How easily does dark wood flooring scratch?

jojo2910

Hi,

We are looking to replace the carpet in the lounge with wooden flooring. I like the look of a dark floor, like the one here, but we have a dog and I'm worried it would show any scratches the dog or us will make. I just wondered whether we should go for something lighter?

What experiences do people have with dark flooring and its upkeep?

Thanks in advance.

Hintza

It should be OK. Bamboo is pretty tough stuff but ensure it is decent thickness.

Now to play devils advocate why do you want such a dark floor? Has the room got plenty of light (photos are in a conservatory)? Can you live with this floor long term? Bamboo will be very loud when walked on.

Just my thoughts think once, think twice.

jojo2910

Thanks, we've not decided on a material yet e.g. Bamboo v laminate etc. We're just about to start looking around.

krlyr

We put walnut coloured laminate down in the living room. Did it pretty cheaply knowing the the dogs might wreck it, it's just a temporary solution before we save and splurge on something better (as we're trying to decide whether to carry it through into the kitchen, but then it makes sense to wait until we strip the kitchen which could be a way off yet). I spent about £80 on flooring and underlay to do the one room, with it reduced in Homebase then a further discount over the Christmas sales.
In terms of the dogs, it's not doing too badly. We managed to scratch it somehow in one spot - you don't see it unless you know it's there, but it is fairly enough to spot if you're aware of it. Also a couple of the corners of some strips have raised or chipped slightly (think the strips were tapped together too hard - but we had a relative fit it all for free so can't really complain!) and it does notice because the walnut is literally just the top layer, and the lighter colour underneath stands out. Fortunately we managed to cover most chips with the rug and the runner we have down for the dogs. While I'm mentioning runners - the online shop Spendid Pets does cottom runners a lot cheaper than the Turtle Mats, etc., they're obviously not quite as good quality but they're standing up well to the big dogs here and they're easy enough to hoover dog hair out of. I bought one "as new" grade and one of the next grade down - both have a couple of nicks out of the edging (which you can cut off if it bothers you) and the lower grade one has two tiny darker marks on it (barely noticable as we went for dark grey) but definately good value for money IMO.
When we replace it, I would be tempted to go for either a high quality vinyl, or an engineered wood flooring (so that any scratches or chips don't go through to a lighter layer and stand out)

Like in your link, we went for white walls (they may end up slightly off-white when we decide on the final coat, we haven't decided yet) which I think it part of the reason we could pull it off in a relatively small room, we also have light cream blinds and just a canvas on the wall as a feature. We were originally going to wallpaper one side of the room but I think it could make it slightly too dark in there. Here's an in-progress shot: