Depends on a few things. How much is your house? In your area, do houses in your price range have laminate, or is hardwood standard? how big is your dog? how old is your dog? how crazy is your dog? would you clean a spill up quickly and how often would you spill? when are you planning on reselling the house? ask your realtor if laminates would be a bad thing for your house. you can do laminate now, then in a few years, if it isnt suiting you, replace it. if it is, then you saved a bunch of money and are happy. we have a 2 yr old 100lb lab, she is VERY rough on the floors, but the laminate has zero scratches, and the hardwood trim is getting a beating. when she gets startled or looses traction... out come the nails. If we had hardwoods, we would have to refinish the floors before we sell the house, no doubt, so we would have had to triple our flooring budget, AND refinish before we moved! some laminate can be as expensive as hardwood, installation is also a very different in price, so do what fits your budget. We liked the color for the cheapest lam lowes had, we couldnt be happier. if it was the same price, of course hardwood is the only option, but it wasnt. that is precisely why laminates were created. laminate is also a little softer for falling babies. we have a 4 month old and real hardwoods or tile would give me anxiety attacks everyday, and she cant even crawl yet. in the end, it is what you like. 5-10 years down the line, you can rip it up and start over if you like, but do get a better pad, that makes a difference.

Chris2009_2009, I'll try to answer your question though I'm not an expert by any means. Sounds like instead of 8 way hand tied springs, coil springs, s-springs, blue steel springs the furniture you are looking at has rubber webs to hold the cushions up. I may be wrong here but my best guess is check out an upholstered dining/kitchen chair, usually they have a webbing underneath them to hold the upholstered seating in place and give support. Of course the furniture could just be rubber/vinyl strips going from front to back or side to side like a lawn chair.

Wood expands and contracts with seasonal humidity changes. Site finishing will not stop that expansion or contraction and any finish that covers it will soon develop micro cracks in the finish between the boards. If you don't have AC, or use a humdifier in winter, the expansion and contraction can be pretty dramatic and so can the cracks in the finish. It's why wood floors in older homes usually have gaps between the boards. When they expand, the fibers on the edge become crushed, and at the ebb cycle in the humidity, I've seen some older homes where a quarter would fit in between the planks. Wood floors can stand the occasional water or piddle accident, but they are NOT a good choice where something like that is expected to happen on a regular basis. The best floor for any doggie daycare is porcelain tile with epoxy grout. It's completely waterproof and stain proof. It's what they use in restaurants, and it can stand up to kitchen accidents and pressure washing. If you want something softer underfoot, then look at commercial vinyl tile with a commercial grade acrylic sealer on it that you have a flooring company periodically maintain. That's what's used in most hospitals and other settings where tough wear and a good deal of moisture resistance is needed but something a bit quieter and softer than porcelain is desired. There are lots of people using this in their kitchens in checkerboard patterns and other patterns and it comes in lots of colors. Look at the Armstrong flooring site for pictures and to order samples.

No pics yet because nothing's been able to be "redone". Still plywood subfloors, no appliances, and a ripped out bathroom. I realized yesterday that the refinished floor has areas that are duller than others, so now I need to get the guy back to recoat. It didn't show up until the floor was fully dry and starting to "cure" but it's very noticeable. :-( The entire finished basement has to be ripped out (walls, ceiling and all insulation) and the floor and all the framing disinfected. Environmental companies don't do this and not many pest control ones do either. I've gotten estimates ranging from $4400 to $9600 for the same job. It involves guys wearing chemical suits, respirators, extractor fans, disinfectant spray, the whole 9 yards. The neighbors will no doubt be appalled at the goings on. Then I have to get an electrician in to examine the visible wiring for damage. I'm sure there will be some. Haven't been able to address the garage floor issue because the old refrigerator is sitting there waiting for my son to arrange to remove it, which apparantly is a more complicated scenario than hosting the Olympic Games. Nobody rents a truck with a power liftgate, nobody we know has a trailer hitch for one of those tow-behind things, and none of his friends have time to assist. When the rest of the house gets painted, the walls will be sealed with BIN first. I realized that the garage floor is actuallly painted (the grey stuff) so I may be lucky and perhaps a good scrubbing with Mex will help. (TSP isn't allowed to be sold in our state) I have to say, the rodent stink is just as bad as the dog smell. Different but equally disgusting. This has been a huge financial sinkhole. What should have been no more than $35K in renovations has already surpassed $65K that in outlay to date, and there is still another $40K committed to (and necessary) but not yet done and paid for. In the end this house will have cost me $100K more than its selling price and neither the house itself nor the area justifies that number. I could have bought any of a number of houses listed at that level over the past 3 years which would have gotten me more square footage as well. And fewer problems!