Dogs and hardwood: How to keep your floor looking great

Now, before we get going, I'm going to admit that I'm a pretty big dog lover, so my point of view may be a little biased. They say that your dog is just an extension of its owners personality, and I can definitely attest to that. However, your furry friend doesn't mean that you can't have and maintain a beautiful hardwood floor. Now, there are a few different things with your flooring that will affect its durability and resistance to dents and scratches.

Wood Hardness

The first leading factor as to how your flooring will hold up against wear and tear from a pet is the natural hardness of the wood species. You are probably thinking that the harder the species of wood the less likely it is to dent or scratch, and you would be absolutely correct. That is why when clients ask me what species of wood to choose, I generally recommend hickory or any species that has a higher hardness rating than hickory. Choosing a harder species of wood will help to keep your floor from denting, especially if you have a medium to big sized dog. If you have a smaller dog, you could choose a slightly softer species of wood and still have a great looking floor.

Type of Finish

Sometimes clients have the misconception that you can just put a very hard finish on the floor and it makes it virtually indestructible. The issue with this, is that if you put a very hard finish on a softer wood, the floor will still dent. That is why we recommend a combination of a harder species of wood, as discussed previously, with a more durable finish. Typically for finish, we recommend either a commercial grade finish, or a UV finish. These are both great options for protecting your floors, especially if you have pets. Another option is to use a hard wax oil as opposed to a film finish which is what the commercial and UV finish are. The film finishes provide a topcoat on the floor, whereas a hard wax oil penetrates into the actual wood fibers to provide a protective barrier. The advantage of this product over film type finishes is that if the wood floor dents or scratches, you don't notice it as much because it has more of a low sheen matte finish to it.

Regular Cleaning of Your Hardwood Floor

Regular cleaning of your wood floor is one of the most important, and easiest, things you can do to keep your floors looking great! If you own dogs, regular cleaning is even more important. Where I live there is a lot of sand and my dog loves to roll around in the dirt, and of course he digs! Guess where all the dirt and grime ends up when he comes in the house? You guessed it, on the floors. If we don't regularly clean the floor it would over time wear the finish out sooner from all of the dirt getting ground into the finish.

Trimming your Dogs Nails

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with keeping your hardwood floors looking nice. Well, keeping your dogs nails shorter prevent them from wanting to dig in as much as they are walking. it also protects the flooring from scratches as their nails are also a bit more blunt and not so pointed.

We hope that these tips help keep your hardwood floors looking great and your furry friend happy to be on hardwood floors!