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Old 01-25-2007, 11:22 AM
 
5,019 posts, read 14,077,143 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skipstone View Post
Plaidmom, so are you saying the paste wax erases the scratches from your dog?

Uh, I mean - the paste wax erases the dog scratches from your hardwood floor?

Surfing, I don't see scratches on your floors in those photos, but your dogs are precious! It looks as though the floors don't have any kind of seal such as polyurethane. Is that right?

I wonder if some of the scratches on a lot of hardwood floors are not actually into the wood, but simply on the shiny surface where polyurethane (or other similar coating) has been applied?

Thoughts anyone?

LOL. Yeah, a simple buffing with paste wax will diminish the scratch marks from the dog, furniture etc. "Oiled" floors are sort of an old-fashiond, low-gloss look. I don't think they are appropriate in rooms with mositure (bath, kitchen) or homes with young children (spills) or un-houstrained-pets ("accidents").

I agree that unless your scratches are really deep, they are probably just surface-scratches in the poly. I had poly floors in the last house and my dog didn't scratch them...since I didn't do the finishing I'm not sure which product was used.

The peeps over at oldhouseweb have alllll kinds of floor-refinishing advice. You might want to see if you can find some advice there. They have a very useable search function.
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Old 01-25-2007, 11:31 AM
 
1,408 posts, read 8,002,473 times
Reputation: 676
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skipstone View Post
Plaidmom, so are you saying the paste wax erases the scratches from your dog?

Uh, I mean - the paste wax erases the dog scratches from your hardwood floor?

Surfing, I don't see scratches on your floors in those photos, but your dogs are precious! It looks as though the floors don't have any kind of seal such as polyurethane. Is that right?

I wonder if some of the scratches on a lot of hardwood floors are not actually into the wood, but simply on the shiny surface where polyurethane (or other similar coating) has been applied?

Thoughts anyone?
Thanks for the compliment. If there ever was poly on the floors it's long gone now which is one reason why i want to have them refinished (that and some time this year we're putting our house on the market so i need it to look GOOD). if you look closely by the table in hardwood floors (at the edge) some of the "dark spots" are scratches. the dark spots are also the high traffic spots that are worn. I do believe it's the poly that gets scratched. my sister doesn't have animals, she's had her floors refinished and poly'd and she has stratches from her children.
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Old 01-25-2007, 07:06 PM
 
Location: The Big D
14,862 posts, read 42,692,464 times
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We also have hardwood floors w/ a top poly coat AND two dogs. When we first moved into the house in 2002 we had our Lhasa and an 80lb Dalmatian (both house dogs). Lost our Dal about 2 years ago and now have a 7lb ankle bitter (more like licker) that RUNS nonstop. This dog will wear out a carpet running in circles playing. LOL!!! Anyway, we have no damage at all done by the dogs, no scratches or anything The ONLY damage is a dent in the kitchen where something heavy feel off the wall, it was iron and in the study where the desk chair rolled around before we picked out a rug we both could agree on. YIKES!!! It is only the poly topcoat that is damaged and if we have them refinished they will be good as new. I would not trade my wood floors for anything. Whenever we have to replace the carpet downstairs it will be all wood. My dogs are smart though, they know to keep running and not try to stop till they hit carpet. hehehehe. Playing ball w/ them in the house is fun. My Lhasa will come flying in from the backdoor onto wood, hit the carpet in the den, keep going onto the wood in the entry, sharp bank to the left to touch the rug at the front door, head into the study across the wood till she can safely stop on the rug in there. The lil 7 pounder tried to hit the brakes on the wood last week and slid right into a pot by the front door. Poor thing, but it was funny.
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Old 01-25-2007, 10:57 PM
 
1,396 posts, read 1,181,532 times
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I have wood floors through out my house and I just try not too worry to much about the scratches. I have German Shepherds and they hate the floor. But, I do have my floors redone about every 5 years with a product called glitza. I have then professional done. My floor guy has advised me not to use any oil or wax due to refinishing the glitza will sometimes not take and even with sanding before he puts on the finish you can leave dark marks.
The glitza is a stronger more durable finish and lasts for along time. He has told me if it's just surface scratches that will not damage the under neath.
I think my toughest floor to keep the finish on is my kitchen too much traffic and water seems to not be it's best friend.
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Old 03-27-2007, 12:13 AM
 
31 posts, read 212,717 times
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Default laminate flooring

From what I understand, laminate flooring (with the look of wood floors) is supposed to hold up better than real hard woods. I know it's not as nice as hardwoods might be, but it served the purpose. Plus with the click-lock types they have now, it's easy to do yourself and inexpensive. Costco and Ikea carry it.

