Flooring options

[Tuffcookie]

I really want to get new flooring in the livingroom. The carpet is getting dated. I have an older, colonial style home. We do not have a separate family/great room so we really use this room alot. I have thought about getting rid of carpet altogether (although I like the way it keeps the room warm in the winter.) Hardwood floors are beautiful but I have a 110 lb "frisky" Labrador dog and a 15 lb. Shizu that really race around the house! I'm afraid of what their toenails might do to hardwood floors. So what other options might I consider for flooring instead of carpet?

TC

 

[mickeyfan1]

flooring has a lot of nice features. It can mimic the look of hardwood, ceramic, slate, or wahtever. However, there is a big drawback. Dog nails won't scratch it, but they will constantly tick against it. Most laminates are hollow sounding, you have to put some type of specialized underlayment down to help with the sound. We installed laminate in our laundry/pantry, kitchen, and dining room in our old house and the noise of the dogs walking on it made my husband nuts. We are currently in a house with soft pine floors, and the dog nails are making a real mess of them. If you put in a laminate floor, you could add area rugs to help with the noise and to make it warmer.


Consult a flooring professional in your area for the best information.

 

[two4ruff]

The wood laminates they are making these days can be really nice. We just had our house remodeled and had it put in our kitchen and living areas - I have a lab also that I was afraid would ruin wood and a cat I was afraid would ruin carpet...

 

[sue1013]

I have hardwood in all my living areas except the kitchen. Also have 2 dogs 80lb husky and 40lb terrier mix. The dogs have not damaged the floors at all and they do race around.

 

[Pugdog007]

Have hardwoods on almost the entire 1st floor of my home. 4 pugdogs have not damaged them and they race around constantly. It's funny because they can't get any traction and sometimes they are just running in place

 

[JayCT]

Have your hardwood floors refinished by a professional and have them put down several coats of polyurehane. The more coats the better. It will help cut down on the scratches from the dogs nails and look great. To warm things up, use area rugs in sitting areas.

 

[KristiKelly]

I have the "hardwood look" laminate in our kitchen and I don't like it. We have hardwoods in our foyer, they are natural with a satin or semi-gloss (??I'm not sure) coating on top of them, with kids & a dog, they look fine. If you get down at the surface and look at them from the side you can see - not really a scratch, but an indentation, the natural color hides these things more. My next step in our house is to put hardwoods in our family room & kitchen. If you're really worried about the scratches, definitely put down 3/4", that way they can be refinished, any thinner than that and I'm not so sure - maybe refinished once.