What Type of Floors are Best for Dogs

[cricket]

Okay, I want to know what type of floors are best for dogs.

I have carpet throughout the house with the exception of the bathrooms and Kitchen which are linoleum (sp). I dislike both. I want to do the house in something that is boxer friendly. i.e. if they make a mess it will not be hard to clean up.

I have some ideas for Hardwood or Marble tile. Although, I am not sure how that would work going from one room to the next. Marble kitchen moving to hardwood living area. I guess there wouldn't be much of a height varience. Any suggestions.

 

[courtney323]

Hi there Cricket,

We have beautiful Oak hardwoods throughout our house (that are scratched up by our Boxer). I love hardwoods, as they are beautiful, and easy to clean. Ours are newly refinished, as well -- and they are already scratched up (when you look closely) by our Boxer. So I would definitely keep that in mind. I hear that some feaux-hardwoods (laminates, etc) are more durable - just depends on your personal taste.

We also have marble tile that back up to the hardwoods in one room. As for the variance in height, there are 2 things you can do to solve this:

(a) remove the sub-flooring in the room that you are tiling and replace the sub-flooring with something thick or thin enough to make the tile flush with the floors (this is what we did - might cost you a few extra bucks)

(b) the tilers can just put a transition-piece where the tile backs up to the wood floors. This is what many people do.

Again - its all an issue of personal taste.

Good luck!

 

[megan313]

You can definitely make the wood/tile transition, it just comes down to the measurments you take for the thickness of the cement board (used for tile) and subflooring (used for hard wood).

I reccommend choosing a darker grout for tile, like beige, because i have white grout in my bathroom and am constantly trying to bleach it white, and the dogs dont even go in there!

Also, for the wood floor, I think a higher quality Laminate wood flooring would be better, because real wood floors can scratch easily. (from rough playing or toe nails, etc.)

One last thing, if you do go with wood, make sure you seal it properly. (my in-laws spent a lot of money on a wood floor, and it had a decorative groove between the boards which looked really nice. Each piece was a bit beveled on the edges. But they never sealed it, so dirt and dust would fill the cracks when you swept it.)
Good luck...I LOVE pretty flooring!

Megan

 

[megan313]

One other thing...i dont know what your weather is like in NC, but here it gets chilly....so if it gets below 40 degrees or so, i reccommend putting a tile heating system under the tile. It used to be really expensive, but now they even sell it at Menards or Home Depot. It's like a mesh net that you put under the tile that you can control with a thermostat. I really wish we would have done this, because it is SOOO cold walking on that tile in the middle of the night!

Megan

 

[SC's Mom]

We have all three (tile-wood-carpet). Honestly, I find the carpet the easiest to clean or at least look clean! With Caesar in and out I am always finding pawprints on the tile and I am forever sweeping dog hair and dust off the hardwood.

Yes the tile is freezing in the winter months but C loves it in the summer. Whenever he gets hot he just lounges on the kitchen floor.

Our tile abuts both our hardwood floor in one direction and our carpeted room in the other. They are all even. It comes down to $'s, the contractor, and preference.

Good luck!

By the way IMO the tile and hardwood look the best! You just have to keep up on it. I'm off to wash my floor now!

 

[magoo's_mama]

We have hardwood throughout and I agree about the the floors getting scratched and constantly having to sweep up the dog hair. Also when your boxer is doing the burn it's a little hard to put on the brakes. Magoo has never hurt himself and it can be pretty entertainig watching him slide around though.
Despite all that I would till go with hardwood. Magoo who is well housetrained had a bladder infection about a month ago and couldn't control his bladder, I can't tell you how grateful I was I didn't have carpet. I just had to follow him around with a mop!!
I just don't know how anyone can keep carpet clean with a boxer in the house.
I would reccomend the heated floors also, good luck

 

[iBoxer]

I have hardwood floors and tile in the house.

I agree that hardwood gets scratched pretty easy, and requires alot of Swiffer-ing and isn't as easy to clean up paw prints. Blue always sliding on them and certain spots where she plays with her toys the most look pretty scratched up. Maybe a scrath-resistant laminate might be better for your needs.

tile is nice and easy to mop. but is usually only suitable for certain rooms depending on what kind of look your going for.

 

[courtney323]

I also forgot to add one thing if you do go with hardwoods:

Our floor people used an oil-based polyurethane to seal the finish on the hardwoods. It STINKS up your house for almost a week (and we stayed in a hotel it was so bad) but it's a lot more durable sealant than a water-based sealant.

Just some info

 

[cookiedal1]

Two summers ago I put in a better quality laminate floor in my kitchen......mainly because of the 3 dogs (a 110 lb. golden, a 50 lb. boxer, a 30 lb. cocker) and 1 cat we have, one careless hubby, and 3 grandkids coming in and out from the pool. I had heard about it's durability and easy cleaning. I decided to go with a more expensive brand and it was certainly worth it. For months we all tiptoed over it as I was paranoid, but soon realized just how sturdy it was. The other day while cleaning it I discovered a small scratch and found it was due to a sharp edge on a chair so it's certainly pet friendly.

I also have ceramic tile in one bath that the boxer pup loved to pee on before she was housebroken! Ceramic is also easy to clean and as long as I've had it, probably 8-9 years, there's not a scratch. I was a bit concernced that the grout would discolor while the pup was using it to pee on, but now 3 months later, there's no discoloration or cracking. Just like new!

And back to the laminate........I also put a cheaper brand in my home office and it is showing some marks, so if you go with a laminate by all means go with the better brands.

Hope this helps.....Pat

 

[cricket]

Thank you all so much for the great information. What a lot to think about.

Just one more question. Laminate or Hardwood. It seems that if per chance it did get scratched badly it would be easier to sand down hardwood and refinish it as opposed to the Laminate that you can't sand down. OR, would the cost to replace it (if you would ever have damage that bad) be cheaper than refinishing hard wood?

I can't believe how much great information that I have gotten. Thanks again