I eventually plan on putting tile downstairs. I may do half the floor carpet.I still haven't decided.

I did find a great way to use tile. My dogs love to look out the window. Most the times that means they have their paws up on the ledge. They kept scratching the paint and digging into the wood, so I tiled the ledge beneath the window. It works well and actually looks really good.

Tabitha

I used to be tired all the time, then I got my energy back.
http://anmnow.com/2retire/company.shtml
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Old 03-27-2007, 05:42 PM
 
Location: SE Florida
9,367 posts, read 25,136,261 times
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Two years ago I had bamboo put in my guest bath, kitchen, dining & living rooms and was assured repeatedly by the sales woman, when asking about dog's nails scratching it, that bamboo was IMPENETRABLE.

Wrong- lots of scratches and I have runners all over now, which are picked up before company comes. I love the bamboo and a friend said that the marks just add to the natural effect. That's a good friend!

Bamboo is actually a grass and I had heard that it was harder than wood. I love the look, but I do have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I spent so much money and it gets more scratches by the day.
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Old 03-27-2007, 06:29 PM
 
11,550 posts, read 52,932,988 times
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Current generation commercial rated urethanes will resist the "claw attack" on hardwood floors. Of course, if the attack is bad enough to dent the wood substrate, then the finish won't make any difference.

These systems are for professional installation only.

Some are water based and are now more durable than the older solvent based formulations. But the water based systems are harder to install and achieve a good cosmetic effect than the solvent systems.

I've had a house done in glitsa that I was preparing to sell. It looked good and withstood all the marring one typically sees with the appliances being moved. It was a three step application process and the cost was very competitive with other products.
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Old 03-27-2007, 07:46 PM
 
841 posts, read 4,829,278 times
Reputation: 1001
Default wood floors and dogs

We have oak wood floors on the first floor of our house and we have a beagle and another bigger hound dog (65 pounds). The area that gets scratched up the most is at the bottom of the stairs. I guess they land pretty hard coming off the carpeted stairs. But we wouldn't change our wood floors to anything else. We love the look and feel. And they are very easy to keep clean. The dogs bring in some mud and dirt and the dog hair is endless.
I agree with the tile statement...everything that drops on tile breaks. Not so with wood.
I think the scratches give the floor 'character'. We've had the floor for four years and haven't had to refinish them so far.
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Old 03-29-2007, 01:29 AM
 
27 posts, read 159,188 times
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We have satin finished engineered hardwood (we were told it would be real hardwood by the builder but thats another story), and its honestly the worst flooring imaginable for dog owners. The satin finish can't even be kept clean with daily cleanings(Floormate, mop, hands & knees scrubbing, ect.) Though we have been somewhat lucky with dog durability testing - claw marks are few and far between, however one of them has a hidden accident, it has caused the veneer to bubble up in a few spots. Beyond that, daily life has done a number on them as far as wear and tear. I dropped my keys today and it left a pock mark. If a heavier object drops on the floor it can break through the veneer. Also, the floors are limited to 1-2 refinishing jobs over a lifetime. I can't wait to move!
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Old 03-29-2007, 06:50 PM
 
389 posts, read 3,532,810 times
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Here's a thought to look into that most people wouldn't even know about (the only reason I do, is because my brother and dad do this) they do concrete resurfacing and can put down something like the backer board used for tiling and put their product on top and make it look like just about anything. My brother did his office floor with an acid wash and it's beautiful! It has the colors of wood, but he did a really neat design with it. The stuff is super strong and doesn't chip, crack, break, scratch etc. I am hoping when we build our house that I can convince them to make the trip to do my floors because I really want wood, but I don't think it's a good idea with my two 75lb dogs wrestling around on it.

It's really important to make sure you are getting a high quality installer though with this kind of thing. They do driveways and garage floors and stuff too, and they always gaurantee it, but down here in FL, I have seen so many driveways that don't look nice at all, and there's one that's all cracked and chipped and looks awful.

Just a thought, something to consider.
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