Hardwood Floors + Dog = ???

I’m looking for some guidance here.

We are looking at a house that we like that has predominantly hardwood floors. Also we plan on getting a large dog (great dane) in the not too distant future. I’m a little bit leary of the dog wrecking the floors.

Is this a problem?

Keep their nails trimmed. They will scratch it up if their nails aren’t trimmed. The bigger the dog the worse the problem. My 50lb border collie hasn’t damaged our oak floors at all.

i think your worst fear is whether or not the dog drools like some. Drool can hurt wood floors when not cleaned up behind them.

Actually a smaller dogs toenails will hurt the floor worst for scratches as they are so pointed , big dogs you round them off and not so much a problem. make sure you got good hardwood floor so if you had to years down the road you could sand and refinish.

Partion flooring you can just replace at any time.

FF

My parents have a springer spaniel and hard wood floors..the dog does put some good scratches in the floor..The dog will ware the floor alot faster and you will have to refinish it more often. My only thought with a dog that big is that he may not be “running” as mush in the house so it would be scratching the floor less then a smaller one always spinning its “wheels” on the floor..good luck…Jay

We just installed Pergo floors last weekend and so far so good with our 45lb lab. My buddy has Pergo and they have a 70lb lab and it seems fine. Like others have said, just make sure to keep their nails trimmed.

I’ve got a 90+ pound Rottie mix and oak hardwood floors though the entire house. Been in the house almost 3 years and have yet to get any major noticable scratches on the floors. Theres a few on there but not nearly as bad as I expected it to be, maybe because he spends most of his day sleeping upside down on my couch.

He slobers alot too but we have a poly finish so no harm done, if you have a wax finish it will discolor the floor if not cleaned up.

My problem is that they slip so much,I’m just waiting for mine to break a hip or Pull something trying to stay on His/Her feet.

We have hardwood floors in a couple rooms. When the kid brings his Yellow Lab over it’s usualy scratch city. Nothing terrible but deffinately noticable unfortunately.

Another thing to consider is putting some sort of felt glides/pads on the bottom of your furnitures feet is a REAL good idea. Sliding furniture such as dinner table chairs will mar that floor faster than anything. You can get those glides/pads at the hardware store or Menard type stores. They come in different sizes,have self adhesive backs and are no big deal to put on yourself.

second what geeman said about glides. I have one nasty scratch on my floor because we didn’t pad a cheap area rug well enough. After a while the edges work just like sand paper.

Try this…

Did you ever notice how embarrassed a dog looks when they have to wear crap like that?

I’ve got two dogs, a 75lb shepard and a 70lb wiem, and wood floors thoughout the house. No problems as long as you take good care of your dog and keep them nails clipped. Also if you ever refiish them or they have already been refinished recently you should have absolutely no problem, the finishes these days are amazingly resilient and extremely tough.

Hardwood Floors + Dog = scratches

All the maple floors I’ve seen from people with dogs have scratches. Sounds like some of the others here with oak or other real hard woods have less scratches. You can refinish real wood floors, but if they scratched once, they’ll most likely scratch again. We have Pergo floors at home and cabin and they seem to be very scratch resistent (better be because you can’t refinish them). Even a wood floor with some scratches is going to still be a nice floor and will improve the value of your home.

They are older floors and oak. I don’t think a Dane will be racing around the house like a Springer…hopefully

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Lots to think about.

Love this site…… ……a few scratches or not the hard wood floors will be worth it and you’ll love them!

Good Luck!

Bottom line is it will scratch if the dog is spinning out on the floors. My house now is all wood floors and tile and its not been an issue

Wow, you guys must have some tough floor and/or are really on top of keeping the nails trimmed. I have a 100lb German shepherd and a 15lb beagle mix. Our wood floor look fine until the sun hit it a certain way. Then you can see all the scratches. We are not very diligent in keeping the shepherd nails clip mostly because he doesn’t like it and puts up a big fight (we have been taking him to the vet lately to do it and it takes 4 people to hold him down) where as the beagle could care less. That being said, I still know all it takes is to get them refinished when the time comes and any dirt that the dog track on it is easy to clean. On the other hand, watch out with carpet! Both dogs as puppies have found areas they decided to rip up, and it sure sucks when the muddy paws get on the carpet.

I would also say if you have stairs that go down to a wood floor, you would be wise to put a rug there. Our shepherd likes to launch from about 5 stairs up, or turns the corner real fast and would always wipe out. That doesn’t happen with the rug there and hopefully that will save us from a very expensive ACL surgery someday.

I am just finishing putting in 1200 sq ft of hardwood in our house due to my kids asthma. We have a 60 lb lab and he has put a couple of surface scratches in the wood already before I have even finished the entire house. But then I have been looking around and looking at other houses that do not even have dogs and they also have scratches from kids, moving furniture, dragging your feet, ect… I think the big thing is to put down a runner in super high traffic areas for obivous reasons and just watch what you do. You can get it refinished, and they usually only take off the finish and verry minor amount wood. Wood will always have minor defects and that is one thing that makes it unique and sought after.

I used to have a Dane and we had hardwood floors, standing and not falling was a bigger problem than scratches for us. Just kept the toe nails trimmed, although as I recall we had a good finish on the wood and I remember waxing a couple of times a year.

dave

Exactly what B Curtis said. It happens when they run and slide on floor. My Oak floors look good but all you have to do is view them from the correct angle to see all the scratch marks or indentations. They are not very noticeable looking straight down on floor.

I’ve been thinking about a laminate vs wood. Easy to install, but would the scratches still show up.? how do the laminate floors hold up.
thanks Dave

We’ve got Pergo at the cabin and some cheap lamanent at home. The cabin is pretty much scratchless after 5+ years (same with my uncles Pergo floor going on 10+ years). Our home floor has scratches all over it. Its not Pergo (it was already in our house when we bought it). I’m sure there are other quality lamentants, but I wouldn’t pick the cheapest you can find.

2 too 3 good coats of Minwax polyureathane and then just buff out the mars occasionaly. The water born floor finishes they have today are outstanding.