I went through this selection process during the summer. Our house flooring is tile, pavers and cork, with a few area rugs. We have two shedding dogs and a cat. I wasn't going to go for one of the spendier vacuums, but I also know that I wanted something more than the $150 entry level models. I settled on a Sears Progressive canister and I love it. It is HEPA, and has a bag, and there are cloth bags available for those with allergy issues. It has a powered head and the cord runs INSIDE the wand rather than being simply clipped to the outside of the wand like some of the cheaper units I saw. It is easy to change from the power head to the hard floor attachment, and all attachments ride on the canister.

Kim - You mentioned things I was worried about! lol You can put rugs (cheaper kinds) in the washer? I never even thought about not being able to shampoo a rug on top of the hw. Duh. :) Our driveway is stones so that wouldn't work either. I guess I really need to check into if there's a place near us that does professional carpet cleaning and see how much it is. Tina - That's cute your dog wipes her feet. Growing up we always wiped our dear Butch's feet. He was smart, we should've thought to train him with that! If we got hw I was thinking oak, mid range color, and less shine would be best. I bought a wool/silk rug for under the DR table back in October and didn't realize you shouldn't use a beater bar on it . . . For two months I ran my dyson over it often! I don't believe there's an adjustment for the suction. I now use the attachment and I find it to be somewhat of a pain. Doesn't help that the rug is mainly black, the cats like to sleep on it and the room gets a bunch of light. Our LR gets a bunch of light. That being said I don't think I'll ever buy a tufted rug again. It's not too bad since it's only one but I believe future ones will be cheaper synthetic or I'll go the hand knotted way and be done with it. But I think I'd feel better when something happened to them if I didn't spend gobs of money as accidents happen, iykwim. Heck, I've never had hw. Maybe I'll like it without rugs. Wouldn't that be easy. :) So as long as there's a good protective finish on there my cat's occasional hairball being there all day while we're at work should be ok? Honestly as far as cat hair, I'm not bothered by our vinyl floors. Well except by the side door where we're always in and out. The tiny stones get on my nerves. Oakley you're right as far as it sticking to the furniture. I'm forever running the sweaper on it. I thought it was pretty good until this morning when I was reading in the bright morning sunlight! Eek. I wouldn't trade our cats for the world but I've about had it with all the fur at the moment. I'm leaning toward hw I just needed to hear some thoughts. I'm nervous to spend the money and possibly not like them. I'm sure there's an adjustment period like anything else. Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it.

We purchased our hardwood flooring from Hoskings Flooring and were delighted, both with the price and the quick service. We had our living room, dining room and kitchen done in hardwood eight years ago, with flooring purchased through a local dealer. We decided to finish off my office and our master bedroom this year with the same flooring. Hoskings had an exact match and the new flooring fits in beautifully.

The x98 looks like a typical 2-part water borne finish with low odour and low VOC content (the information page indicates "less than 200g/L"). Cure time = 4 days. I would expect the odour to reduce or be eliminated by that time. This is typical for 2 part water borne/based finishes. http://www.pallmann.us/uploads/tx_dddownloadmatrix/Pall-X_98_PDS.pdf If Pallman is the only water based product the finisher uses, then you should be fine. Please ensure that they plan a total of 3 coats. Some refinishers will try to convince people that two coats are all that are needed....which is where we get the issues with finishes "not standing the test of time" = complaints. When it comes to wear resistance I prefer the Loba 2K Supra AT (2-part water based finish out of Germany that has ceramic nano-beads infused into the liquid). The scratch resistance is OUTSTANDING and the slip resistance is second to none (literally...it has the best slip resistance ratings on the market). And the odour is gone within 4-6 HOURS. Total cure is 5 days.