brightonrock Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I want to get rid of some yukky carpet in our 50 year old home. I think the carpet is original, it is well beyond it's use by date. We peeled back a bit of it and the floors is Tasmanian Oak, and it looks very good. What is the best flooring for a home that has a few dogs, all active, that are inside a lot ? I don't think tiles or vinyl will suit the look of the home, so I guess it's a wood or carpet alternative. Any ideas for the best to clean and keep looking good ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 We replaced our carpet with tiles and I would never go back to carpet ever. If you have to go wood - look for a hard wearing wood laminate that can take the dogs damage. Anything too soft will just mark and scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs tornsocks Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 People pay thousands for Tassie Oak !!! I would keep them, rather than pull them up and put wood laminate in --- get them covered/lacquered with something that's going to ensure no scratching. Our doggie 'moves' between two homes, and we have laminate floorboards in one and timber floorboards in the other -- the laminate is probably better overall but I still wouldn't be removing great original f/boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bokezu Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) link didn't work, will try again Edited February 9, 2010 by Bokezu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrin Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) If you have tasmanian oak and it is good condition i would just sand it back and varnish it or stain it without varnishing. Floor boards are fantastic when you have pets, so much easier to keep clean. We have the laminate ones down and they are doing well though Georgie (dalmatian) does prefer to spend a lot of time outdoors and only really comes inside when she wants to con food out of you and at bed time. Edited February 9, 2010 by perrin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny_and_Bella Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I second the floor boards. We have them all through the house and they rock! So much easier to keep clean and clean, though they do show the hair a lot more than carpet! But still a lot easier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightonrock Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 somebody told me the dogs nails would damage the boards ? I keep mine dremelled but is the wood that fragile ? I've had a bit checked where I peeled back the carpet and it is Tasmanian Oak. Maybe softer timbers are the ones that mark ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KismetKat Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 A shiny polyurethane laquer is more likely to show up scratchs. Go for a matt finish. Also I think it is more the laquer that sits on top of the wood that scratches, rather than the wood itself. You might want to consider going for oiling instead. It's natural and doesn't have that awful smell. You can also touch up bits yourself. Here's a UK link with some info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 somebody told me the dogs nails would damage the boards ? I keep mine dremelled but is the wood that fragile ? I've had a bit checked where I peeled back the carpet and it is Tasmanian Oak. Maybe softer timbers are the ones that mark ? It's amazing what dogs can damage. The great thing about floor boards is that damage CAN be repaired. I'm ok with funky and don't mind looking at a few scratches. But if I had damaged timber floors and wanted to sell, all I'd need to do is have someone sand and re-coat the floor and it would look like a million dollars at a pretty reasonable cost. One thing I would consider if working with an original floor is the size of the gaps between boards. If there's a large gap, there's potential to store a lot of dirt. Not unsolvable. You can get someone to put a finish on that will fill in the cracks and leave it smooth and thus sweepable. Just something to consider. Btw, if I had my choice of floor, I'd go for polished concrete, gently sloped to a floor drain . . . so I could clean the floors with a high-pressure hose. Someday I'll build a house like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoilt lab lives here Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 We replaced our carpet with tiles and I would never go back to carpet ever.If you have to go wood - look for a hard wearing wood laminate that can take the dogs damage. Anything too soft will just mark and scratch. Agreed! We rent a place with a real soft wooden floor. High heels leave a mark on the floor let alone dropping a spoon while washing up! We cant have the dogs inside because of that. Id go for tiles, if not a really hardy wooden floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Dragon Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 (edited) In our old house we chose between floor boards and tiles too. I preferred the look of floor boards, but chose tiles. The main reasons were the possiblity of dog nails scratching the floor boards, and I was told that you can't use chemical cleaners on floor boards because it ruins the varnish. We went with tiles, but if you're going to choose tiles make sure you get ones with a finish that you're less likely to slip on! The tiles in our old house were quite slippery so we ended up putting mats down which was similar to having carpet, which is what we wanted to avoid! There's also a coating you can have put on the tiles that is supposed to make them less slippery, but we didn't try it so I don't know how good it is. Edited February 10, 2010 by Baby Dragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnoPaws Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 We moved into our home two years ago, I promptly pulled up the horrible 30 year old carpet in all the living areas and called in someone to sand and polish the boards for me. Worst 2 grand I have spent and I have to wonder why they didn't advise me not to do it. Within a few weeks they were all badly scratched. Can you go for a wood look laminate over the boards, we had them in our last house and they were great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mim Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Go for wooden floors We have wood and tiles and both have good and bad aspects for dogs. Tiles are a wee bit slippery for the dogs and very dangerous for them if they come in the house wet, especially if you have a long-legged dog. My corgi barrels would just roll if they slipped but a lab we had over did the splits and took a tumble but didn't hurt himself, luckily. But they don't show up dog hair if you get a colour that matches the dog and are super easy to clean. Hard wood floors that have been properly finished are better in my opinion. Not slippery so no danger, they look better and ours only have a few scratches from furniture being moved carelessly. The dogs have done no damage and I can't actually see how maintained dog nails could scratch floor unless it was realllllly soft wood. Also super easy to clean and if you have a brown dog the hair won't show up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissindra Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 what about cork? Also aparently you can get some very tough, high end lino made to look like tile patterns or wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Daisy Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 We had laminate wood floor boards put down when we built in every room except the media room, which has carpet. The laminate is great and is really hard to scratch the only down side I have is it is quite porus (sp?). I have to make sure that if anything is spilt on it you wipe it up straight away. Also when Ruff was a baby he had an accident in the toy room which I didn't get to in time and it has bubbled the board a bit. It's in the corner so not too noticeable. If you have original wood floors I would try a stain on it. It is the coating that goes on the wood that scratches really easy and can look horrible after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 We had laminate wood floor boards put down when we built in every room except the media room, which has carpet. The laminate is great and is really hard to scratch the only down side I have is it is quite porus (sp?). I have to make sure that if anything is spilt on it you wipe it up straight away. Also when Ruff was a baby he had an accident in the toy room which I didn't get to in time and it has bubbled the board a bit. It's in the corner so not too noticeable.If you have original wood floors I would try a stain on it. It is the coating that goes on the wood that scratches really easy and can look horrible after a while. Scratches look bad on gloss. They don't show as much on matt finishes, or on the 'natural' penetrating oil finishes that the green crew are promoting (with Jarrah floorboards, you can just pour cooking oil over your boards and come out with something dark and mellow that doesn't show scratches). Personally, I'm not vain, don't care so much about looks, but I do want to be able to keep things clean. Tiles are great if the grout lines are high and don't become pits full of dirt. Floorboards . . . similar . . . if they're 1 or 2 mm apart they can become great dirt repositories. Lino . . . forget it unless it's heavy industrial grade (expensive). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyValley Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Our floors are just concrete or tiles atm because we are renovating so it makes having a puppy pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frodo's mum Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 we have a floating floor I think it's called those click together one's...it's great doesn't scratch easy to keep clean wayyyyy easier than the carpet we use to have...muddy little paws are no longer a worry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoilt lab lives here Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Id love to know what floorboards my gym uses in their aerobics room. Weights and step boards and all sorts of things get dragged along the fllor and only minimal scrathes! Would be perfect!! I have vowed to never get a house with wooden floors again! So glad im not the onyl one with this opinion. If i ever build a house its going to tiles all round and carpet in the rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pie Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I have wooden floors and there are scratches all over them, absolutely everywhere, they aren't scratches in the wood though, just in the varnish. I have small dogs too. I'm definitely getting tiles next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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