Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mpmg46

hardwood floors-with a sweet dog

mpmg46
12 years ago

We currently have Bruce natural hardwood in our foyer. We are redoing our kitchen, and will be replacing the floor, so now is the best time to put in what we like on then entire first floor, as we're not in love with the Bruce HW.

We also have a sweet little dog (beagle/terrier), whose nails have left scratches in the current wood. Others have recommended a laminate floor (that has the look of hardwood), but more durable. I am concerned that it will look cheap or fake. Is there a type of hardwood that holds up better than another but wont' break the bank? Would you put laminate down?

Comments (21)

  • Sueb20
    12 years ago

    Personally, and everyone is different of course, I would rather have imperfect hardwood floors than laminate floors. My hardwood floors were scratched up a bit by our running bulldogs within days of being installed in our kitchen 5 years ago, but I still don't regret having them! (Either the floors or the dogs, LOL.)

  • chibimimi
    12 years ago

    Oak is harder than cherry, but if you want a really hard floor, look for the kind of maple they use in bowling alleys. The only problem is you may not be able to stain it to a very dark tint -- but if you like light floors, you're okay. Ore I hear ipe is very hard, but have no personal experience with it.

    Are the scratches in the wood or in the finish? If in the finish, you might want to look into what finishes are either toughest or repaired most easily.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    12 years ago

    I wouldn't do laminate either. We did that in our kitchen as a temporary fix before a redo (which I am still waitingt for-ha!). It looks okay, but if you have a water leak or dogs like ours whose mouths are like dribble cups, it will warp.

  • nosoccermom
    12 years ago

    We have oak hardwood floors and a water-based finish, Bona Strong (used to be Pacific Strong). It held up in the house, including kitchen, very well, despite dogs and kids on tricycles.

  • User
    12 years ago

    We just went to visit with family out of state. They have laminate flooring and really like it in part because they've never had anything different. I'm less of a fan because we have wood floors here at home and the difference for us was night and day. If you put in wood floors, I would just be sure to use the 3/4 inch planks so every now and then you can have them sanded and refinished. You may also want to consider something from the exotics, like teak, a solid cherry or Brazilian walnut because they are very hard woods. We have the walnut in our kitchen/dining room and it's beautiful. Its a very hard wood and the color is solid all the way through the plank. Ours is 5 years old and has very little scratching, but when it does scratch, you don't see them the way you can on stained wood. Also when/if we ever have to sand it, all we'll have to do is put a new layer of poly on it. Since the color is solid, it will always look the way it does now. It was pricier and harder to install but the long term benefits make it worth it.

    I wouldn't go with an Engineered wood, scratches will show very easily and if sanding is an option, it would only be once as opposed to the 3-4 times a plank can be sanded.

  • musicteacher
    12 years ago

    We put in Bella Cera, hickory, hand scraped wood in a dark brown aboout 8 months ago. I have two big (over 60 pound) dogs and so far, no visible scratches. I am more than happy with them. This is not the same brand as Bella wood. It is engineered wood, which is necessary over our slab floor.

  • westiegirl
    12 years ago

    We put in unfinished character grade white oak that we then finished with Waterlox ourselves. We also have a 20lb terrier, a 5 year old DD, and DH who is still finishing trim and other construction projects and not always careful!

    Our character grade lends itself well to hiding the scratches that occur. The blend in with the rustic nature and other knots. The Waterlox finish allows us to spot repair as necessary.

    I already had one spot where DH dropped wire shelving for the closets while carrying it through the kitchen. It left two huge white scratches. I used a q-tip and hit the scratch with some stain and when it was dry, used another q-tip to blend in some more Waterlox on top.

    The Waterlox is about $20 more per gallon than poly, but when we have areas that are scratched or need repair, you don't have to refinish the entire room, you can just spot repair as needed. I loved it so much that we are now using it on all the baseboard, door and window trim we are finishing for the house. It doesn't need to be sanded between coats like poly does and that is saving me time and a step that I hate!

  • Verti
    12 years ago

    We also opted for going with unfinished oak and then using Waterlox rather than a poly. We have a beagle/terrier mix, a lab/border collie mix and a cat we have nicknamed Secretariat because he uses our living room as a racetrack. 5 years later they still look good as new and we haven't needed to actually make any touch ups whatsoever.

