Is hand scraped or exotic wood better for dogs?

11 years ago

We have two golden retrievers, and we want to replace the flooring in our new house with wood. (Yes, I know it will scratch, but I'll take scratched wood over tile, carpet or laminate any day).

I'm thinking a rustic, hand scraped or distressed style of wood would camouflage the inevitable scratching. On the other hand, a really hard wood like Brazilian walnut would probably reduce the overall scratching.

Of course, never the two shall meet. I can only find distressed styles in softer woods, like walnut or hickory. Brazilian walnut only comes in smooth, shiny planks that will show every scratch. So, for all you pet lovers out there, do you think it's smarter to go with a rustic style wood, or a really hard exotic?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

Fori
11 years ago
Color makes a difference too. I have vintage slightly-darker-than natural oak and the scratches I do have aren't visible.

The best thing to do (which isn't always possible) is to get samples and beat the heck out of them and decide which you prefer.

Anyway, dogs only scratch the finish--the hardness of the wood won't make a bit of difference until you start moving refrigerators with bad wheels.
northcarolina
11 years ago
I can't tell you about your two choices but I can say that our natural (unstained) red oak has been great for pets and kids and life in general. It's partly the color and partly the finish, I think. Some of our flooring is 60+ years old, and its original oil-based finish was very tough. The part we had refinished with water-based poly about 6 years ago shows lots of scuffs, though not really scratches. The most recently installed (2 months) has a matte hardwax oil finish and it shows nothing at all -- my favorite finish so far, presuming this holds true for the long term as well. I'm really glad it's what they put in this house when it was built (probably because it was cheap). If we ever have to choose a new floor from the start, I'm going for red oak again. You (or rather the installers) can get it from lumber suppliers, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, its grain pattern hides everything, and with this hardwax oil, having it site finished is no inconvenience. (Well -- I take that back. The sanding is LOUD but at least nowadays it is dust-free.) The look is very different than what you are considering, though, and it may not suit every style.
Related Professionals
Barrington Hills Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Carson Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Soledad Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Spokane Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Fairmont Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Belle Glade Interior Designers & Decorators · Murraysville General Contractors · Annandale General Contractors · Avon Lake General Contractors · Cheney General Contractors · Monroe General Contractors · Sheboygan General Contractors · Texas City General Contractors · University City General Contractors · Van Buren General Contractors
EngineerChic
11 years ago
I would look for a floor that matches the dogs, personally. If you had a couple of black labs and pale maple floors, you would see every dog hair ... Just like if you have a Samoyed with ebony stained floors. Go for a light oak (white oak is nice, and inexpensive) or the hickory or even a bamboo that isn't too dark.

Also, have you looked into the premium polyurethanes, like Bona brand? They make some semi-gloss and satin finishes that are really beautiful and supposedly hold up well. We are getting the final coat of Bona on our floors tomorrow, so I can't say how it holds up yet, but we didn't spring for the super durable version of it either (this is for our second floor, but I might pay the up charge for Bona Traffic when we do the first floor).

Last suggestion ... When your darling pups get older and start to slip, you can get some inexpensive indoor/outdoor carpet at a big box store and just replace it every couple years. We put that stuff in all the "runway zones" in our house when our shep mix was getting older and his hips were starting to bother him. Also, I know this isn't the right forum, but IF your dogs have hip issues we found that Sea Jerky from Coastside Bio Resources made a huge difference. It made it possible for him to start stealing food off the kitchen counters again :). Our vet suggested it instead of the human grade supplements we were buying for him, he felt dogs digested it better. It was even more effective than the adequan shots we tried. I really believe it gave us an extra couple of years with that dog :)

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming ...
nerdyhousewife
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow,

Thank you for all the wonderful input! So many things I hadn't thought about.

I should have mentioned that we live on concrete, so we have to choose a glue down wood. So far, I've only seen prefinished options for glue down. I wish these companies were more transparent about the quality of their finishes! I feel really awkward returning samples with scratches, but that's just what I'm going to have to do.

EngineerChic - thank you so much for the Sea Jerky recommendation! One of my dogs does have hip issues, so I'm about to order this to see if it might help her the same way it helped your little guy. I hadn't really considered the slipping issues, so now I'm wondering if handscraped might be a better choice simply to add some traction.
kirkhall
11 years ago
Some places just GIVE you the samples, no need to return.
(Lumber Liquidators does this, for example).

So, maybe you won't have to return them all dinged up. ;)
Fori
11 years ago
This is a big purchase. Even if they can't give you samples of every color, they should be able to spare a sample of at least every finish type. You need to attack it with your keys before you commit!

Or just get something golden retriever color. It'll hide fur as well as scratches. I have a golden oak dog. :)