# Hardwood floors... how are yours holding up?



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Mine are a disaster so I'm thinking of replacing them. Currently engineered oak planks (soft as butter). ~600 on the Janka rating. Want to go to the hardest I can go which means brazilian teak, or stranded bamboo (for me, these are the colors I am able to find)

Anyone have either, or something comparable? The stranded bamboo sample (3000 janka) I can barely scratch with a carbide drill bit in my hand and cannot make a visible change with a hard plastic anything... it seems to take metal to scratch and even then it was only the coating that was scratched... no dents. Brazilian teak is around 3400.

How do your hardwood floors hold up to big dogs running in place?


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

We are considering (Pergo Floors.)...several people have suggested it, because of the dogs....and it's supposed to be cost effective..?!


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

robinhuerta said:


> We are considering (Pergo Floors.)...several people have suggested it, because of the dogs....and it's supposed to be cost effective..?!


Well... brazilian hardwoods and stranded bamboo... aren't all that cost effective in comparison lol


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## CassandGunnar (Jan 3, 2011)

Some friends of ours put bamboo in their main floor (open floor plan about 8 years old). The bamboo went in 2 1/2 years ago. They have 3 rotties and just love it.
They also have 2 younger kids (7 & 5) and that flooring looks like the day it went in.

He did it himself and said it was kind of hard on blades, but other then that, no problems at all. 
We're in MN and he said he has not noticed any shift/expansion at all.

It ain't cheap, but you get what you pay for.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I've heard nothing but bad things about the fake hardwood floors. I have very old wood floors and they are doing just fine with all the dogs on them.


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## tierra nuestra (Sep 8, 2010)

we have black walnut hand scraped plank floors.the surface is naturally uneven and the more you beat them up the better they look.they have an antique feel and look to them so they stand the abuse of dogs,kids whatever.we also went with the non finished boards and we just oil them every so often.


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

we have bamboo in our kitchen/dinning room and entry ways (both the front door and back door), it looks like the day it went in except if you look at it closely you can see scratches, but you'd have to be on the ground so see them. We're eventually going to put it in the downstairs, living room and bathroom, and eventually get the stairs done alone with the upstairs hall way. We love it, all in all I'd give it a 9 1/2 out of 10.m If you keep your dog's nails short like I do they won't scratch it as bad, my dog's nails are short to where you can't hear the clicking noise. to be honest most of the scratches are from moving furniture around, not the dogs.

ETA: I probably should mention we have good high quality Bamboo, I can't remember the name of the maker we got it from though.


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

my bamboo is getting tore up! i don't know anything about it except that it is bamboo, and the dogs, girls in high heels, and a brick (got robbed) have ruined it...


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## liv (Sep 1, 2010)

I know someone with Brazilian Teak floors - they don't have any dogs, but a few weeks ago she dropped her microwave turntable on the floor; it shattered, but didn't leave a mark on the floor. I've considered it for the next house, but am not a huge fan of the color. Be careful with bamboo if you get that - some are good and some aren't - I heard of someone recently (can't remember where - I've been reading a lot of flooring forums) bought enough to make a 10'x10' "rug" in a high traffic area for a month and it got really scratched up.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

liv said:


> I know someone with Brazilian Teak floors - they don't have any dogs, but a few weeks ago she dropped her microwave turntable on the floor; it shattered, but didn't leave a mark on the floor. I've considered it for the next house, but am not a huge fan of the color. Be careful with bamboo if you get that - some are good and some aren't - I heard of someone recently (can't remember where - I've been reading a lot of flooring forums) bought enough to make a 10'x10' "rug" in a high traffic area for a month and it got really scratched up.


