Choosing the Right Hardwood Flooring for Homes with Pets

In some of our previous blogs we’ve talked about your family and lifestyle as being an important element in selecting the right flooring option for your home. When you have pets, especially large or active dogs, you want to find the right flooring that will last and look great for as long as possible. Of course, all hardwood flooring will dent and scratch over time (even if you don’t have pets) but there are some options that are better than others.

Choosing the Wood

It should go without saying that you should avoid the soft woods like cedar, American walnut or American cherry, fir, and pine. Wood that his higher up on the Janka scale of hardness like hickory or pecan are excellent options.

Another consideration is to choose wood that has lots of graining. The more graining in your wood, the less noticeable small scratches will be. Wood that is both hard and generally has a good grain pattern include maple and birch.

Many homeowners opt for reclaimed wood. Reclaimed wood, like that from the Belleview Biltmore has several advantages. This particular reclaimed wood is real heart pine hardwood flooring. This flooring is not only hard but has a beautiful grain pattern. Another advantage is that it already has wear so any dents or scratches made by pets will fit right in with the distressed look of this reclaimed wood.

Engineered Wood Flooring versus Hardwood Flooring

Although engineered wood floors and real hardwood flooring both have a larger variety of wood species, grain patterns, and finish options to choose from, real hardwood is better for homes with pets. The benefit of real hardwood flooring is the amount and types of refinishing options. Because the wear layer on engineered wood floors is limited, you can’t refinish as many times a real hardwood. Also if you have a deep scratch and your engineered wood floors have a small wear layer, you may expose the next layer of wood. In homes with active pets, young kids, and high traffic we recommend real hardwood flooring.

Finish Matters

Once you’ve chosen the type of flooring, you want to choose the right finish. The right finish for your hardwood flooring will help protect your floors and keep scratches from being as noticeable as quickly. We recommend using an additional coat of polyurethane finish if you have pets. The extra coat will give you a bit more protection and time before needing to refinish your floors. Also consider a matte or satin finish as the lower sheen better hides any surface scratches.

Choosing the right type of wood, finish, and real hardwood all can help keep pet damage to your hardwood flooring to a minimum. If you’re looking for hardwood flooring, let Seer Flooring help you select the right floors for your home. When it comes time for hardwood floor refinishing due to pet or other damage, we can provide you with an estimate for that as well. Give us a call at 727-785-1930 to schedule your appointment today.