Hardwood floors and a large dog

[FreightTrain]

I've always wanted wood floors in some part of my house. The reason I'm considering doing it in the living room and formal dinning room is that who ever installed my carpet in these rooms didn't know what the hell they were doing and now I have seams that are coming apart. If I recarpet the rooms it's going to cost me $1700. I've thought about just recarpeting these rooms and putting the wood floors in my office and master bedroom because I can keep the dog out of those rooms. The only problem is redoing carpet is just the same as throwing $1,700 out the window because it doesn't up the value of your home.

[talisman]

Also as far as maintenance, we do have one of those microfiber brooms that has removeable/washable tops. We sweep at least once a week. The way I see it, that hair is coming off the dogs no matter what kind of floors you have. It's much easier to get all of the hair with the hard floors. We used to have carpet in these rooms and our house always smelled like dog because we could never get out all the hair and dander.

EXACTLY. Carpet with pets gets really nasty, really quick. Regardless of how badass your vacuum is. I like the feel of the floors on my feet also. More character than carpet. It does echo a bit, and yeah, the dogs walking on it at night can get annoying. I just close the bedroom door. Problem solved.

[talisman]

I've always wanted wood floors in some part of my house. The reason I'm considering doing it in the living room and formal dinning room is that who ever installed my carpet in these rooms didn't know what the hell they were doing and now I have seams that are coming apart. If I recarpet the rooms it's going to cost me $1700. I've thought about just recarpeting these rooms and putting the wood floors in my office and master bedroom because I can keep the dog out of those rooms. The only problem is redoing carpet is just the same as throwing $1,700 out the window because it doesn't up the value of your home.

Not to mention 5 years from now you'll be replacing it again.

[slow99]

Never had an issue with 2 large dogs, we were just sure their nails were in check. For hair, we have a pet hair roomba.

[papapepper]

I'm not sure if anyone has already covered this but be careful to make sure the dog doesn't harm itself.... Hardwood floors can be harmful to a dogs hips and other areas I'm not sure on all the details though. You would have to google that.

Edit: If the dog is older or already has hip problems or arthirits, yes, hard and slippery surfaces can put strain on the joints, and not taking precations with younger dogs can cause joint strain over time. Not to say you can't have a dog and hardwood floors. First of all, keeping the dog's nails trimmed as short as possible (ideally so they don't tap on the floor, though this takes time and many trimmings for some pets) will reduce slipping by distributing more weight on the paw pads. Obviously, recently refinished or waxed hardwood will be very slippery, so avoid it or keep the dog elsewhere or outside until the polish wears off a bit. Also, it's good to have a few area rugs, as well as their dog bed of course, to give them relief from the hardwood, and if they have access to furniture make sure there is footing like an area rug under the furniture so he doesn't slip jumping on or off.

[csturner]

I'm not sure if anyone has already covered this but be careful to make sure the dog doesn't harm itself.... Hardwood floors can be harmful to a dogs hips and other areas I'm not sure on all the details though. You would have to google that.

Edit: If the dog is older or already has hip problems or arthirits, yes, hard and slippery surfaces can put strain on the joints, and not taking precations with younger dogs can cause joint strain over time. Not to say you can't have a dog and hardwood floors. First of all, keeping the dog's nails trimmed as short as possible (ideally so they don't tap on the floor, though this takes time and many trimmings for some pets) will reduce slipping by distributing more weight on the paw pads. Obviously, recently refinished or waxed hardwood will be very slippery, so avoid it or keep the dog elsewhere or outside until the polish wears off a bit. Also, it's good to have a few area rugs, as well as their dog bed of course, to give them relief from the hardwood, and if they have access to furniture make sure there is footing like an area rug under the furniture so he doesn't slip jumping on or off.

Very good point. Our 13yr old lab moves very slow on the hardwoods, but I think the tile bothers her just as much. Her hips are really getting weak. I agree that a rug under the couch or areas of high traffic helps.

[RWhite]

How do hardwood floors stand up to dog poop and pee. My lab is trained to go outside, but my Lhasas never got the hang of it. They go on some paper, but the older one seems to crack down any place she sees fit. Am I asking for trouble going to wood floors?

[papapepper]

How do hardwood floors stand up to dog poop and pee. My lab is trained to go outside, but my Lhasas never got the hang of it. They go on some paper, but the older one seems to crack down any place she sees fit. Am I asking for trouble going to wood floors?

Poop should be alright just as long as the stools are solid. Pee is okay also but I suggest you take care of it immediately and not let it sit.

<--- Hardwood floors with a 9 week old Lacy and 1 year old lab/rowt

[RWhite]

.......but I suggest you take care of it immediately and not let it sit.

Thanks! I have got use to be on the prowl for their dirty work. Wish I had them trained, but they came on board too late for that. The lab, however, can hold his pee for hours it seems!

[talisman]

I've had to clean a fair share of messes off of them with no after problems. Unless you're a nasty bastard and let it sit there for a week before you clean it up it shouldn't be an issue. Certainly better than trying to clean it out of carpet.

[RWhite]

OK, good info.

What is the best color hardwood flooring (light, medium, dark, etc, shade/texture) that does not show scratches? With dogs, this may be important. I have no preference, although my older son has put in a dark flooring (from Home Depot) and his wife is already complaining of the visible scratches (from rug rats, not dogs).

I live in Murphy (east Plano/Richardson). Are there any stores over here that would be a good place to start looking for flooring? Durability and looks as far as hiding scratches are of prime importance to me.

[Kimmypie]

Keep your dog's nails clipped and you don't get the clickety click when they walk. The more often you trim them, the shorter you can go without hurting them since the quick seems to get shorter.
We have stained concrete and I use a Shark brand vacume that could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. My mom has hardwood & uses the same one too. It hasn't hurt her floors at all!
My dogs (4 from 6lb up to 95lb) chase each other & slide around corners and move the furniture around some (eventhough the sofas are on a rug), but they don't act like any of it bothers them. They take the corners like a race car sometimes. It's pretty damn funny to watch!

[Taylor]

My uncle killed his German shepherd with them. She was old but not bad off, continually slipped on them and ended up fucking up her back. She wasn't able to walk within ~6 months of the floor being installed and died within 8. If you don't care about your dog go for it. I wouldn't recommend it.

[KBScobravert]

We have a mixture of tile and carpet (mostly tile) in our living area of the house and my wife just brought up hard wood floors the other day with "how many paychecks until we can get hard wood floors in the house?". Anyone have a recommendation for a good installer of real handscraped hard wood floors?

We have two dogs, a 4 month old and a 2 year old who are both boxers. They do fine on our tile whereas I slip around corners. lol. It would be nice to have wood down vs carpet just to keep from having the dander and hair issues.

[Rick the Home Inspector]

I would consider the stained concrete as mentioned. I go into homes all the time and most of them that have wood floors and dogs that shed there is always hair scattered about everywhere.

Rick