Special offer

In honor of National Dog Day - Hardwood flooring that's best for dogs

By
Home Builder with The Flooring Girl

hardwood flooring that is best for dogsYes, today is National Dog Day (August 26th).  I love dogs (as well as cats) and many of my customers have the most wonderful dogs.  One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "What types of hardwood flooring are best for dogs?"

 

Of course, this is a loaded question, and it's challenging to answer because truthfully all hardwood will dent and scratch over time - it's just a matter of how much and how much you can see it.  But I don't think this is a reason to avoid getting hardwood for your home if you have dogs.  Tons of consumers have dogs and hardwood and they can easily co-exist and live happily ever after.

 

Usually, this question is less of an issue for cats and more of a concern with dogs, especially active dogs.  And, while there are things you can do w/ your pets (e.g. clip or file nails), I'm going to focus on hardwoods that can take a better beating and/or not show it as much.

 

1.  First, by all means stay away from the softer woods:american cherry wood not good for pets

  • American Cherry
  • American Walnut
  • Pines (including Douglas fir)
  • Bamboo (esp carmelized bamboo)

These woods are softer and will dent very easily - even without a pet or kids.  They look beautiful, but they are not very practical.  And, ironically, they often cost more (because fewer people buy them).  Note: American Cherry and Walnut are different than Brazilian Cherry and Walnut.  American = soft; Brazilian = hard.

 

2.  Take your shoes off.  A lot of customers blame their pets for scratches, but often we are the worst culprit.  While high heels are often not wonderful for hardwood floor, the biggest culprit is not the shoes themselves, but rather what gets caught in the shoes.  It's those pebbles and dirt that get caught in our shoes that cause most of the scratches.  Or, sometimes w/ high heels that have been worn a while, the rubber wears off and there is a nail at the bottom.   So before blaming your lovely pets, look at your own habits.  For my customers that take their shoes off, their hardwood floors are in way better condition and it's a much longer time before they need to be refinished.

 

 

red oak hardwood flooring westchester NY3.  Woods with stronger graining are better for hiding the scratches.  Oak is a great example of this, especially red oak which has stronger graining than white oak.  While Red Oak is only 1290 on the janka hardness scale (which is still hard and is hard enough), it does an excellent job of hiding the dents and scratches due to the strong graining.  In fact, it usually hides them better than Brazilian Cherry (2,350) and Brazilian Walnut (3684) which have less and smoother graining.

 

 

4.  All things being equal, harder hardwoods are better.  This is tricky because not all things are equal - see the previous point.  But, Hickory is great choice (1820 on the Janka scale).  There are many other hardwoods that are harder...see the janka scale of hardness...but you can't jut look at hardness by itself.

 

light hardwood floors are best for dogs5.  Usually, lighter colors are better for pets.  First, darker colors seem to show the scratches more.  I'm not sure why, but they just do.  Second, oak is the most common type of hardwood and oak is naturally light.  So, if you have a scratch that penetrates the stain color, it will show less on lighter colors since what is revealed beneath is simiar in color.

 

6.  Satin finishes.  Avoid glossy or semi-gloss finishes.  The glossier the finish, the more it will show the scratches from the light reflecting off of it.  Satin finishes are most stylish these days anyway.

 

 

7.  Solid hardwood or high quality engineered hardwood that can be refinished.  It's always good to have an insurance plan so that you can refinish the hardwood floors when you need to.

 

 

8.  Consider handscraped or distressed hardwoods.  This is a stylized look Handscraped distressed hardwood in Westchester NYthat some customers love and some hate.  It tends to be in style in the South, certain areas in the west, and more rustic homes in the Northeast.  This look is not for everyone.  But, here's why it's good for pets...it shows the scratches and dents less because that's how the wood is designed - it dent looks like it fits right in.  Likewise, hardwood that has more knots and character marks will hide the dent and scratches more.

 

 

9.  Bamboo is "iffy" with pets - can vary greatly - some are good; most are not.  Bamboo's resilience can vary widely pending the type and the brand, and what follows are some generalizations.  a) stay away from stained bamboo - these scratch very easily and bamboo does not accept stains as well as oak does, b) carmelized bamboo is weaker than natural as the process of heating it weakens the grass, c) strand bamboo can be very strong - so if you have pets and want bamboo, this is a GREAT option - more expensive, but will hold up better, d) buying bamboo from big box stores and/or cheap bamboo results in a lot of dents, e) even though natural bamboo is technically stronger than oak, it shows dents more easily (and carmelized bamboo is usually softer than oak).  See my page on bamboo flooring for more info and for pictures.

 

dog and hardwood floors10.  Use felt pads underneath furniture and area rugs/entrance mats.  This is especially important for chairs that are used a lot.  Oh, and stay away from chairs with wheels - often thing get caught in the wheels and cause scratches.  If you do have chairs with wheels, put an area rug underneath.  And, make sure you have area rugs/entrance mats at all your main entries.  You can even have one outside, too.  These are the areas that get worn down the fastest due to rain, snow, salt, dirt, so protecting these areas will go a long way towards preserving your floors.

 

doggies socks on hardwood floors11.  Consider doggie socks.  Yes, I know this one may be a bit controversial and many say their dogs will not like these.  This is a picture of one of my customer's dogs.  It can work (especially if it's cold outside) and this is something I recommend to my customers for right after they sand & refinish their floors as it will enable their dogs to walk on the floors sooner.  I love dogs and I'd rather see them happy and comfortable at home rather than being restricted for the first week or two after you refinish the floors.

