Hardwood vs. Carpeting - need advice/opinions

[jazzcat]

We are trying to decide between having hardwood installed in our family room and main hallway or just re-carpetiing it all. My husband votes for hardwood because it will be easier to clean all of Ripley's throw up spells (I think it will still stain eventually). I'm afraid the slick hardwood floor will be too hard on the pets, especially geriatric Ripley and my old dog Disney. All I can think is hip displacement. Also I'm afraid the cats' claws will scratch the hardwood. I do try to keep their claws trimmed but their back claws are hard to do.

What are your experiences with hardwood and pets? What's your recommendation or at least opinion.

Thanks.

[Logan]

I vote for hardwood!!!! :D Anyone from Pet Talk who knows me, also knows that I hate carpet and if I could pull up every stitch of it in this house, I'd do it in a heartbeat!!!!!!! :D :D :D The newer hardwood floors are so easy to maintain. If I had to wax them, then I might think differently, but my oak floors in my old house, which I had refinished after pulling up all the carpet were so easy to maintain!

In this house, I have Pergo in the kitchen and in the hallway (it was there when we bought it). It is much more slippery than my oak floors were, but my 4 big ones have mastered it and they do not slide around on it.

Remember, I have 4 shedding dogs and 2 cats, along with 3 "skin" kids. I think hardwood is much more easily maintained and I miss my old house that was completely hardwood floors, with tile in the bathrooms. Rugs are much easier to replace than carpeting!!!! :D And by the way, we never had any scratches on our floor that were there because of our animals.


Are you sorry you asked??? LOL!!

[Cataholic]

Hardwood, without question~ Tex throws up to his heart's content, and I don't stress at all. Well, I stress over his health, but, not the floors.

Plus, as far as the nails, the stains, etc., on hardwood....think CHARACTER! Nothing is more beautiful than worn floors, really.

[Corinna]

I vote hardwood of corse i'm jaded hubby installs it. I have hard wood in all my house. The older dog will learn to walk not run . Our allergies went a way,and if cleaned up no staining.. I just vaccum and it stakes no time at all.

[K & L]

HARDWOOD!!! We ripped ALL our carpet out and put down Pergo, and we love it!! I would never go back to carpeting. I buy large area rugs and it works out beautifully. When they're dirty/worn out ....get a new one (as long as you don't invest in the real expensive ones). I don't think you'll regret flooring.

[sirrahbed]

I would go for hardwood if we could afford it. You can always use throw rugs - washable if you want for the geriatrics. There are so many pretty rugs now!! Hardwood is $$$ though! We just recarpeted the whole place. There is some nice wood that you can do yourself and it is not too much more than good quality carpet - pieces that snap together and it looks terrific! I would also think that portions COULD be replaced if necessary?? We went with carpet but I would LOVE to have had hardwood!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Hardwood, hands down! :D

And if almost 18 year old Tubby can handle hardwood, 12 year old Ripley will have noooo problem. ;) :D

[jazzcat]

Wow - that is a pretty overwhelming response for hardwood. I'm sure my husband thanks you for the support.:)

Cataholic - I know Tex and Ripley seem to have the same vomit issues so it's good to know the hardwood can take the abuse.

Sounds like my worries are unfounded. We had considered laminate wood flooring like Pergo at first but I really don't like the hollow sound it has when you walk on it.

I know my allergies will improve with hardwood too.

Thanks everyone.

[prechrswife]

Definitely hardwood! Our last parsonage had carpet, but this one has hardwood. It is so much easier to keep clean and to keep the cat hair vacuumed off of it.

[catnapper]

We don't have hardwood anywhere except the steps and a small area of Pergo in our bedroom. Gosh it is a million times easier to get rid of cat & dog hair. Today's finishes are much more resistant to staining than old ones.

My neighbor refinished their pine floors (we have pine under our wall to wall carpet but its in really bad shape) and have three dogs that are always having oopsies on the floors and they look great.

[RICHARD]

i vote for carpet......

I love the thrill of stepping on a hairball land mine, at two in the morning, that blends into the color of the rug.....

just kidding!

hardwood floors are cool, especially when the cats run around.....it's like a cartoon!:eek:

[jazzcat]

Originally posted by RICHARD
i vote for carpet......

I love the thrill of stepping on a hairball land mine, at two in the morning, that blends into the color of the rug.....

just kidding!


Oh yes, we are living that dream right now.

Even though we brush him daily Ripley will shed a hair wad so large that I think there is a kitten in the floor. I'm frequently thanking Ripley for giving me another hair baby.

I don't even like to think about his actual coughed up hairballs. :eek:

[catcrazylady]

HARDWOOD! Are you sick of hearing that now?? Two years ago we pulled up the carpet and refinished the floors and I wouldn't go back for anything!
With all the long haired cats the hair for us is horrible! Now I just have a small shop vac that I use to pick it all up and mop.

btw-the cool thing about hardwood is the neat hairweeds that tumble around. You turn on the ceiling fan and I promise you will see things blow across the floor that you swear should have a life of their own!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/eek.gif

Seriously though if you were really wanting carpet you would probably be happy with Berber. We have that in one room and it is pretty easy to maintain with the furballs.

[rosethecopycat]

laminate.

Anybody ever heard of titanium infused hardwood?
It's supposed to stand up to clawing.

[nibblets]

I would rip out my carpeting and have hardwood throughout my house if it were possible.

[carole]

I Have no idea what hardwood is exactly.

