If the proper precautions are not taken, a dog is your floor’s worst nightmare.
If not potty-trained, or kept inside for too long, a dog can relieve his or herself on your hardwood floor or
carpet. If you spot a puddle and manage to clean it immediately, your problems are kept to a minimum. However, to make matters worse, once your dog finds a spot they are familiar with to relieve themselves in, they will continuously use it.
Not only can a dog’s waste ruin a floor, but so can scratches. Scratches on wood flooring can be sanded out, so you can restore the look of your flooring, but this costs money.
Carpeting is not the best flooring for dogs, either. Their claws can dig into the carpeting, which can tear at it and remove and undo fringes, making a carpet replacement necessary.
Finding the Best Flooring When You Have a Dog
What are better flooring options when a dog is a part of your household? Here are some flooring choices that are better suited for dogs.
Laminate
Laminate is a flooring that can strongly imitate the look of a natural wood floor. Laminate comes with a strong sealant layer that dogs won’t be able to scratch or scuff up. Of course, laminate can be damaged with urine if left to sit for a long time, but laminate is less-expensive than real hardwood.
The caveat to having laminate flooring is that it does not last very long; only a handful of years to before you need to replace it. Another thing to consider about laminate is that it is slippery to walk on, meaning your pet may slip or slide all over the place. Consider textured laminate to help you and your pets gain the traction needed to walk on it safely.
Laminate flooring can also be very noisy to walk on. However, a thicker laminate can reduce or eliminate the click-clacky noise that your dogs will make by walking over it.
Vinyl
Vinyl is very inexpensive, even more so if you install it on your own. The quality of vinyl has improved over the years, however, so you can get a good deal on a strong floor. Vinyl is resistant to scratches, marks, and moisture, and is one of the best materials for dog proof flooring. You can also buy vinyl to imitate stone, tile and wood flooring.
Dogs will enjoy sitting and sleeping on vinyl at any time of year. If you use radiant floor heating underneath vinyl, your dogs will be cool during the summer and warm during the winter. Vinyl has just the right amount of grip to feel comfortable when walking across it, too, and isn’t a flooring that isn’t noisy when you step on it.
Bamboo Flooring
While some people mistake it for a type of wood, bamboo is actually a type of grass. Bamboo is an organic material and can age beautifully, similar to wood flooring. Because of all the resins contained in bamboo, it is a very tough material, yet very soft on your feet.
Bamboo is also one of the cheapest options for flooring out there, so having it installed or replaced will not cost you an arm and a leg. Bamboo is also nearly as durable as hardwood flooring, and can also be finished if it is thick enough.
Bamboo is still prone to scratches and stains, so maintenance is still required. What makes them better for floors than hardwood is their color. They can hide irregularities quite well, and you would need to examine the floor very closely to spot any stains or scratches of great significance.
Tile and Grout
Ceramic and porcelain tiles make up some of the best flooring for dogs. They are scratch resistant, and puddles can get cleaned up very easily. Ceramic is a material that is very durable and can look gorgeous in any room.
Ceramic and porcelain tiles are also very slick to walk on, so it might be difficult for dogs to find their traction. Tile with grout, on the other hand, will give dogs the control they need to walk across it safely and comfortably. The problem with grout, however, is that it must be cleaned frequently. While tile is highly resistant to scratching and moisture, grout can attract dirt and grime fairly easily. This is one thing to watch out for when buying a floor with tile and grout.
Find the Right Flooring For Your Dog
Each of these floors has their share of ups and downs when it comes to pet owners. Make a sound decision on new flooring depending on what you want out of it. If you still aren’t sure of what to buy,
contact one of our home improvement experts at Carpet To Go today.
Bonus Tips!
Here are a few bonus tips that might be useful for maintaining your flooring when you own a dog.
- Clip your dog’s toenails regularly so they do not have long, sharp claws, greatly reducing scratches on hard floors.
- Purchase runner rugs for narrow areas in your home, such as foyers and hallways.
- While you are off at work, keep your dog restrained to a room with durable flooring, so that they do not have all day to damage carpeting or hardwood floors.
- If your dog as a bladder problem and tends to pee irregularly, get it to wear diapers when you’re not home to take care of him or her.
