New flooring what to get
I currently have carpet in my entire house and want to replace it. Does anyone have suggestions as to what (if anything)will stand up to a sheepies wear and tear? hard wood? Pergo? vinyl? Ceramic tile I know would be best, but I am looking for other options. Thanks |
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| I've come to believe the pioneers here had the best solution. Compacted earth with ox blood to hold down the dust. Just imagine, no slipping sheepies, broom clean, dark color, don't know about digging in the house though. Granted the smell might be bad a first, but you'd get used to it.
That would eliminate: slipping dogs and people, the need to strip/refinish, constant mopping, no scratches, floor is always questionable so why worry. I have carpet, tile, wood and brick...oh and vinyl. Yeah a real flooring conglomeration. The easiest is the brick since I no longer strip and refinish it, it's just ugly brick. Some folks here "oil" it every 6 months..the oil saturates the entire brick so the dirt remains on top. I don't. Vinyl tears over time, but at least doesn't have grout. Tile has the grout lines and if your floor isn't perfectly smooth, it cracks. Let's not talk about dropping the turkey roaster either. Wood, real wood, is far better than the Pergo type floors. Real wood you can refinish. Pergo-type will resist scratches for awhile, but nothing is perfect. Their life-time warranty doesn't take into account dog nails, small children, moving furniture, etc. for the next 10 years. It doesn't hold up as well as they thought. Carpet, well you already have that. Another thought is concrete. Granted best installed when house built, it too needs to be sealed often but comes in a variety of colors and textures. It is used for counter topes as well. So ox blood over dirt is it. |
| I wonder where I can find an ox?
Maybe I should just keep the carpet. It is not shredded yet. I like the concrete idea as well. |
| Hardwoods are fabulous. We have oak, with about 4 layers of poly. I would not recommend getting a soft wood, such as bamboo. We also have ceramic tile, but I HATE cleaning the grout. |
I have a high quality laminate flooring in my house and there's not a scratch on it from the dogs (but my husband managed to scratch one part  ). I couldn't be happier with it. No maintenance and it looks really nice. |
| How long have you had the laminate? Can you tell me what brand? |
| we moved into a house (brand new - never been lived in) with tile in the kitchen, breakfast room and bathrooms and a vinyl laminate that looks like wood (unless you look close). our intention was to replace the vinyl floors immediately. this was almost 4 years ago and three puppies ago. the vinyl looks great, the tile needs to be replaced first. the grout was never properly sealed and has turned very dark, where things have gotten knocked off the counter in the kitchen there are dings in the tile.
we also added carpet in the living room - needs a cleaning buit not bad and my daughters room (white  which cleans up nicely  ).
In our old house we had black walnut (thick not laminate) which showed a number of doggie scratch marks very quickly. |
Gwen wrote: How long have you had the laminate? Can you tell me what brand?
Hmm, it's been about 4 years because we got it right after we got Bear. Ours is made by Mannington. They were discontinuing the color so we got it half off. I think it ended up costing us like $2/square foot-- well worth it. With the dogs and my husband, it was an excellent choice that I'd do again in a second! |
We have cherry wood and Barney has scratched it up completely (ok, not completely, only the places where he goes  )
So I would NOT recommend wood. |
We have a laminate tile in our kitchen/hall area. Of all the floorings, this one holds up best with a Sheepie puppy in the house. Not sure the brand, but it is as hard as tile, but easier on those who stand (a little more give) and also cleans pretty well. You can get the flooring with or without grout (grout gives more of a tile look). I don't recommend the grout - but that is personal preference.  |
| the house we just moved into also has a laminate thats been dodwn for 3 years. the previous owner had a dog, and the floors show NO sign of wear.
