renting with dogs ... how do we protect hardwood floors?
k9fan
12 years ago
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Floortech
12 years agok9fan
12 years agoRelated Discussions
new house, loads of hardwood floors, dogs and other complications
Comments (3)I realize you have dogs, but the water on wood floors would worry me. I hope you towel dry the floor as soon as you mop and that it is only damp mop....See MoreProtection for hardwood floor while soaking off wallpaper paste?
Comments (6)Thanks everyone for continuing to provide hints here. I'm still learning what works for me, going slowly and trying different things. :-) I am able to tear away the top decorative surface, as fnmroberts says, so I did that first for a small section, and then taped the plastic as christophern said. For soaking, I had been using a small sprayer and sponge method first, then tried a little Dif (gel) to see if that was easier than the hot water/fabric softener solution. (And I happened to have some of that Dif on hand). No clear winner: the Dif doesn't drip as fast as the water does, but I seem to use too much Dif to get the same peelability--and the water mixture is cheaper. :-) My dad suggested to "paint" the Dif on instead of simply spraying it on, and I might try that as an experiment. I don't mind going slowly and experimenting, as I'm learning as I go. I'm going to have to do more of the house down the road, so might as well practice until I know what works for me. My dad thinks I should rent a steamer and get it done asap, but I think then the floors really would get wet! Thanks again for the tips on protecting the floor!...See MoreCrazy to do hardwood floor with 5 kids and large dog?
Comments (15)I can speak from experience here: I share my house with a DH, toddler and a 100lb dog with paws the size of a Yeti's. In our old house we tore out all of the carpet and vinyl from the first floor and installed red oak strip flooring (I believe it was Shaw brand). It looked great for about a month and then all I could do is notice the huge gouges my dog put into the floor. He doesn't even have sharp nails, but he's 100lbs and there's only so much you can do. In the current house, we tore out all of the 22yr old carpet and put in a much harder wood species, amendoim, and I have to admit it looks fantastic and it's held up a lot better than the oak ever did. The dog put some superficial scratches in the floor but since the wood only has a clear coat and no stain, you can only notice the scratches if you're glancing at the floor at the right angle, under the right light. We had laminate in the basement of our old house and it used to drive me bonkers whenever the dog would claw to get traction on the floor and I also hated the echo the floor created, even with good padding underneath. I vowed never to put laminate flooring anywhere again, even if the dog couldn't do anything to it. Also, no matter how good technology gets, laminate always looks fake to me and I'd rather not go there. It's just never going to look as good as real wood. In the new house I wanted to put ceramic tile in the kitchen this time around but DH wouldn't hear of it. He swears he doesn't hate tile, but he just can't fine a tile in the whole wide world that he likes :) I let him win that war but I got to pretty much make every other decision with the kitchen since then. I figure we can always refinish the floors once they get to be too bad. As a previous poster said, site finished floors don't have anywhere near the same durability as factory prefinished floors so that's something to keep in mind. My DH always says that people like wood floors and never notice the scratches anyway. I guess he was right because the condition of the floors was never brought up once when we were selling the house even though I lived in fear that that was the first and only thing people would notice as they came through the house. I apologize for the stream-of-consciousness reply but I can't say my brain has been firing on all cylinders today so I hope I helped even a little :)...See MoreAdvice for protecting house during hardwood floor sanding/staining?
Comments (34)Lhutch, my contractor advised me to do floors last because we were removing a wall (so flooring had to be repaired there) and there was also some damage to the floors during cabinet install (little nicks etc). There was a good amount of dust from kitchen work too, so I’m glad we didn’t do the floors first. Michelle, I hadn’t even thought of that—will definitely do that. Thank you!! anglophilia, I have no problem with the baseboards, they’re fine to me. I don’t like the look of the stained trim, and have always had the white trim. Cole Man, the baseboards are definitely replaceable but again, it’s a significant cost to do so. This guy was certainly not the lowest bidder and I’ve worked with him before, he’s not a fly by night contractor or anything...and he says he doesn’t routinely remove trim or shoe molding. I didn’t even think of it until recently so didn’t think to ask other bidders. At this point just want floors sanded and stained properly and the trim to not look like garbage when it’s all done. I hate that you cannot just trust the workmanship of people anymore...you have to be 5 steps ahead and micromanage them to make sure you’re asking the right questions and getting the right results. I thought I did my due diligence, the guy wrote a detailed proposal, etc but I wouldn’t have known to ask about trim...that’s why I hired a professional. But that’s a different post. :-)...See Moreathomesewing
12 years agoNancy in Mich
12 years agobrickeyee
12 years agotaft
12 years agothatgirl2478
12 years agok9fan
12 years agobrickeyee
12 years ago
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