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mizpookie

Flooring for leaky, unsteady old dog - and us!

mizpookie
9 years ago

Currently, here's the flooring we have: Cheapo slick ceramic tile in the kitchen and dining room, and stained wood flooring in the living room.
We have an elderly dog who has accidents, and she falls a lot on the current flooring in the kitchen and living room. We have tried putting down non-slip mats, but that's not working well. We also have two younger dogs who may someday be in the same shape as our current oldster, so we want floors that will be suitable when they get old or have an accident.

We need to do something about the wood flooring, because it looks pretty bad. Liquid sometimes wicks under the non-skid mats and a few times we didn't see it, and it left stains.

The kitchen tile doesn't need to be replaced, but we've always hated how hard and slippery it is. It's not just slippery for the old dog - it's kind of a broken bone waiting to happen for people, because it's like glass.

So, here are the qualities I'd like in any replacements:
- Good traction.
- Impervious to liquid
- Durable
- No chemical smell because I'm sensitive and worried about off-gassing

Cost is a factor - we don't have unlimited resources.

I've looked at some other posts here and I see that some people do fine with dogs and hardwood floors, but that's obviously not worked well for us.

Is there something you would recommend? I was leaning towards commercial-grade ceramic tile for the kitchen, since that tends to be non-slip, but that's a cold look for the living room. Are there better alternatives?

Comments (4)

  • mdln
    9 years ago

    My sister put this in her finished basement several years ago, for just those reasons - she has both old dogs & a puppy.

    Looks quite nice (people think it is laminate), very durable, no chemical smell, warmer than ceramic tile. Most important it is pee proof!

    Better traction than my hardwood floors, but am sure there are products with better traction. I see her dogs slipping on her kitchen tile, but not this flooring.

    Here is a link that might be useful: flooring

  • User
    9 years ago

    Sheet vinyl.

  • mizpookie
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    About the vinyl plank flooring - does it ever get under 65 degrees in her basement? If you read the warranty on just about every brand of vinyl plank floor, it says the warranty is VOID if the room temperature goes under 65 degrees F or over 85 degrees F.

    We don't keep the heat up to 65 degrees through the winter, so it looks like the vinyl plank floor isn't an option for us.

    As for vinyl sheet flooring, I have not found any that has good traction. I've seen glue-down commercial vinyl tile with decent traction, but not sheets.

  • flowerful
    6 years ago

    Mizpookie, I'm curious to know what you finally went with! I'm in exactly the same boat, and would really like to go with cork flooring for the dogs--warmer and not as hard or them to lie on--but I don't know about scratching & "spill" resistance.