We used to have lino in the kitchen and dining area and replaced it with rather expensive wood, it looks great, and I know what you mean Richard my cats just love to play on it and scratch it to bits, oh well what is a wood floor without scratches and chinks out of it, it has got to have character right?

Sounds like hardwood is the way to go from everyone's response.:)

[neko1]

Originally posted by catcrazylady

btw-the cool thing about hardwood is the neat hairweeds that tumble around. You turn on the ceiling fan and I promise you will see things blow across the floor that you swear should have a life of their own!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/eek.gif



LOL:D So true!!!! Those things just come out of nowhere and blow across the floor!

[Killearn Kitties]

We took the carpet up from the kitchen and dining room. The wooden flooring is much easier to keep clean than carpet. The cats were a little bit freaked at first with the noise their claws made, but they soon got used to it.

They do prefer to sleep (and be sick) in the rooms that still have carpet though!

[Lilith Cherry]

Hardwood every time!! My floors are maple finished with several coats of polyurethane deck varnish nd are really hardwearing! As I live in the country they also have to withstand mud , snow, and salt LOL

The floors are over a hundred years old and still going strong..:)

regards , Lilith

[smokey the elder]

Titanium infused hardwood??:eek: WOW. Anyway, hardwood is a first rate surface; the new varnishes are very hard and don't stain or wear easily.

[catmandu]

Laminate , od Hardwood as Cat Accidents are easier to get out , also the excess litter , that my Big Toms throw out of thier boxes!

[Cincy'sMom]

I'm glad you asked this question, becuase we have been trying to make the same decision. We were concerned with three young, active dogs, that hardwood or Pergo would get easily sctraching up and ruined, but from what I have heard it doesn't seem to be the case. ( I have also heard this from someone with a Bernese Mountain Dog) I think we may stick to carpet inthe living room, but do wood in the dining room.

[Kirsten]

Hardwood or laminate, it's definitely better and so much easier to clean!

I used to have carpets everywhere in my old apartment, and when I moved, I first was a bit concerned about the laminate because I was afraid Luna might have problems to walk and could hurt herself when she slips. But it worked great, and even now that I have Lily and the two cats chase each other, they have learned very well to deal with the laminate.

Kirsten

[carole]

Just one simple question, does hardwood not get rather cold in the winter, despite a few rugs, and also dusty, and feel sticky and a little damp in wet or humid weather, I am only going by my wood floor in our kitchen/dining area, but because of allergy's would love to replace upstairs in wood, anyhow the carpet has done its dash after 20 years.:)

[kimlovescats]

The pros and cons of hardwood.....

The last house we lived in before building our current home, was an old rental house with hardwood floors throughout. I loved the homey feel of the hardwood, and even the sounds of creaking and such when you walked on it.

The drawbacks though, was that it always looked like it needed to be swept! The darker stains show every bit of dust, lint, and hair!!! We constantly had little furry tumbleweeds floating around, and collecting around the chair legs, etc. :eek: However, when someone barfed, it was really no worry.

At the time that we moved and built our current home, I swore I would never have wood floors again .... and we installed carpeting. Well, the carpets are breeding grounds for germs, have a zillion barf and pee stains, not to mention all of the torn corners at every doorway! (my babies hate closed doors) :rolleyes:

Sooooooo, after only 3 years in our "new" home ... the carpets really need to be replaced ... but can we afford that? NO!!!!!
My conclusion, now is that I wish I had hardwood again, and a good lightweight sweeper vacuum to pick up the tumbleweeds!

Hope this helps!;)

[carole]

Has anyone tried those steam mop cleaners?, they are around 150 dollars here, and are especially for wood floors, so instead of mopping, you steam clean it, if I put more wood in my house I am going to insist on one of those.

[jazzcat]

Thanks for the input everyone. Definitely sounds like hardwood is the way to go.

Kim thanks for telling me about life both ways.

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by jazzcat
Definitely sounds like hardwood is the way to go.



Wait until you get 'skidding cat rear' when they try to make a fast turn when playing.....it's a gas.

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by carole
Just one simple question, does hardwood not get rather cold in the winter, despite a few rugs, and also dusty, and feel sticky and a little damp in wet or humid weather, I am only going by my wood floor in our kitchen/dining area, but because of allergy's would love to replace upstairs in wood, anyhow the carpet has done its dash after 20 years.:)

Yes, it's really getting cold in the winter, so I have rugs on mine. But I never noticed it got sticky when it's humid...

And yes, it's getting dusty, I'm cleaning it more of than I used to vaccuum my carpet in the old apartment.

Kirsten

[micki76]

We considered hardwood or laminate, but eventually ended up with commercial grade, padless carpet. We LOVE it! It has no pad underneath, so it doesn’t absorb anything like pee or vomit. This is the easiest surface to clean in my home, and I have laminate in the kitchen & entryway. The kids love it because they still have traction for running at a hundred miles per hour, and it keeps the noise level down and is warm in the winter. Very easy to keep clean and no pad which is like a giant sponge that absorbs EVERYTHING. I’ll never have carpet with a pad under it again.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I would take hardwood over carpet any day. We have taken up some of the carpet and refinished the wood underneath and are think of replacing more carpet.

Hardwood is healthier (alleriges and asthma anyway) don't show every stain and boot mark and last forever.

We have hardwood in the bedrooms and I don't notice it is particularly colder....bare feet maybe...

[Tonya]

We were originally going to get hardwood or pergo. But once we stripped the carpet out, and saw the animals running around on the wood floors, we changed our minds. Our dogs and cats slipped and fell so many times, and would have trouble getting back up. I love the looks and low maintenance of it, but I can imagine it not being good for the animals.