How Do You Choose?
You have a dog or a cat. Another member of your family. But you also love the idea of beautiful hardwood floors in your home. No, you don’t have to choose one or the other. But there are a few factors you should consider if you have pets and don’t want your floor to suffer, as well as the other way around.
How Hard Is Your floor?
When choosing the materials for your hardwood floors, the harder the wood the better. Stay away from softer woods like American Walnut, black cherry or pine. Good choices include the Brazilian cherry, maple, red oak or hickory. Look for materials with a high rating on the Janka Hardness Scale. The higher the rating; the stronger the resistance to your pet’s paws and claws.
Pets And Hardwood Floors With A Shiny Sheen – Don’t Go Together
Go for a satin or matte finish rather than a shiny sheen. Glossy finishes can often highlight scratch marks. Another way to camouflage scratches is to choose wood with more graining – for example; the strong graining in red oak can hide dents and scratches a lot more compared to Brazilian walnut which has a much smoother grain. This also applies when choosing the colour of your hardwood floor. If you prefer dark hardwood floors, choose a lower-gloss, pet-friendly finish to reduce the appearance of any scratches and dents.
Handscraped Or ‘Distressed’ Hardwood Floors Are A Great Alternative
A unique and stylized look – once you see it, you may love it. Distressed wood is where the softer fibres of the wood grain are scraped out, leaving the textured, hard grain so that your hardwood floors appear ‘distressed.’ Dents and scratches become irrelevant. Additionally, for complete peace of mind as a pet-owner, complement the distressed hardwood floors with a pet-friendly finish.
You shouldn’t have to choose between your pet and installing hardwood floors in your home. Pets and hardwood floors can co-exist under the same roof!
Talk to the professionals at our company about the best hardwood floors for your pets.