# Dogs and Laminate Flooring



## troy n sarah tx (Dec 31, 2005)

Does anyone here have laminate flooring. We are deciding on tearing out our carpet (mostly because the heeler puppy has decided to unravel big sections in the center of our living room) and was wondering how well laminate flooring stands up to dogs. We have 6 dogs (5 small 5-15lbs and a 30 lb heeler pup). All are housetrained with doggie door, although there is the occasional accident. I keep their nails trimmed monthly and filed down. Just wondering how it will hold up and any concerns you guys have had. 

Thanks,

Sarah


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## rhaige9 (Oct 31, 2010)

We built our house, and have been in it a year and a month so far. One chihuahua and one lab/beagle mix. So far so good. Kids tromping in with muddy feet. Dogs with muddy feet. Every here and there we find a small nick/scratch/dent in the flooring, and I'm pretty sure it was from the people, not the dogs. The only thing I find is it shoes every foot step in the summer when every one isn't wearing socks to keep warm. So we cleaned/mopped the floor way too much. Bruce makes a cleaner that leave less streaking than the other cleaners I tried. But, with all the mopping I was doing, some of the edges of the "planks" swelled up a little. Wish I had done it throughout the whole house instead of having carpet in the bedrooms and the little piece in the living room.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

If the dogs nails are trimmed back/up enough, they will have plenty of traction & shouldn't scratch it up or catch any spots. It will be cool the pets during the summer also, you will catch them sprawled out on the cool spots of the floor.


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

We have the Pergo brand of laminate flooring and it has held up wonderfully now for about 7 years to adults, kids, dogs and cats traffic.


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## troy n sarah tx (Dec 31, 2005)

I think I am going to go with laminate then. Thanks for the responses.  

Sarah


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

I love my laminate! Only bad thing is when the dogs nails get long "click click click click click."


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Jason, that is a good thing- it your reminder to trim thier nails


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

We have had it for almost ten years-and everything from a 140# Doberman to Westies with no problems.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

the problem I have with my laminate flooring isnt the dog and cat nails tearing it up, its the flooring effect on the animals!
My dog comes running in from outside, tries to turn, slips and falls and slides, the cats slip on it and slide, the dog has fallen down numerous times just trying to start off walking , its very slippery for them


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## Old Mission (Dec 26, 2009)

I have 4 danes and laminate, I got a kind thats not as slippery and has ridges and texture to the wood pattern, some are extremely slippery like glass!!! It holds up to wear and tear great and easy to clean, but it shows everything so easily and always looks dirty right after I clean it! Every footprint shows right away even if their feet are clean. I'll still take it over carpet any day!

Stephanie


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Mine is slippery too when the dogs run or make sharp turns. I have a small rug at the top of the stairs to keep my border collie from slipping, and a towel at the door to soak up snow and keep slipping down. You don't want standing water on laminate.


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## Yldrosie (Jan 28, 2006)

We have had trouble with the seams swelling when there is an "accident" during the night, and we don't catch it in time. We called the company and more or less the response was - tough, deal with it. Outside of that, it's a lot cleaner than carpet. We just put it in, so we will see what happens this summer when the swamp cooler comes on. Any one else use swamp coolers that have laminate?


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I have laminated hardwood floor....I will eventually tear it out and put in normal hardwood or possibly laminate. The polyurathane lifts with moisture. Now I don't have dogs that piddle on the floor, but there is wet paws and wet shoes that come through here- especially in winter with snow getting tracked in. The section by the patio door is terrible....down to wood. Only upside is I can sand and refinish it once- possibly twice. As with laminate- it does show paw prints...but it is easily cleaned and steam mopped. As with any wood product, it does change seasonally in response to heat/cold/humidity. In the winter and will expand/contract accordingly so the gaps between the planks will be snug or not depending on that. Not a big deal with hardwood, but not sure if it would be bad for laminate if wetness got into the cracks as the seams are more or less a pressed wood product instead of solid. That is why I went with the hardwood...went with laminated hardwood because I got a good deal on seconds in my color choice. When I refinish, I am hoping covering the entire surface (including seams) with the poly will keep it from lifting as moisture will be unable to get under it...unless the poly will not "stretch" with the woods contraction and expansion...then it would not help. BTW I have had these floors for about 9 yrs now. The noticeable scratches we have are not due to dogs and even holds up well with pig hooves  They are due to humans dragging furniture. There is some scratch indents- where finish was not affected...those I am not sure what they are from. Hubby says dogs ( he likes to blame all damage on the dogs), but I say no, I think I was from when the kids were here...boys are rough on floors. If I was to do it again, I would go with solid hardwood and just refinish as needed.