 

I hope this is helpful.  Apologies for the length, but there are a lot of things to consider with hardwood and this is not an easy question to answer.  Above is meant to address denting/scratching.  If you are concerned about pets peeing on the hardwood, that is a whole different issue...basically no hardwoods will stand up well to that, so clean up the mess quickly is the best advice I can give you on that,  but generally site finished wood does a bit better as the poly covers the edges.  This article might come in handy:  How do you get rid of pet stains in hardwood flooring?  

 

So here's to all the wonderful dogs out there.  Hugs from NY and enjoy the day.  As far as I'm concerned, everyday is National Dog Day.

Comments (81)

Kathleen Luiten
Resort and Second-Home Specialist - Princeville, HI
Kauai Luxury Ocean Home Sales

We have merbau floors and they've held up very well.

Aug 28, 2014 10:14 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

ritika saha #64, Thank you for the 10 pts.

10 points dont mean too much these days but it is still nice to tag a true spam comment from time to time.

Aug 29, 2014 02:48 AM
Steve Higgins
RE/MAX Kelowna - Kelowna, BC

Hi Debbie,

Thank you for the great information, being a dog owner myself and having hardwood floors that will need replacing at some point in time we will know what to look for.

Aug 29, 2014 11:25 PM
Debra Peters
Referral Realty - Manorville, NY
NY Real Estate Salesperson

Great Blog Post!  Thank you for the valuable information, Debbie.

Have a great weekend!

Aug 30, 2014 06:03 AM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@Properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Hi, Debbie!  Just to let you know - Willie the Labradoodle and I included this post in today's Last Week's Favorites!

Aug 31, 2014 11:58 AM
Larry Johnston
Broker, Friends & Neighbors Real Estate and Elkhart County Subdivisions, LLC - Elkhart, IN
Broker,Friends & Neighbors Real Estate, Elkhart,IN

That's a lot of informaiton on hardwood flooring.  No wonder you are known as the "Flooring Girl".  My dog does not like hardwood, which we have throughout our home and goes from area rug to area rug before sitting down.

Aug 31, 2014 01:56 PM
Anonymous
johnny girolamo

Doggie Socks??

Sep 01, 2014 10:05 AM
#70
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Chad - I think that bamboo is a poor choice - with or without dogs, it doesn't last very long and most can not be sanded & refinished.  While bamboo grows quickly, I do not consider it very green since it's not very durable and needs to be replaced. On top of that most is grown in China, so there is a lot of fuel expended.  Oak, on the other hand, is locally grown and tends to last in homes for over 100 years.  And, these are grown responsibly.  And, this is much better vs. carpet.

Thx Bob Crane for your input.  I completely agree.

Sep 01, 2014 10:23 AM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher
Is this the first time a dog bas been featured on the feature landing page?
Sep 01, 2014 12:47 PM
Cheryl Ritchie
RE/MAX Leading Edge www.GoldenResults.com - Huntingtown, MD
Southern Maryland 301-980-7566

This is a first pick reblog! I have had hardwoods on two floors with Goldens. No regrets! 

Sep 01, 2014 12:50 PM
Rebecca Gaujot, Realtor®
Lewisburg, WV
Lewisburg WV, the go to agent for all real estate

Hi Debbie, some great informatio in this post, and bookmarking for future reference...I love dogs!

Sep 02, 2014 12:23 PM
Brian Olsen
Portland, Lake Oswego, West Linn & Dunthorpe Neighborhoods, Waterfront, Luxury & Floating Homes - Lake Oswego, OR
Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Group | Keller Williams

We're dog sitting and the details in your BLOG are perfect for me right now. I have dark distressed wood flooring in my home office. It looks warm and cozy BUT some of the uneven pieces chip off and the wood underneath is a lighter color then the rest.

Now we know!

Sep 05, 2014 02:04 PM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Hello Debbie ... Great post, love the write, photos and comments ;o)

Sep 06, 2014 10:41 AM
Sally K. & David L. Hanson
EXP Realty 414-525-0563 - Brookfield, WI
WI Real Estate Agents - Luxury - Divorce

Most informative,....seems we list a lot of homes with dogs...and this is great to pass along to their "parents."

Sep 06, 2014 05:48 PM
John McCormack, CRS
Albuquerque Homes Realty - Albuquerque, NM
Honesty, Integrity, Results, Experienced. HIRE Me!

Good morning Debbie.  I just sent this to my cousin that is wanting to install all wood flooring.  They have 4 huge inside dogs and I question their thinking.  Your post will be very helpful to them and others.

Sep 07, 2014 03:50 AM
debbie lemmon
AZ HOME SEEKERS - San Tan Valley, AZ

What a great post! Thanks for sharing this, my dog slides across our floors like crazy! This a good information! Thanks for sharing!

Sep 09, 2014 05:15 AM
Ginger Harper
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage~ Ginger Harper Real Estate Team - Southport, NC
Your Southport~Oak Island Agent~Brunswick County!

Such a clever post.  I am in the process of putting hardwood floors in my downstairs area..

Jun 06, 2015 12:18 AM
Sandy Padula & Norm Padula, JD, GRI
HomeSmart Realty West & Florida Realty Investments - , CA
Presence, Persistence & Perseverance

Debbie Gartner Great post from you on dog-compatable flooring. When ever I have had a dog, I always got  rgeat joy watching them slip and slide around corners in the house. Doggie Socks?

Jun 06, 2015 12:38 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Ginger - Thx so much. Glad to hear that.

Sandy & Norm - Doggie socks work for some, but not all dogs.  they are more accepting in the winter as they keep their feet warm.

Jun 06, 2015 01:28 AM
Michael Dagner
Brokers Guild Classic - Denver, CO
Your Denver Homes Realty Expert

Hi Debbie, this is always relavant information for any hardwood floor purchase. You do a great job of making it informative and personal.

Jul 01, 2015 12:14 PM