Can You Have Hardwood Floors with Pets? |
Posted: April 20, 2018 |
Imagine having a cute, fluffy little pet running through the house as you open the door after a long day at work. Now, imagine that little pet is leaving scratches on your brand new hardwood floor. It can seem impossible to enjoy beautiful hardwood flooring when you have cats or dogs in your home. However, you can find the perfect type of floor and still keep your four-legged buddies inside.
Choose the Right Hardwood Floors
While you can find hardwood floors that are able to hold up to your pets and their antics, not all options will work. You’ll need to look at the hardness level. They should be at least mid-range along the level of hardness. Basically, the harder, the better.
Some good examples of types of wood that will work well in a home with pets include the following:
Oak, either red or white
Walnut Hickory Pecan Acacia Brazilian cherry
Look for woods with a scraped texture, which will hide imperfections such as scratches from your pets’ nails. Even though this design is often used in rustic designs, it can complement either contemporary or traditional themes.
Look at the finish before you make your final decision on hardwood flooring. You want something with a low gloss which won’t show every dent and scratch.
Maintaining Your Hardwood Floor with Pets
Once you’ve picked out your hardwood floor and had it installed, the job comes of protecting it. You’ll need to sweep up pet hair often to keep it looking clean. You may find you need to do this task daily during shedding season.
You need to wipe up any spills such as a turned over water bowl. Don’t let water stand on your hardwood floors or it can ruin them. Use pet pads and other training tools when you’re housebreaking your pet.
One of the most important things to do to protect your hardwood floors is to trim your pets’ nails. You may need to take them to a groomer to keep the nails short enough that they don’t scratch the wood.
If your floor happens to get scratched, don’t worry. You can purchase a kit that will allow you to fill in the dent or smooth out the scratch. If the damage is minor, it will take only a few minutes to have your floor looking like new. However, even deeper cuts and dents can be fixed. You may need to sand the area and re-stain them back to their original color.
You can have pets and hardwood floors in your home. There’s no reason to put your buddies outside when you want to install a wood floor. However, you need to select the right kind of material. Then, you need to take care of it to prevent damage. When something does happen, you can fix it so that your floor looks as good as when it was installed. With the right care, you don’t have to choose between your four-legged family and having the hardwood floors you’ve dreamed about.
Canada's premier hardwood flooring store. Proudly selling Hardwood Flooring in Toronto since 1977. We have hardwood, laminates, engineered, and exotic flooring; we also provide hardwood flooring installation.
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