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Discussion Forum

Durable Hardwood Floor for Dogs?

PLUM72 | Posted in General Discussion on March 10, 2007 06:49am

I’m investigating some options for flooring and would like to install hardwood in my home.  Trouble is, we have a 100lb Alaskan Malamute.  We have laminate in one part of the house.  The laminate floor has been VERY durable with the dog, but not as nice looking as hardwood.  The dog is staying so that’s not an option!  LOL!

What are the options out there for hardwood flooring that are durable enough to withstand the dog’s nails?

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  1. User avater
    Gene_Davis | Mar 10, 2007 07:02am | #1

    This gets asked periodically.

    Face it.  You cannot have decorator showhouse hardwood floors and a large dog.  The two are not compatible.

    What do they have as flooring down at the animal hospital and kennel?  Concrete or tile, and even if it is tile, it had better be porcelain.

    But if you gotta have wood, quartersawn white oak would be my choice, finished in one of the high-performance waterbornes such as Basic Coatings' "Street Shoes," or Bona Kemi's "Traffic."  These kind of finishes are the most durable site-applied ones you can get.

  2. Thaumaturge | Mar 10, 2007 09:20am | #2

    Well as someone who has watched my own 95 and 140 lb mutts get excited and scratch, scratch, scratch out the door, you're pretty much out of luck in the long run.  The hardest of finished floors will scratch over time.  Frankly, I'd worry more about a pebble in a shoe scratching the floor.

    The best solution is to keep those nails clipped.

    Thanks for the reminder, I hear a clicking sound approaching, so time to get the clippers.  Get 'em when they're tired.



    Edited 3/10/2007 2:06 am ET by Thaumaturge

  3. Mark | Mar 10, 2007 09:53am | #3

    I love malamutes.  Our own big ol' furry guy passed away last year.  what's he doing in the house anyway?  Wouldn't he rather be out there romping in the snow?  LOL (After we moved to Florida, Ours declared that he was now officially an "indoor dog".)

     

    My suggestion would be to just get whatever hardwood you want,  just make sure you get real wood, not laminate,  then after the floor has gotten all scratched up you can have it sanded out and re-finished.   The problem with laminate is-  yes it's durable, but once it's scratched, it's scratched... end of story

    " If I were a carpenter"
  4. EricGunnerson | Mar 11, 2007 05:32am | #4

    There are prefinished hardwoods with really hard finishes - I have a rustic maple floor that holds up to our dog's nails well. But it doesn't have the seamless look of a real hardwood.

    My real hardwood with a swedish finish scratches quite easily, and it's a dog-free zone...

  5. cmcguire1 | Mar 11, 2007 06:18am | #5

    We put down ash in our kitchen. About as hard as oak and a little more dimensionally stable. Finished with Bona Kemi 'Traffic'. 3 coats.

    Two years with a Labrador and still holding up well. There are scratches, but we're not too fussy.

  6. User avater
    user-246028 | Mar 11, 2007 06:37am | #6

    First of all, thank you for choosing the dog over nice floors. Too many people would get rid of the dog. I love Malamutes too. I had 20 husky's once apon a time with my dad. Fantastic animals.

    Back on topic, here's what I would do. Pick a nice Tavern Grade hardwood. It's alot cheaper and the dog can scratch it up all they want and you won't be able to see. It will add the the floors aready distressed look.

    If not that, I would go with some thing a little harder like maple for example. It's not a perfect example but you get the idea. If you can afford it, there is always Ipe or Iron Wood.

    Dave

  7. User avater
    JeffBuck | Mar 11, 2007 10:27am | #7

    where's Ditchburns when we need him?

    anyways ... bet Ditch would recommend "end grain blocks".

     

    Jeff

        Buck Construction

     Artistry In Carpentry

         Pittsburgh Pa

  8. paperhanger | Mar 11, 2007 02:17pm | #8

    you can get that prefinished concrete. lasts forever

    1. kayaker | Mar 11, 2007 05:14pm | #10

      stamped conrete to looke like hardwood floors!!!  lol

  9. tom21769 | Mar 11, 2007 03:43pm | #9

    Get comfortable with the word "patina".

    Our red oak flooring went in about 15 years ago.
    About 2 years later we got our Labrador Retriever.
    The first few scratches in that beautiful pristine floor
    would make some people want to kill the dog.
    We did not. She's still with us. The floor's never been sanded.

    After a while, I began to appreciate the character of the wear and tear
    on the floor. That's the beauty of natural materials.
    They turn into antiques. Factory made synthetic stuff does not, it just gets old and worn out. Then you throw it out. Then you lose the story of everything that happened to you and your family over time on that floor, dining table, stone steps, and so on.

    There comes a time for a little refurbishing, but natural materials will stand up to that too.

  10. MikeK | Mar 12, 2007 01:11am | #11

    I have a large dog and 5 kids. We put maple in our Kitchen and hallway. No stain, just poly finish. It worked out well for us.

    Hallway gets a lot of traffic as this is our primary entrance. The maple has some scratches, but they are hard to see due to the light color of the floor. Since maple is finished with no stain, we figure it will easier to refinish in a few years. 

  11. frenchy | Mar 12, 2007 03:02am | #12

    plum72,

       I answered this shortly after you posted it. It disappeared. 
     To be short I have a 150 pound dog who refuses to clip his nails (or let me clip them either) he runs and jumps and acts like a puppy.

