Dogs and flooring, laminate, wooden or vinyl ?

Tyler_Du

meritaten wrote: »

... I have had dogs and in kitchen area I have bought vinyl - the really tough, non slip one. its a bit harder to keep clean as the surface is textured, but its much safer, both for dogs AND humans.

hgotsparkle wrote: »

... we changed to vinyl and we find that the dogs don't slide around as much when they're got wet feet and its easier on their elbows when they're laying.

Have you used the sheet vinyl material (like you find in bathrooms . kitchens) ?
Any marks / damage from the dogs claws ?

hgotsparkle

Tyler_Durden_UK wrote: »

Have you used the sheet vinyl material (like you find in bathrooms . kitchens) ?
Any marks / damage from the dogs claws ?

No its slightly more spongey than you get in bathrooms and kitchens and its warm underfoot in winter. There haven't been any marks from the dogs claws but from furniture there is!

Caroline_a

I have laminate in my lounge and the expensive vinyl stuff in my breakfast room. The laminate does tend to slow them down a little as they are aware that it can be slippy, but in my eyes it looks smart (it wasn't the cheap stuff). The vinyl is brilliant, had that down for about 6 months now, easy to clean etc etc. My kitchen has onyx tiles in and they do like to lie on that too when it's really hot.

zaksmum

I changed my carpets to laminate because the dogs made so much mess on carpets that I just had to admit defeat in the end. I had a Vax carpet cleaner and cleaned the carpet once a month despite twice a day hoovering.

The minute I'd cleaned it you can bet your life one of the dogs would throw up on it.

Laminate seemed like the answer to my prayers but my older dog struggles to get up on it because her feet slide all over the place.

So I got a huge rug for in front of the fireplace and doggy happiness is restored. Both the dogs lie on it so no worries about the older one getting up or slipping.

And way easier to clean, too!

Katiehound

I have had not-quite-so-expensive vinyl (plank lets??) down in hall and dining room for 6 months and I love it. It replaced worn and stained carpet. This has wood grain so it is almost non slip. I would recommend it every time- Forest by TLC- see it here:
http://www.iloveflooring.co.uk/c74886/tlc-true-forest-collection.html
It's a cheaper version of Karndean. Looks like wood, very easy to clean. I have a rug at the front door.The fitters made a feature of the floor in dining room with a border and narrow inlay at no extra cost. Lots of small shops in town have had this same stuff fitted.

My friends have slightly cushioned vinyl sheet flooring and unfortunately my dogs made scratch marks with their claws and I notice that the bar stools cut into the surface.

I did consider extra strong contract vinyl- can't remember the name but the width it came in made it very uneconomical.

Ceramic tiles in the kitchen- fine but hard, cold and can chip!! My dogs aren't that keen to sit on them as they are too cold.

Just have one room carpeted downstairs, when that finally wears out will replace with the vinyl and a large rug.

Avoid anything with a shiny surface because that is likely to be slippery- which is why I picked the wood grain finish.

jenhug

I have slate too. Indestructible and non slippy.

meritaten

Tyler_Durden_UK wrote: »

Have you used the sheet vinyl material (like you find in bathrooms . kitchens) ?
Any marks / damage from the dogs claws ?

Yes it was the ordinary kitchen/bathroom one, I think its tradename was Rhinofloor . its extremely thick for vinyl and very tough. I had it for about 15 years and only changed it a couple of years ago. No marks from dogs - but, it did tear a little when OH dragged the fridge across it:mad:!
you can also get the one you see in shops etc - its more expensive but even more hardwearing I understand.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

Carer wrote: »

Would never have carpet where the dogs go (they don't go upstairs) as it stinks - I don't care how much you clean it, houses with carpets and dogs just smell bad.

I'm a breeder, have carpets everywhere but the kitchen and bathroom, and people comment that my house doesn't smell of dogs.

I prefer carpet as I have some very old (15 and 14 years old) retired breeding b!tches who really struggle on smooth surfaces. I have ceramic tiles in the kitchen, which is where pups are kept when I have a litter.

Nevertheless, I do replace certain carpets more regularly - my dog room (where my oldies are a lot of the time) has the carpet replaced every couple of years. Therefore I only ever have cheap carpet in there.

I've just recently replaced my hall, stairs and landing carpet. I had a Berber and the carpet salesman told me I could use neat bleach on it - have tried it and he was right. Did pay quite a lot for that carpet though.

meritaten

There is no reason a house should smell of pets - not if the house and the pets are kept clean. and smells from carpets are easily dealt with - Bicarbonate of Soda. use like shake and vac and for pennies you get all smells removed and NO perfume!

MrsAtobe

The downstairs is a mix of carpet (lounge), Amtico (hall) and non slip ceramic tiles (kitchen). To be hones, both of us wish that we'd had the non slip ceramic riles in the hallway as well, and I'm sure the dog does, too.

I do have to agree with Meri, though, no house has to smell of pets, unless the dog is wet, of course!