Which flooring is best for a home with pets?

[cricket1178]

We're trying to decide which type of flooring to put in our home with pets. We have 2 cats and a little cockapoo. We are getting a weimaraner puppy at the end of July. One of the cats goes in and out the other is declawed (not our doing) and is always in.

 

We are planning on stone tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms, but what to do with the other rooms. Laminate is sounding pretty good, but I've heard they are doing wonderful things with carpet now? I want something durable and long lasting and that cleans up easily after all those pet things that inevitably happen.

 

So what's on your pet friendly floors?

[ReneTL]

We just put laminate down in our living, dining, hall and entry way and I love it! It does show fur a little more than carpet, but after I sweep or vacuum, it is clean. Everything comes up with a damp mop and it looks great. It is more expensive than carpet, but it is the last floor covering we will need until they cart us off to the home.

 

Good Luck.

[Shelly in IL]

My parents have it EVERYWHERE in their house - it is noisy and "clicky" with pet toenails. It shows everything and I have some in my school room that does "break" a bit if it is near an edge. (Not many places, but it surprised me, since it is supposed to be warranteed and all.)

 

I'll tell you what I do like for your situation...there is a floor that is made into strips (like hardwood), but it is made from vinyl. I have some in my sunroom - because that is where my dogs go when they have wet feet. It is beautiful, really looks like wood, is indestructible and will hold up to scratches, etc. They even have our particular brand in the local grocery store produce dept. if that tells you how strong it is.

 

Look around at it. I know Home Depot has this style of floor, but I"m not sure of its longevity. We bought ours from Carpetland -if that helps.

[sagira]

Our whole house is tiled, big stone tiles. Easy to clean. However, we live in a warm climate.

[MaMa2005]

We have ceramic tile throughout our entire house. I LOVE it because no matter how big the mess, a quick sweep and mop and it looks new again.

 

It has survived through 3 chihuahuas, 2 grandchildren and now DS (5). I really loved it as 2 of our chis got on in age. Accidents do happen with pets and it was nice to not stress over trying to clean something that had feces and urine soaking into it.

 

The downside - if you drop something breakable on it, it will shatter into a million pieces :tongue_smilie:. BTDT several times.

[Teachin'Mine]

I would avoid laminate in any areas that could get wet. I know it's used often in kitchens and all, but I really would not recommend doing that. Tile with area rugs could work well, but that vinyl, looks like hardwood, flooring sounds awesome!

[Gooblink]

I would avoid laminate in any areas that could get wet. I know it's used often in kitchens and all' date=' but I really would not recommend doing that. Tile with area rugs could work well, but that vinyl, looks like hardwood, flooring sounds awesome![/quote']

 

:iagree: We have it in our kitchen and it's bubbling up in many places. I think you can seal it, but it was installed when we moved in and didn't think about it until the damage was done.

 

I would avoid carpeting at all costs - just my personal preference. Our last house had scored and stained concrete downstairs (entire) and hardwood upstairs. I loved it. We had cats - and you know how they vomit! Clean up is no problem with solid surface floors.

[FriedClams]

Tile or hardwood.

 

Carpet gets nasty and is hard to clean.

 

Laminate is LOUD, chips & annoying to clean.

[Ellie]

Hardwood. Hardwood. Hardwood. Even in the kitchen, maybe the bathrooms. Hardwood. Not laminate. Hardwood. Did I mention hardwood? Yes. Hardwood. :D

 

I have had hardwood floors since 1987, in California and now in Texas. I will always have hardwood floors. Properly finished (i.e., several coats of polyurethane), they wear like iron, pet accidents clean up easily, and when you vacuum (cannister vac) or dustmop (microfiber mophead) them, they are CLEAN.

[ourjourneys]

:iagree:we have hardwood on the main level and laminate in the kids rooms (it was less expensive and durable). We only did laminate in the kids rooms because it will not scratch. But, there is absolutely no water allowed in their rooms and we only have a cat - he always uses the litter box. For the hardwood level, when something gets spilled it is so easy to clean...

Hardwood. Hardwood. Hardwood. Even in the kitchen, maybe the bathrooms. Hardwood. Not laminate. Hardwood. Did I mention hardwood? Yes. Hardwood. :D

 

I have had hardwood floors since 1987, in California and now in Texas. I will always have hardwood floors. Properly finished (i.e., several coats of polyurethane), they wear like iron, pet accidents clean up easily, and when you vacuum (cannister vac) or dustmop (microfiber mophead) them, they are CLEAN.

[DarlaS]

I have mostly laminate in my house. It was either laminate or carpet for us and the laminate was the clear winner. I don't have perfect floors. Far from it, in fact. Installing hardwood or ceramic would require replacing the subfloor. A little leveling compound would not do it. You can see the floor wave in my kitchen. This is a manufactured home and cheap particle board was used in the floors. It's strong enough all right and it's level overall--but it's NOT flat enough for tile or hardwoods.

 

I have installed them myself and they are anywhere from 5 -7 years old. The quality varies wildly with laminate, and after doing my research, I chose Kronotex from an eBay seller and got 1/2 pallet worth in 2003. I installed it myself when I was 5 months pregnant. We went with a noise reducing underlayment (That stuff is HEAVY!) and it really helped.

 

I got my most recent purchase of 8mm flooring for $1.25 square foot (back in 2005 when we added on) from builddirect.com. They sell all types of flooring--if you're willing to buy it by the pallet. That batch came with the brand name "Lamton" on it but it was the same flooring. The only difference was the connection system, but since I did not need to join it to my previous floor, it was not a concern. I see the underpad is now attached. I don't know how good that would be for noise.

 

I recently had a guy doing some drywall work in my house, and he could not believe the floors in the living room were 7 years old as the only chips are where something heavy and sharp was dropped--and those don't really show. You have to look for them.

 

There are a lot of options in flooring now. I am very intrigued by the groutable self stick tiles I've recently seen, and the vinyl plank flooring another poster mentioned. If we were doing our floors now, I'd have a lot more choices even for our imperfect subfloors.