  • mpmg46
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you so much everyone! I'm with you all on choosing hardwood over laminate. DH feels like laminate will hold up better with a dog (and 2 elementary aged kids who sometimes roller-blade in to use the restroom in a hurry!). I prefer real wood, that we can "fix" along the way as needed.

    The hardwood now doesn't have gauges out of it, but it looks more like if you wrote on a piece of paper and pushed really hard, and it left an indentation on the wood. Does that make sense? So I don't know if that's an easy fix or not.

    westiegirl and verti (and any others who did this): I'm curious to know more about putting in unfinished oak, and then using Waterlox to seal it. Is the waterlox available in different stains/colors and if so, how difficult is it to apply yourself? Does it take several layers, need to be sanded? Is it ok in a kitchen, where liquids will come in contact?

    Here is a place near us that someone told me about. Is there anything there that you would/wouldn't recommend?

    http://www.woodfloorsplus.com/products/?sort&tier=solid_hardwood&limit=9999

    Thanks so much for your help everyone!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Floors Plus

  • westiegirl
    12 years ago

    DH and I applied the Waterlox and installed the floors ourselves. After the floors were laid, we sanded them with a rented commercial sander to 120 grit (I believe). You can either stain the floors first, then apply the Waterlox or mix the stain in with the first coat of Waterlox, which is what we did. Either way, I highly recommend doing a few sample boards first because the Waterlox has an amber tint to it and changes what the stain will look like.

    We mixed 5 parts Waterlox with 1 part Minwax walnut stain and you basically mop it on the floor with a lambs wool applicator (it looked a lot like my microfiber dust mop). Because we didn't have baseboard up yet, we did everything with the mop, occasionally slopping onto the drywall, which will then be covered by the baseboard. You just need to try and keep a wet edge and minimize your lap marks.

    You do not need to sand between coats. After the first coat of original Waterlox with stain, we put a second coat of original Waterlox only. Our third coat was Waterlox in the satin finish. You do need to let the coats dry completely before reapplying which was just over 24 hours for us.

    The first coat took us the longest, because we were trying to keep the stain looking even as we spread it out. It took just under 3 hours to apply 2000 square feet. The 2nd and 3rd coats took right at 2 hours each.

    Here is a picture of my kitchen showing the finished product. The area in front of the seed cabinet is our main traffic way through the house.

  • Verti
    12 years ago

    Westiegirl summed it up pretty well but will just reiterate that it was a fairly simple process. We also mixed the stain in with the waterlox and then topped it off with a satin finish. If you do use this method definitely grab some extra boards and play with the different stains to get your desired color. We used it throughout the downstairs, including the kitchen and main entry hallway and have had no problems with any liquids or heavy traffic damaging/wearing out the floor.

  • mpmg46
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you both so much! Westiegirl: What a beautiful job you and your husband did! And I love the seed cabinet--how cool is that!?! You both make it sound easy. Thanks for the insights and help. I'll have to see what DH says tonight when he gets home.

    So do either of you have pets? I'm wondering how we would be able to apply the waterlox without ending up with puppy hairs stuck to it (even if we kept him away and cleaned it all first!).

  • Verti
    12 years ago

    We have 2 dogs and a cat. When we did ours it was before they had a lower voc formula so we did make prior arrangements to be out of the house for a couple of days because the smell was quite strong. Dust and hair should all be vacuumed up throughly after you do the sanding but we also went over the floors again after each coat was dry. I added a link to their website below so you can get more info. They also have some how to videos there that you and your husband can watch and see if it's something that you are both up to. This method obviously is more of an inconvenience up front as opposed to prefinished flooring but in our case, we preferred doing it that way and then not having to worry about it again down the track.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Waterlox

  • busybee3
    12 years ago

    we have had 3 kids and 2 large dogs(and 1 cat-though she hasn't done any damage!) in our kitchen for over 10 years with bruce floors and they have not 'held up' well at all...
    our kitchen also gets a whole lot of southern sun exposure, so that has probably factored quite a bit into their poor wear... the finish is off in many places and i am trying to decide what to do...refinish them (and i guess most of our downstairs since most of it is same flooring...) or just replace the kitchen with tile... but we are waiting til our very elderly dog passes away to do anything....

    if you can keep the dog's nails trimmed so they don't 'click' on the floor, the scratches will be less...tho that's easier said than done with some dogs!