We are finishing the lower level, that is sitting on a concrete slab. We've decided to just stain and finish the concrete; some people do really amazing stuff. This is one of the websites we visited that convinced us that concrete was the way to go: http://www.acidstainer.com/default.html |
| In our last house we had ceramic tiles which were very slippery for all if the dogs had an accident or were wet from a bath. When we moved I decided to do some reserch and get it right this time. The carpet was put down at noon. For the first time in two years, Panda had an accident. I was steam cleaning the carpet at twelve thirty!!! I am currently in the market for ox blood!!! |
| the three bedrooms in our new house have carpet. I told Adam it would have to come up, and I wanted wood floors laid. He said it was fine; I said we have too many animals for carpeting. And then, on their first visit to the house, Luna peed on the carpet in the Master Bedroom.
I get to have my hardwood floors.  |
| We have not had any accidents since Nelson's first week with us. The problem with the carpet is mostly from his face dripping after drinking. And then dirt sticks to the little wet spots. Maybe we can teach him to dry his face. Of course now that it is getting warmer he has decided that he really likes to eat ice cubes. He sometimes forgets to finish them and they melt.
If I can't find ox blood, I will just keep starting up the bissell carpet cleaner once a month until the carpet wears out. |
| I have many types of flooring in my house, as well. When we moved here, we thought we'd redo all that was here. Laminate, carpet, hardwood. Well, we have 2 dogs, 3 cats, 4 kids (I wont count the hermit crabs and goldfish here, as they, for the most part, behave)!!!
We came up with the idea that we hate the floors we have, but will wait another DECADE or so until things may calm down. Then I'll have the prettiest floors in the town. (then I bet I'll get another pet or grandkid come knockin') Ox blood rules!!! Funny forum |
| Stupid question - I know, but what is ox blood?? |
| An ox is a neutered male cow used for work - like a draft horse.
The pioneers used them to pull the covered wagons, plow the fields, haul logs, etc. Ox blood is the blood of an ox. |
I am sorry - I know what ox blood is! While you were typing that explanation you must have been thinking: "what an idiot"  - I just meant what is it used for?? |
| In the rough pioneer homes, there was a dirt floor. The ox blood was spread over it and dried. It made a smooth packed surface, and no dust. |
got sheep wrote: In the rough pioneer homes, there was a dirt floor. The ox blood was spread over it and dried. It made a smooth packed surface, and no dust.
I'll bet it smelled awesome. |
ButtersStotch wrote: got sheep wrote: In the rough pioneer homes, there was a dirt floor. The ox blood was spread over it and dried. It made a smooth packed surface, and no dust. I'll bet it smelled awesome. Only on humid days, or after a rain....  |
| I bet sheepdogs would find it delicious! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: I bet sheepdogs would find it delicious!
I bet. Chewie would just lay there and lick...lick...lick....
And then a real bad thought - what if the ox blood was poured over red Georgia clay!!!! |
| We have a variety of floorings in our home. Our dog/scratch reistant and people/gorilla-friendly flooring is a PORCELAIN tile that looks like bamboo, and is fabricated in 40" x 5" planks to resemble a wood flooring plank. The product is called Cottage by Valpanaro Candia.
See: http://www.valpanaro-candia.com/img/pdf/cat_cottage.pdf The floor in our living area looks like wood, but its porcelain tile. In addition to being indestructible, it is very easy to clean with either a mop or a steam cleaner that we purchased at Costco for about $60.00. We have no issues keeping the grout clean. The only downside was finding a skilled installer. These long plank-like tiles require a high level of skill to install. Unless you have a perfectly level floor, or you pay to prepare a floor to be perfectly level, the length of the tile makes the installation a bit tricky - - it's like a see-saw, when one side of the tile goes up (on a floor that is something less than perfectly level) the other goes down, so achieving a level tle requires some work. We are thrilled with our Cottage floor. We've had it down for three years, and we would be hard up to find one scratch. |
| Wow,
That sounds awesome! Is it put down over a slab at your house? The house we are in now since we are on the water is elevated and is wood. Thanks for the link |
Gwen wrote: Wow,
That sounds awesome! Is it put down over a slab at your house? The house we are in now since we are on the water is elevated and is wood. Thanks for the link Thank you. We had the tile installed over a concrete floor. |
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