a heavy roller to go over each section as you do it and it'll hold forever. It's also a quiet floor. Since it's a resilient floor, you will not hear footfalls.
It's called Traffic Master.

I am curious about this flooring. Sounds like it would be great for a lake house and such. Like you I am not a fan of laminate and this sounds like it would be a good compromise for certain situations. What is it made of? Next time we are in HD we will check it out!

sunnyandcloudydays · 07-21-2011, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by techochic

Does anyone have suggestions for a flooring solution that looks good and able to stand up to wear/scratches of dogs?

In the process of neg. to build a house, plan to skip on the carpet. House foundation is slab. Leaning toward tile for the entire living areas instead of hardwood.

I would go with tile and if you have to sell down the road then put carpet down
you have to be comfortable first and worry about what could be down the road

we have tile in our kitchen and keep the dogs in there while we are gone and it is very easy to clean if they have a mistake and it does not require anything but soap and water very easy and no odor

mrs1885 · 07-21-2011, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

I would go with tile and if you have to sell down the road then put carpet down
you have to be comfortable first and worry about what could be down the road

we have tile in our kitchen and keep the dogs in there while we are gone and it is very easy to clean if they have a mistake and it does not require anything but soap and water very easy and no odor

I agree. I run a rescue and the first thing I did when I bought my house was rip out carpet. We have hardwood floors in half the house and they looked passable when we bought. We've been here 5 years and they need to be refinished BADLY. The dogs running and playing just tear them up.

Go with hardwood floors in the bedrooms and only let the dogs in there at bedtime. Play time is in the living spaces of the house and you can go with tile there and it holds up great. That's what we have in the room we use for quarantining the dogs that come in from the shelters. Toss some bleach on the floor and it kills anything that's there. We did use the additive to the grout to keep the grout from staining and then we sealed it when we were done.

I'd never, ever have carpet in my house. I know people like it - it's warm and a lot of people think it's inviting - but to me, even before the rescue when I had kids, carpet just screamed bacteria to me. All I could think of is what was getting into the carpet that the vac didn't pull out and how it would look after carpet cleaning and getting wet and allowed to slowly dry and mold. *gag* Not a fan of carpet at all!

Dusty Rhodes · 07-21-2011, 11:25 AM

Best type of flooring for dogs?

Dirt floor in a basement. Of course they really like shag carpet, or a thick patch of grass in the shade.

Dollydo · 07-21-2011, 11:27 AM

Four years ago I replaced my carpet with Bamboo wood floring, a light natural color. I have 2 dogs and a cat. It is easy to clean and has held up perfectly.

writerwife · 07-21-2011, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mawoods

I am curious about this flooring. Sounds like it would be great for a lake house and such. Like you I am not a fan of laminate and this sounds like it would be a good compromise for certain situations. What is it made of? Next time we are in HD we will check it out!

I'm not real sure what it's made of. But...it is flexible, has a bit of a rubbery feel on the top and it's quite durable. When installing you need a good knife to score it and snap it apart to fit it in areas. It really would be perfect for a lake house in my opinion. Like I said, I love it and so far, anyone that has seen it, thinks I have a wood floor down in my kitchen unless or until I tell them. Anyone that really inspects it would know by it's feel that it's not wood and with the darker color that I have it has more of a rustic or farmhouse look to it.

I am seriously considering tearing out all of my carpet elsewhere and putting this stuff down. (I'm just trying to figure out if I'm up to the task at hand of moving the furniture, etc..