I have samples from a seemingly good place "simplefloors.com", and the stranded bamboo is just... granite hard. I'm very impressed with it. Using anything but metal (plastic, wood, acrylic, etc) I could cause no visible damage either gouging, scraping, or pounding. Even stabbing with an oyster knife is almost entirely unnoticeable. YOu really have to hold the sample close at an angle to see it.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I have Pergo (laminated) floors, I put area rugs down where needed. The livingroom floor is about 12 yrs old now. I have a few scratches but overall its held up fine. As far as the dogs slipping, its only if they get riled up and I don't allow them to play ruff or run in the house. I don't think its as slippery as wet tile.


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## hollysmommy (Dec 3, 2010)

i loveee seeing my dogs run on the floor they always slip and fall but continue to do it!


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

Fantastic, somehow. I can't even see scratches although I'm sure they are there.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I don't need to tell you not to use pine, because you are obviously not an idiot like my husband and I. Pine = lots of scratches. The larch we used is holding up a bit better, but doesn't get much use so that's possibly why.

The bamboo floor at my parent's house has a few dog-related injuries too.


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## A_selders (Jul 19, 2010)

*hardwood floors*

We put Pergo down in our dining, kitchen, hall and bathroom 5 years ago and haven't had much issue with the but for the price I really don't care if they get scratched. We got all of that flooring plus some extra for nothing! They came out of a model home that some people bought but didn't like the flooring, so our friend who laid their new floor was able to get it for nothing. It was close to 1000 sq ft of pergo flooring and there were only a few pieces that we couldn't use, some from around the toilet and some from around a doorway.


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

We have "real" hardwood floors in our 50 year old house that needed re-finished so we just recently laid down "fake" hardwood floor on top of it a few months ago.

My parents love their Pergo, but we do not plan on living here that much longer so went with the clearance Home Depot store brand..something like 60 cents or so a square foot. 

We love it, no scratches from the dogs and nothing from when Kelso drops his nylabones on the floors. Easy to clean and they look great.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I also have pergo. It has held up great(installed in 2000). We put a Wilsonart laminate in the dining room a couple yrs ago and so far so good. 
With dogs running around I would not want to have real hardwood unless I wanted a distressed look.


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## Todd (Sep 6, 2004)

Good_Karma said:


> I don't need to tell you not to use pine, because you are obviously not an idiot like my husband and I. Pine = lots of scratches. The larch we used is holding up a bit better, but doesn't get much use so that's possibly why.
> 
> The bamboo floor at my parent's house has a few dog-related injuries too.


LOL...I occasionally question my own judgement in hindsight too!

Wish I knew what kind of hardwood floors are in the house I bought last summer. I'm not sure you could scratch them with a rifle! No scratches or anything close in six months. Heidi is not too wild in the house though and over 8 years old so that probably helps.


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

I have red oak in my house. They are holding up fine. I can see light scratches in the polyurethane ( we have 4 coats of it on the floor), but the actual wood is fine. At the summer house we have Pergo, and those are fine as well. I don't see any scratches.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

wouldn't you know it... my downstairs toilet stuck open, while draining slow, and dumped a ton of water on my hardwood lastnight  Looks like a hardwood replacement just got justified for me anyway 

So pissed...


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

We currently have "distressed" oak floors. We refinished them 5 1/2 years ago but the dogs' nails leave dents in the wood. Instead of using a polyurethane finish our finisher used something called Torginol. There a barely any scratches in the finish even though there are lots of grooves in the wood. I try to keep the dogs from running but I'm the only one - everyone else throws balls inside (upstairs) and of course the dogs don't care either. It doesn't bother me too much but hopefully the distressed look will be fashionable if we ever want to sell this house.


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## Caitydid255 (Aug 28, 2010)

We have Oak floors. They have held up pretty well to over 30 years of dogs and cats in the house. We have rugs on the central part of each room, which the dogs prefer to walk on. Other than that we keep up with trimming the nails.


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

smdaigle said:


> We currently have "distressed" oak floors. We refinished them 5 1/2 years ago but the dogs' nails leave dents in the wood. Instead of using a polyurethane finish our finisher used something called Torginol. There a barely any scratches in the finish even though there are lots of grooves in the wood. I try to keep the dogs from running but I'm the only one - everyone else throws balls inside (upstairs) and of course the dogs don't care either. It doesn't bother me too much but hopefully the distressed look will be fashionable if we ever want to sell this house.


