Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Dogs and Hardwood Floors

Hello everyone
I have been looking all over the place for wood flooring to put down in my living room. Although I have heard about the benefits of engineered and laminate, I can't get away from how nice the solid hardwood looks. The problem is that I have two small 15-20 pound dogs and I have read many threads warning about their nails scratching the wood. Is this really a serious problem? Also, I would like to get handscraped antique wood that already has a rough look and was wondering if this type would do better with the dogs? Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Well, if you have dogs and a wood floor you will get some scratches. I can tell in a couple spots where mine played but generally just walking on them is fine. Also, if the wood floor is a lighter color it will hide the scratches better.

I'm with you - I love the look of hardwood over laminate. It's worth it to me.

The National Oak Flooring Manufacturer's Association recommends that you keep dogs' nails trimmed. There are also vinyl nail covers for dogs' nails to protect hardwood floors. Rustic handscraped would likely be more compatible with dogs, depending on finish. High-gloss polyurethane finish tends to show scratches more easily than lower gloss and matte finishes.

Thank you two for your responses. They are very helpful. I agree that I just can't stand the cheap look of laminate. I would rather put up with scratches. I was trying to choose between a light and dark so you also helped me decide between the two types I was looking at. I will try to get/put a low gloss finish on it. Thanks again.

Hi
We decided to do white oak flooring in one room to test what would happen with 8 dogs in the house. The flooring was purchased directly from the mill and had no "finish" to it. we sanded lightly and finished with tung oil. We prefer the rough country look and did not think scratches would be a problem. We are very happy with the floor--it has worn to a soft finish, scratches are not noticeable, and it is very easy to clean. We are now building a new house and using unfinished white oak throughout the house.

We have a 35-pound dog that races across our dark (brazilian cherry) wood floor, and while the floor has scratches from other sources, there aren't any that I can specifically attribute to the dog - even on the stairs.

I clip my dog's nails at least once a week - as soon as I can hear him clickety-clacking across the floor, I trim his nails.

My latest customer had laminate installed thinking it would not show her dog's scratches. Although the laminate is hard, with the sun in the right position, you can see exactly where the dog walks on a regular basis. That being the case, I like some of the posts, and throwing the scratches to the wind, and adapting the floor to "hide" the scratches, using the 3/4" full flooring. Great ideas.

Keeping the dog's nails trimmed also makes life easier on the dog. Its tough to get traction on a slick floor, tougher yet if your nails are long.... We also use carpet runners to help ours get around.

Hand scraped/Distressed floors will definately hide dog's scratches. There is a product Bruce carries called Rockwell Plank, which is engineered, but looks very real and very nicely distressed. Mohawk also carries a decent product called Santa Barbara Plank which also can hide scratches. But if you want to know what I would do, I would most likely do what the guy who installed White Oak with Tung oil did.

Tung oil is very nice and gives a very country finish, the lower the sheen the less you will see scratches. Wider planking IMO is better, and if you get a #1 or #2 common White Oak you will have a lot of character to hide a lot of scratches.

Plus you can refinish the material when it is time to sell... Unlike laminates. :)