     Look at the pictures I have of my floor.

      Please note that the finish is still perfect. Black walnut isn't as hard as other woods but it's held up fine so far..

      The trick is shellac!

     Don't believe many of the myths about shellac.. It's harder than most finishes, check it yourself, compare shellac to any poly and it's harder! It goes on butt simple. it's insanely cheap to do and you can be putting furniture back in place two hours after you start to apply it. 

       OH and the real neat stuff. it's insanely easy to fix.. yep grab a rag soaked in alcohol give it a rub and the scratch is gone. If you ruin the finish you can fix it in a few minutes by wiping up the old finish with alcohol and putting new coats on. the new blends in perfectly with the old and makes an invisable repair..

      Couple of other points.. shellac is safe.. they coat pills and candy with the stuff.. alcohol is the same stuff you drink celibrating your job (except they denature it by putting 2% of something to denature it  so highschool kids can't get a cheap drunk at the hardware store, so don't drink it) 

     It's cheap!

     a typical living room can be done for about $50.00  and it's really a do-it-yourself job..

     

     

      

     

       

    1. JeffinPA | Mar 03, 2008 04:15am | #14

      Hey Frenchy.

      Floors look awesome. 

      Question.  Is shellac similar to tongue oil? 

      I know nothing about it but we used tongue oil on our old farmhouse heart pine floors and they were awesome.  Hard surface, durable with a big sheppard and easy to touch up.

       

      Thanks

       

      Jeff in PA

      1. User avater
        Jeff_Clarke | Mar 03, 2008 06:40am | #15

        Tung oil.   Unless yours is really slippery ;o)Jeff

        Edited 3/2/2008 10:40 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke

      2. frenchy | Mar 03, 2008 04:21pm | #17

        JeffinPA.

         Oils need eventual renewal because of their nature and isn't as protective as shellac is. People have come on here and reported 80 + year old shellac floors.   At one time if You finished your floor you did it with shellac.. marketing convinced people to use all sorts of god awful concotions to replace shellac and in retrospect the benefits they offer are dubious at best!

         I like how easy shellac is to apply (I mean a do-it-yourselfer can do his floor in about 2 hours with most of that time spent standing around waiting for it to dry). Then put the furniture back in place and invite company over and they won't smell a thing.. That's three coats in 2 hours!

        1. JeffinPA | Mar 04, 2008 12:48am | #18

          Hey Frenchy

          I will give Shellac a try next time I have a nice floor to finish.

          Gotta learn somehow!

    2. wallyo | Mar 04, 2008 05:27am | #19

      Frenchy I have a couple of questions on the shellac and you are right it is almost a lost art has been used for hundreds of years, I think in some cases with a paste wax on top.First (your floors are a darker wood so you might not notice) but does it yellow faster on lighter woods, since there is no UV protection as commercial finishes. or does the shellac you use have UV protection in it.I have in the past refinished 80 year old floors that I thought might of been shellacked, but not sure just know what ever it was clogged the sand paper awfully quick. Does Shellac do that ie get gummy and clog sand paper when refinishing?Wallyo

      1. frenchy | Mar 04, 2008 03:29pm | #20

        wallyo,

          Yes. if you try to remove shellac the wrong way it will gum up sandpaper.. Remarkably the right way is faster and cheaper.. Flood an area with denatured alcohol and then take a brillo pad and abrade the old shellac (it doesn't matter if it's 100+ years old <grin>)  Follow up with a rag and you simply wipe up and squeeze out the old shellac with the alcohol you pick up..

           Uh, Not to be arguementative but  Shellac does have  natural UV protectors.  That is it will keep dark wood from fading and light wood from darkening better than polyurethanes etc.. As shellac darkens with UV exposure ( takes decades) you can either remove it and put fresh in place or appreciate the lovely patina it has. 

          The paste wax does tend to turn the shellac dark quicker it can also cause shellac to "alligator" 

  12. frenchy | Mar 02, 2008 08:39pm | #13

    plum72

     Look at the issue from a differant perspective..

      Dogs and scratches are inevitable unless you are willing to accept laminate floors.

      (I wouldn't) 

       Since they are inevitable why not make the floor easy to repair?

     Shellac does just that!

     First it's harder than other finishes.. (prove it to yourself) or listen to the others here who have used shellac. 

       Shellac also can be simply repaired without sanding or  any real effort!and that repair becomes invisable!

      You can repair locally or you can repair the whole floor both will be undetectable..

     Want pictures?  go to 86920.13 and check my black walnut floor out.. The first picture has the dent my 150 pound New Foundland made but look carefully and while the wood is dented the finish is fine!

      Now Black Walnut is a softer wood, nowhere near as hard as maple or oak are..

     If that had scratched the floor I could bend over with a rag dampened with denatured alcohol rubbed for a few moments and you couldn't tell it was ever scratched!

       There are lots of wrong myths about shellac out there if you have questions please ask I'll share..

      (PS this is perfect for a do it yourself project, once sanded off of whatever finish 2 hours will yield a great floor and most of that two hours is spent standing around waiting for it to dry) 

     Besides it's extremely safe.. you've been eating shellac all your life on pills and some candy..

  13. emerconstruction | Mar 03, 2008 06:58am | #16

    I was just at a friends house yesterday that had acrylic nails(or nail covers) put on the dog.  He said it works.

    I think it was something like this

    http://www.softpaws.org/Vet_dog.html

     

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