Should have also mentioned that we trim (or have the vets trim) their nails frequently but it doesn't seem to matter. When a big dog is running on a slick floor their nails dig in - same thing when they hit the brakes. I think that's part of the price we pay for having big dogs in the house. It's worth it!


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Caitydid255 said:


> We have Oak floors. They have held up pretty well to over 30 years of dogs and cats in the house. We have rugs on the central part of each room, which the dogs prefer to walk on. Other than that we keep up with trimming the nails.


THey don't make oak floors like that no mo


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

smdaigle said:


> We currently have "distressed" oak floors. We refinished them 5 1/2 years ago but the dogs' nails leave dents in the wood. Instead of using a polyurethane finish our finisher used something called Torginol. There a barely any scratches in the finish even though there are lots of grooves in the wood. I try to keep the dogs from running but I'm the only one - everyone else throws balls inside (upstairs) and of course the dogs don't care either. It doesn't bother me too much but hopefully the distressed look will be fashionable if we ever want to sell this house.


I got some samples for some distressed would... but my current would looks more distressed in places so i'm unsure if it will effectively hide it


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## fortion1990 (Jun 27, 2020)

We have everything in my house's of bamboo, that unique marbled grain of strand woven bamboo brings warmth and beauty to every room.


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## Buckelke (Sep 4, 2019)

We put down old fashioned 3/4" red oak about 15 years ago in the family room. The living and dining rooms came with it. What we put down has held up incredibly well. Dirty but no dings or dents. We finished it ourselves with 2 coats of Varathane floor finish. It is a lot of work. You have to sand it every time step







. We stained it with a natural stain to bring up the grain. I have always loved all the colors in it. We also filled every gap no matter how small, something the builder didn't do in the other rooms. It makes a huge difference and I would not recommend skipping that step. It takes a beating from the dogs and they do slide around on it. When Ellie developed the degenerative mylopathy we put throw rugs all over it for her. Made a sticky-tape mess but cleaned off. I'm not a fan of engineered flooring, although I do put in in closets and upstairs where very few people see it. I've attached a pic of Duke laying on the red oak in the family room.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

I just did a major upstairs addition in our 110 year old house but haven't had the solid wood floors put in yet (we're still mid renovation). That's just sleeping area for the most part for my two dogs so hopefully it will hold up.

I want to replace most of the main floor (some old linoleum in the kitchen, some strip hardwood probably from the 40-50's) but honestly, thinking of going with wood look porcelain tile since these two GSD I have now (7 months and 6 years) would be **** on wood floors the way they play sometimes. It's a big decision as there's a lot of room(s) to cover with a kitchen, eat-in area, hallway, bathroom and main floor office.


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## iBite (Jun 24, 2020)

We have “hand scraped” oak floors... they’re 5 years old and I’m totally happy with them. They do scratch if you try hard enough but you can’t tell because of the “scraped” finish. I hope it never goes out of style because I’m pretty sure they’ll last forever. They’re on the medium expensive side.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Just information if any one cares. I had a house for several years that had hardwood floors. At that time I had around 20 dogs of various ages, sizes and breeds. 
That floor was indestructible. Seriously. Not a mark on it. Ever.
It had a finish called Diamondcoat or Diamondshield. Something about diamonds, lol. It looked gorgeous, it was easy to maintain and honestly in 4 years not a single mark on that floor.


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

I have timber look ceramic tiles in the family/living room. Apart from cleaning they're maintenance free, and impervious to water damage.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Dunkirk said:


> I have timber look ceramic tiles in the family/living room. Apart from cleaning they're maintenance free, and impervious to water damage.


 Yup, that's where we're leaning. I don't want to make a mistake with 8-$10,000 of new flooring


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