  • westiegirl
    12 years ago

    We also have a dog, but ours was a new construction home that we were not moved into yet. As a result of the construction and sanding process we had a great deal of dust however. We vacuumed first with a shop vac, then followed up with our household vacuum prior to the first coat. Like Verti, we also vacuumed before the 2nd and 3rd coats. We wouldn't have had to do this, but we left our windows open (in August) to increase air changes and speed the drying time and as a result had little bits of dust and small insects that made it inside and landed on the floors.

    I would also recommend trying to find someplace to stay while finishing the floors. You also need a place to put all of your funiture while the floor dries and cures. If you are finishing one room at a time, it might be doable to just move/stack furniture and have the room closed off so that pets do not accidently wander in. The smell is not good and would bother anyone who is sensitive to paint odors and such.

    I am currently using Waterlox to varnish all of our door, window and baseboard trim for the house. I am applying it in our basement, but with the furnace running, you do notice it in other parts of the house as well. 5 year old DD has not "complained" about it, but does remark that mommy has been "Waterloxing" when she comes in the door.

  • mpmg46
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks again for the guidance. I think, for this house, we are better off to go with a hardwood that is already finished, as I read more. We would like the project to be completed in the next 2 months, and while the kids are in school and we both work (I'm only part time), and with it being winter weather, it's probably not in our best interest to be waterloxing, as your DD says! I'm going to hang onto this thread however, as one day, we hope to build again, and I would like to keep this as an option.

    Everyone we know with Bruce floors and pets has the same issue we have with scratches. Even when our dogs nails have just been trimmed, they still make noise on the floor, b/c of his breed.

    Westiegirl--you sound like a girl after my own heart! My DH and kids never know what they will come home to when I have a few days off!

  • User
    12 years ago

    I forgot to mention throughout the rest of the first floor we have an inexpensive Bruce oak hardwood flooring (Plano Marsh) in the prefinish. The color is very similar to gun stock and doesn't show dirt or scratches. It's high gloss which could be making the difference but it wears like armor and after several years still looks new. We don't wear shoes in the house and have pads on the feet of our furniture but we also have a 7 month old lab with nails and none of our flooring is scratched.

  • tracie.erin
    12 years ago

    We have two dogs >80 pounds each. I opted for handscraped, distressed hardwood from Lumber Liquidators because I read on this forum that any scratches would blend in with a distressed finish better than a smooth, glossy finish. Well, it's true. You really have to stare at that floor to notice anything :)

    Another thing I did was to pick a stain the matched my dogs' fur. I have two black dogs, one of which is a GSD mix and sheds like crazy, and picked the darkest stained wood. I'm not the best housekeeper, so it's pretty nice that those stray hairs are somewhat camouflaged until I pick up the vacuum.

  • dakota01
    12 years ago

    I don't have any scratches from my dogs' nails. He is older and doesn't race around, I also get his nails trimmed.
    Do you keep his nails short?

  • mpmg46
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Our dog is 3 and has lots of energy, so he runs around a lot--especially when our elementary aged kids are doing the same!

    We get his nails trimmed and filed down on a regular basis, but he's a beagle/terrier mix, so he has longer nails (at least longer than our old dog-who was a shepherd/lab mix).

    I think we have decided to go with hardwood. I looked today again and if we add a runner to the foyer (where he tends to run more than anywhere else (to the door, to the upstairs, etc), that will help.

    And when our kids go off to college in 8 and 10 years (sniff, sniff) and our little dog may not be around then either (sniff again), I will have something to occupy myself while I miss them, so I can refinish the floors then!

    Thanks again for all of your help!

  • gr8daygw
    12 years ago

    We've had many dogs through here, even fosters from time to time. We have white oak floors with a medium light stain on them. It's a couple of colors mixed together. I think the trick is the lighter stain. It is surely scratched from all the racing around of our dogs and spin outs on them going around corners but it doesn't bother me a bit. I don't mind a patina of sorts and the lighter stain seems to hide them well. I hesitate to have them redone because I must have forgotten how they used to look when new and I might not be as graceful about if they looked new again...

Sponsored
Bull Run Kitchen and Bath
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars273 Reviews
Virginia's Top Rated Kitchen & Bath Renovation Firm I Best of Houzz