Any insights on species of wood that holds up best against dog traffic. And no getting rid of the dog is not an option.
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Not found a hardwood that will take the nail pressure marks. Only thing to use is a laminate floor.
I think Hickory or Oak would hold up fine, but finishes that won't scratch is more of the problem. Many new prefinished flooring products claim high scratch resistance, so I would go that route myself.
Hickory, or White Oak. And note that I'm talking about tree species, not some company's finish-color name. There are many flooring products that are called "White" oak which are milled from red oak. And red oak is nowhere near as abrasion resistant.
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If you can afford it, Brazilian Cherry, Ipe, & some other exotics, i.e., imported species, are much harder than the native species. You'll still have the problem of finish durability, though.
If Frenchy was around, he'd recommend shellac because it is extremely easy to repair. In most cases just wiping with an alcohol soaked rag will get rid most scratches.
This is just a thought. It's something I would try if I could afford some of the exotic flooring. I've had a few pieces of unfinished Brazilian cherry scraps in my shop for years that are just beautiful & feel almost hard as glass. You could install the unfinished flooring & use a penetrating oil finish instead of a film finish.
Everyone will say that the oil finish won't hold up to the abrasion, but I tried it on a couple of red oak thresholds in my house about 30 years ago. We've had dogs (German Shepherds) all that time. Some times 8 to 10 at a time and lots of sand & grit. The oil finished boards retained their finish as well, or better, than the rest of the floor that was finished with a poly.
While I agree that the stuff being sold as "Brazilian Cherry" is quite beautiful, there have been numerous cases in which the finish (both pre-finished and finished at install) has failed.
In these cases, odd-looking patches of a purplish-milky color appear as if by magic, sometimes as long as two years after the finish was put on.
These are not cases where spills have caused problems. There is some sort of inherent incompatibility between Jatoba (the wood) and some finishes.
Before I was aware of this problem, I installed about 700 sq ft of click-lock from Bruce. The size of the job was such taht it took me three or four days. The condo was empty and unoccupied. The owner was out of town.
As I was finihsing up in the last room, I went back to look at each room one last time.
And there were purple-ish haze-spots.
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Work on the dog toenails, not the floor.
Get a dremmel tool and use the little drum sander to grind the toenails down. It takes a littel practice and time, but you can get the toenails below the pad line and keep them there with regular maintenace. It is awhole lot cheaper than floor mainenace.
stranded woven bamboo flooring is extremely dense flooring material-it is a good looking product and will stand up to dog traffic
I used a moisture cured urethane on my oak floors. Had a hundred lb. dog for 5 years, and several after that.
The coating is an industrial maintenance coating used for commercial kitchens. Sold by BM here. Cut is xylene.
oops, double posted, sorry
See your vet about toenail trimming
Do you trim the dogs nails? I know someone who uses a dremel tool. The clippers hurt the dogs nails.
They started the dog out with plenty of treats while the dremel was just on. they worked up to the actual trimming and now he likes them trimmed.
Picture a dog in a chair smoking a cigar getting a pedicure.
I'll add another vote for the
I'll add another vote for the dremel nail maintenance approach. It becomes a quick weekly chore that the dog doesn't mind at all. My dog didn't really mind the clippers either, but prefers the dremel method.
....then you'll be able to base your flooring choice on what really counts... how it looks, how it performs, and how much it costs.
I also vote for nail trimming--if it's done every week the dog will learn it's just part of life.
If it's a big athletic dog and careful triming isn't enough, the nail caps that are glued onto the nail work well.
You may consider a pre-distressed look--any dog nail scratches after that add character and do not stand out. I have 2 large dogs and oak floors, and while they hold up OK they still show nail scratches. I don't mind, but if I did I would do the pre-distressed thing. There is a metal worker near me who used 2x12 pine and beat the heck out of it with a chain and when he drops an anvil on it it looks even better.
I second Barzilian cherry, it's stood up to my Newfoundland. But now I read about finish problems, mine has been down for a few years and I'm just now taking a coffee break from sanding prep for Street Shoe.