Forgot to add- the slip factor. The dogs slip on the hardwood about as much as they do on the linoleum floor....normally when they have wet feet and come barrelling through from outside. I have area rugs down leaving main traffic patterns bare....but there is the option of stepping on the rugs at the edge of those areas. Dogs learn pretty quickly how to walk on the more slick surface...usually I wipe off feet before they come in....and if they fail to stop and run in with wet feet, make a quick turn and slide, they slow down  Never had an injury from it. I also have small rugs in front of the doors they come in to help get the feet dry before they come in if they do happen to run on past.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

When the dogs are shedding the hair is pretty noticeable on laminate because it blows into corners and along the walls. I got a roomba robotic vacuum and run it daily on my laminate. I love the combo. Its picks up the dog hair before it rolls around into little piles which makes it look like I am a wonderful house keeper. The old way used to be to turn ceiling fan on and let everything roll into the corners then chase the furballs with the vacuum as the run away from you.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

LOL picturing you chasing the furballs with a vaccuum! I really must get a roomba! Actually, the dog hair fluff balls don't bother me so much- they clean up easily off anything. What bothers me is the cat hair that sticks to the rugs and the smooths hair when they shed...single hair strands everywhere instead of just one fluff ball here and there. I wonder why I replaced the cats when I was catless for a few months...I really enjoyed not having to vaccuum so much...and it allowed me to prove to hubby that the hair he was complaining about for years was NOT from the dogs. Guess after the point was made I decided my vaccuum had had a long enough rest


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

JasoninMN said:


> The old way used to be to turn ceiling fan on and let everything roll into the corners then chase the furballs with the vacuum as the run away from you.


:smiley-laughing013: 

My brother had one of those roombas and loved it. Right now I have a teenage daughter which works great but when she decides to go to college I think I'll get a roomba.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

I have a large braided rug in my living room that changed colors once I started running my roomba daily. It got a lot brighter when the dog hair disappeared....LOL I would guess my labs coat has be similar to a smooths coat. She is be far the worst shedder of the two. there a single yellow hairs everywhere when she sheds.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

JasoninMN said:


> I have a large braided rug in my living room that changed colors once I started running my roomba daily. It got a lot brighter when the dog hair disappeared....LOL I would guess my labs coat has be similar to a smooths coat. She is be far the worst shedder of the two. there a single yellow hairs everywhere when she sheds.


We have the worst of both worlds now - one white, one black. You can NOT win! If you're wearing light colors the black stands out. If you're wearing dark the white stands out. We've had black and yellow in the past. You'd think I'd learn. Ah well! I always carry reminders that I am loved!


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## CGUARDSMAN (Dec 28, 2006)

We have laminate and if the seams get much worse it is gonna go and its not even a year old yet...cannot handle even a little moisure without the seams swelling and the dogs sound like a herd if elephants on it... I did find a think vinyl product that goes down in strips and can look like wood tile or cork sold at home Depot called Alure...Seems to be tough stuff...that is the direction I will go next.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

I have the Allure flooring (4 dogs, 3 cats and carpet is NOT a good mix). I LOVE IT!!! It's technically a floating floor system, the "planks" are easily cut with a box cutter, there is alot of grooving so not that slippery, looks and feels like real wood. Moving furniture around has scratched it a bit, but I just use a brown/black permanent marker and the marks disappear. The animals haven't hurt it at all (and I have a 100lb rotterman). I do sweep and mop multiple times a day though- you can see EVERYTHING on the flooring (which is both good and bad). 

In-laws installed hardwood flooring a couple of years ago and they said if this product was out then, they would have used this. Allure is alot less maintenance than their wood floors which are hardwood but their springer is scratching it up. 

Be forewarned- once you stick two pieces together, they are NOT coming apart again. DH didn't line one up quite right/perfect and tried to unstick them and ripped the plank part but the glue part held. That was a fun patch job.


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## Yldrosie (Jan 28, 2006)

Has anyone applied some sort of a sealer to their laminate? The Company said it would invalidate the warrenty, but we don't care if it will work. What to put on it? And what happens if the humidity goes up? Anyone?


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

Dh wants it and I will not have it as long as we have Bella. She has bad hips and is only 5 but we are dealing with it. I won't have anything that she can slip on and I have the laminate flooring in the kitchen covered with large area rugs to help with the mud and the slipping. They are indoor/outdoor rugs and clean up quicker than mopping!


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

JasoninMN said:


> The old way used to be to turn ceiling fan on and let everything roll into the corners then chase the furballs with the vacuum as the run away from you.


You mean to tell fur tumbleweeds are no longer the "in" way to decorate the home? 

:hrm:

Apparently I need a roomba.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Loved my laminate floor at the old house & will get it again when I replace any of the flooring we have now. We only had 1 dog at the time, a Welsh terrier & the floors always looked great. So easy to keep clean & always looked so nice & shiny! Just clean them with a little vinegar & water & a damp rag or mop, so easy.


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## minifarmer (Mar 28, 2008)

We bought our house over a year ago and HAD to install laminiate flooring. We bought cheap just to get by. It is great except in the kitchen where our 5 boxers tend to accumulate. It has nail scratches. However, it is great for cleanup of mud, hair, dirt, and accidents. We will switch it out to a higher value high traffic next year


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

SageLady said:


> We have the Pergo brand of laminate flooring and it has held up wonderfully now for about 7 years to adults, kids, dogs and cats traffic.


I echo this remark!


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## GraceMarie (Dec 18, 2004)

We installed some pretty cheap laminate on two levels of our house and we heavily glued all the edges/seams as we installed it. We have not had any problems with bubbling or warping even when water stands on it and I wet mop it at least twice a week. I love how it looks and cleans - and I have several dogs.


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