We have a dog that is 7 months old and already pushing 60 pounds.

 

How big of a problem will that be with hardwood/laminate?

One thing is for sure, you will see the dog hair on the hardwood if its a darker brown and dust and lent.

And if you have trouble with allergies, wood is the way to go.

One thing is for sure, you will see the dog hair on the hardwood if its a darker brown and dust and lent.

Good news is our dog is almost shed free, bad news is he is a light creme color.

 

 

And if you have trouble with allergies, wood is the way to go.

Good point, and my son and I both have a bit of an allergy problem. I have no doubt getting rid of as much carpet as possible would help.

We have a dog that is 7 months old and already pushing 60 pounds.

 

How big of a problem will that be with hardwood/laminate?

 

The key is keeping their nails trimmed and cleaning up any accidents asap. When laminate gets wet, it expands, and depending on the laminate, you cannot simply replace a board like hardwood.

 

Ive gone back and forth in regards to flooring the past couple years as we're eventually going to replace our linoleum floors and worn out carpet. For the living area, we're sticking with carpet, because of the kids. It's much softer to wrestle around on. The same goes for the bedrooms. Laundry and full baths, tile is the only route to go. For the other areas, I've been convinced that strand bamboo is the only option with kids and dogs. However, I'm starting to lean towards wide plank oak. We like the rustic look, so my thought is going with a wide plank oak that we finish ourselves with an oil finish. The oil finishes penetrate and harden the wood. Any scratches or dents will add to the character of the floor whereas any scratches or dents on a floor with a poly/shellac stand out like a sore thumb.

 

A couple other things about laminates. They do look really good nowadays, but they're still laminate. They're not going to hold value if/when you sell like hardwood will. Also, you have to allow for expansion gaps every so many feet, which means transition pieces between rooms instead of one smooth flooring.

Hardwood will also scratch very easily because they are softer, which is a con (for most people). It also has to be refinished every so many years. Todays laminate (name brand high quality) is NOT what it was 25 years ago. Lay it and forget it (for the most part) and if a board is damaged it's not that big a deal to replace it. Now, it is a good idea to buy a little extra in case something happens and you d have to replace...one possible draw back with laminates is a certain style/color may go out of stock/manufacture quits producing it, or the color may change slightly over a couple of years so need some extra in case of replacement.

Every room in my home is hardwood. I love it. The bathroom floor is painted white, but it is easy care. To combat the cold feet issue, I just wear socks.

Good news is our dog is almost shed free, bad news is he is a light creme color.

 

 

 

Good point, and my son and I both have a bit of an allergy problem. I have no doubt getting rid of as much carpet as possible would help.

 

I have an 85lb shepherd mix and after 3 months, I have no issues. He has issues staying seated when I'm scratching his ears though. He relaxes so much he slides down into a laying position.

Now, it is a good idea to buy a little extra in case something happens and you have to replace...one possible draw back with laminates is a certain style/color WILL go out of stock/manufacture quits producing it, or the color WILL change slightly over a couple of years so need some extra in case of replacement.

 

Fixed that for you. I work in claims and have to replace laminate floor all the time (mostly due to water damage), I quite certain at this point that the flooring manufactures change styles / colors about annually. Why sell someone a box for replacement when you can force them to buy the whole floor.

Boom....

 

(Here's the thread the quote came from.)

 

After watching my subcontractors install it in 100+ houses that I build, I've gone ahead and installed it a couple of times...but I'm very well oriented to doing things hands on. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself unless you're already a decent carpenter. And even then, plan for a little more wastage than you would otherwise deem necessary.

 

Personally, I'm a bamboo floors kinda guy. It's more durable than laminate and just as durable as hardwood, it's cheaper than hardwood, looks as good if not better than most hardwoods (at least the affordable hardwoods), generally comes in more options than hardwoods, and comes from a MUCH more sustainable source than hardwoods.

 

If you're not interested in bamboo, I'd definitely go hardwood over laminate. Primary reason why...laminates (even the "good ones") can de-laminate if they get wet. Got a dishwasher or a refrigerator with an icemaker sitting on the laminate floor in your kitchen? Better hope those suckers don't ever leak, because if it does, then chances are those planks will de-laminate and you'll be tearing out and replacing your entire kitchen floor rather than just sanding a section of it and re-finishing.

 

Still, if you insist on going with laminate, please, PLEASE make sure that the laminate surface layer (the top layer of actual hardwood) is absolutely as thick as possible. Preferably something more than 5mm. Reason being, there are TONS of laminates out there that are wafer thin, and as soon as you drag something heavy over them, there's a serious scratch or gouge that goes all the way through the laminate, and then you're replacing sections of the floor rather than sanding down and refinishing a section. I've seen this happen with BRAND NEW laminate floors the minute someone rolls their refrigerator back into place and scratches the laminate...and then their back to square one. Make sure that top laminate layer is THICK!

I like the engineered hardwood, and am gonna do it in our upstairs this summer likely.

And CWB is absolutely correct about laminate getting wet. I put it down in my former office, had a pin valve leak over a weekend and that stuff looked like a rollercoaster. Thankfully I had some spare and replaced it but still had to take up the trim and start half over to fix it.

Hardwood! It’s just so classically nice looking and easy to keep clean with kids and pets. It’s one of the reasons I love my house.

 

We have carpet in all the bedrooms - - and now wish we had done all hardwood when we had the chance.

Good news is our dog is almost shed free, bad news is he is a light creme color.

 

 

 

Good point, and my son and I both have a bit of an allergy problem. I have no doubt getting rid of as much carpet as possible would help.

 

On this topic. When we built in 2006 we went with hardware wood throughout the house except bedrooms (carpet) and bath areas (tile).

 

But we did one son's bedroom in hardwood specifically due to allergies.

Hardwood! It’s just so classically nice looking and easy to keep clean with kids and pets. It’s one of the reasons I love my house.

 

We have carpet in all the bedrooms - - and now wish we had done all hardwood when we had the chance.

 

 

And a central vac makes it even easier.

We have a dog that is 7 months old and already pushing 60 pounds.

 

How big of a problem will that be with hardwood/laminate?

 

It can definitely be a problem. This is the kind of thing you can expect of a dog the likes of a lab on even a good quality hardwood floor. One word of advice if you have a dog is that, in general, the lighter you go on hardwood, the less scratching will be visible.