Dogs may be a man’s best friend but they may not always be your floors’. There are a few different timber flooring alternatives to consider if you love the timber look but nervous about how they will fare with your dog. Timber Flooring and Dogs can co-exist if some precautions are taken.
Laminate Flooring
As far as cost effective timber alternatives, Laminate is the way to go.
Laminates use a Melamine Wear Layer to provide a scratch and spill resistant surfaces making it perfect for pets’ claws and accidents that may occur.
Laminate flooring comes in an array of gloss levels. We recommend a Matt finish for your dogs as a glossier surface can be a little bit more slippery for your dogs. Matt finishes also show less scratches as well as dirt and fur making them easier to maintain so perfect for our furry friends.
Another laminate option to consider is the Oak look boards which have a slightly more distressed feel to them (see picture) that camouflage scratches perfectly.
Bamboo Flooring
In terms of durability, Compressed Bamboo is the best choice as it is the hardest timber alternative on the market. There are a lot of different types of Bamboo flooring, we recommend Compressed/ Strandwoven for durability. Our Bamboo is finished with 10-12 layers of the world-leading Klumpp coating.
Bamboo flooring is considerably cheaper than solid hardwood and more durable. It is a much more renewable resource as it requires less time and space to grow as well as be harvested quicker. Our Bamboo is only sourced from well managed forests without threat to local wildlife.
Our Bamboo flooring also has a low Formaldehyde rating which easily meets the E1 European standards. This ensures the flooring will not have any adverse effects of your pets.
Bamboo also comes in a distressed look called Hand Scraped. This, like the laminates, is very good at camouflaging scratches.
Hardwood and Engineered Flooring
Hardwood and Engineered flooring are very similar in terms of durability. These are subject to Janka ratings with the higher the number the more durable the timber. Some durable timbers consist of Blackbutt, Spotted Gum and Jarrah. These hold up better against pets than timbers with lower numbers.
A positive with Engineered and Solid timber is they can be resanded and polished to restore them to their original glory. If timber floors are caught in time they can be recoated which can be done at a fraction of the cost of a sand and polish.
Realistically, all timber flooring will wear and scratch but there are some preventative measures that can be taken when it comes to pets:
- Keep pets nails trimmed
- Keep mats at doorways where pets enter to trap the dirt that may enter with them
- Keep toys in a separate room that can withstand higher damage
- Put water and food off timber flooring such as in a laundry
- If water and food is on timber, place a mat underneath to catch spills
To get a quote on any of the above products please visit our showroom to view our range.