Hardwood floors and a large dog

[FreightTrain]

I was wondering if anyone had experience with having hardwood floors and a large dog in the house. I'm thinking about installing some hardwood floors in my house that is going to cost 5k. The only problem is my wife has a lab that is 135lbs and I don't want to throw 5k down the drain. The floors we have picked out are very rustic and are heavy handscraped so they will hide alot. My biggest concern is the dog sheds alot and I was looking for info of how much work it's going to take to keep the floors looking good and to keep the dog hair off them. So if you have wood floors and a dog please tell me how much time you spend cleaning them. Thanks

[8mpg]

sweep your floors when they have dog hair on them...not that hard.

I have 2 English Mastiffs and we have hardwood floors at the house. No problems here.

[Chili]

You'll probably have to sweep / swifter every day.

[talisman]

I have Handscraped Hardwoods in about 1000 square feet of my house. A Golden that weighs 110, and a Border Collie that weighs 60. They have gotten scratched in a few places, mostly around exit doors where the dogs can get excited. You would have to be examining them pretty close to notice. The wood is very dark. Vacuuming is required a couple of times a week, unless they've been recently groomed.

[Texican]

I don't personally have them, but a good friend had a mastiff and st. bernard in his house with wood floors. As far as wear and tear I can't help you but I know they said they were sweeping daily, mostly due to the St. Bernard's longer hair. Also, when the doorbell rang or when people were over the dog would get all excited and go running and sliding across the house. He knocked over the end tables a few times and if coming from the right angle could hit the couch hard enough to slam it into the wall.

[bcoop]

My buddy's 115 lb Bulloxer ruined $4k worth of hardwood floors in a matter of days.


Hair isn't your biggest issue here. You need to pay very close attention to the hardness ratings of the wood.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

A shop vac will soon be your best friend.

[FreightTrain]

I have Handscraped Hardwoods in about 1000 square feet of my house. A Golden that weighs 110, and a Border Collie that weighs 60. They have gotten scratched in a few places, mostly around exit doors where the dogs can get excited. You would have to be examining them pretty close to notice. The wood is very dark. Vacuuming is required a couple of times a week, unless they've been recently groomed.

So you can vacuum the floors without hurting them. The area I plan on doing is a bit over 600 sqft but it wouldn't be near any doors like you describe. The only problem is the little shit loves to play ball in this room.

[csturner]

We have hand scrapped hardwood floors in our house with two large labs and 3 boys. They look perfect after 5+ years. As Texican said they are a little slick if they really get in a hurry. I am sorry we did not do the whole house in them. Much easier to maintain than carpet.

[Markus]

We also have wood floors in our house, the only thing that really bothers me is when they "my dogs" get up in the middle of the night to go outside, you can hear them walking back in forth. Its the tapping of their nails on the wood floor thats loud.

[mstng86]

We have hand scrapped hardwood floors in our house with two large labs and 3 boys. They look perfect after 5+ years. As Texican said they are a little slick if they really get in a hurry. I am sorry we did not do the whole house in them. Much easier to maintain than carpet.

I feel the exact opposite. I hate the upkeep on hardwood floors. Constantly sweeping, swiffering, and then treating the floors to keep them clean. It is more of a pain IMO.

[jimithing]

Went through this same thing about a year ago - I have two dogs, one of them is a great dane. Everything on the internet I read said that laminate will hold up better than hardwood so I ended up putting in laminate. And I guess they were right because I don't have one scratch on my floors yet. Honestly, though, if I could do it again I'd probably go with hand scraped hardwoods. I just don't like the feel of walking on a floating floor. It just doesn't have the same solid feel that glued down hardwood or tile has.

[jimithing]

Also as far as maintenance, we do have one of those microfiber brooms that has removeable/washable tops. We sweep at least once a week. The way I see it, that hair is coming off the dogs no matter what kind of floors you have. It's much easier to get all of the hair with the hard floors. We used to have carpet in these rooms and our house always smelled like dog because we could never get out all the hair and dander.

[csturner]

I feel the exact opposite. I hate the upkeep on hardwood floors. Constantly sweeping, swiffering, and then treating the floors to keep them clean. It is more of a pain IMO.

Ours are really dark, so they are probably dirtier than we think! Wife wipes them down every couple days with a dustmop.

[talisman]

So you can vacuum the floors without hurting them. The area I plan on doing is a bit over 600 sqft but it wouldn't be near any doors like you describe. The only problem is the little shit loves to play ball in this room.

Oh yeah, vacuum doesn't hurt it at all. Using a Dyson pet model. They've been in for about a year and a half now. The heavy dog isn't very excitable, most of the scratches have been from the Border Collie.