Let's talk flooring - pets and green options

WendyGR

DH and I inherited a little bit of money from my grandma, and want to get rid of all the carpet in our house. We have two dogs and two cats and needless to say it would just be way easier! (see barf post below . . . multiply that times 4. We are always steam cleaning our carpets, so not green.)

So far we are thinking ceramic tile in our kitchen, dining, and hallway.

Pergo or bamboo for the bedrooms and living rooms. We're leaning towards bamboo because it's supposed to be eco friendly but I'm wondering how that will hold up with pets?

Any other ideas?

Starryfish

I have tile in my Kitchen and DR and I HATE it. Its So cold in the winter, and REALLY hard on your feet. I would reccommend something besides tile.

Also, make sure you check how old the bamboo you are getting is. Since its so popular, I heard they are harvesting it sooner, which is not good for quality and makes it scratch easily. 

You should post this on D&R as LOTs of the ladies there have bamboo and/or HW. 

Adb6283

We have been looking into hard woods on and off and we were told that bamboo will scratch easily with pet claws when I had asked about it.  DH is leaning more towards laminate type of flooring, which isn't as eco-friendly, but wouldn't need to be replaced as soon.  We're quite a bit away from that point though.

WendyGR

Starryfish:

I have tile in my Kitchen and DR and I HATE it. Its So cold in the winter, and REALLY hard on your feet. I would reccommend something besides tile.

Also, make sure you check how old the bamboo you are getting is. Since its so popular, I heard they are harvesting it sooner, which is not good for quality and makes it scratch easily. 

You should post this on D&R as LOTs of the ladies there have bamboo and/or HW. 

I see you're in Texas - how cold can it get there? Hee hee, just kidding. I say as we're having a heat wave of low 40s. Great idea about D&R - I forgot about them.

hollyfp

From what I have read, bamboo does scratch easily and isn't great for high traffic areas.

Oak is a good hardwood for floors that can generally stand up to punishment from pets/kids/heels, etc.  Look for FSC-certified wood - ensuring it came from sustainable, well-managed sources (i.e. not cutting down the rainforest to get your floors!)

http://www.fscus.org/faqs/fsc_products.php?link=2

Reclaimed wood is also sustainable since it's reused.  We are just beginning our search on this as well...there are a lot of options! 

jennyk213

We have oak hardwood floors that are 50 years old and hold up really well to our dog.  If we were to install new floors, I'd look into reclaimed wood.  I could be wrong but I would think that's the most green option since you're using something that already exists and would be thrown away otherwise. 

We also have tile in bathrooms and entry ways and laminate (yuck!) in the kitchen.  

If you need area rugs that are pet friendly, I highly, highly recommend Flor carpet tiles.  They are 19ish" inch squares that you put together and it's very easy to pull one up and rinse off the mud, vomit and whatever else gets on there. 

jebuell

This family floored their living room with scraps they got from a local woodmaker who was just going to toss the wood.  It's made of three different types of wood and looks AMAZING!  I think this is what I want to do.  Just get scraps from woodmakers, construction sites, and put a call out on Craigslist.

Pescalita

Tile is hard to stand on for long periods in the kitchen, and just about anything that falls on it will break.

We inherited laminate in our kitchen & DR, and it's stood up well to our 60 lb dog's too-long claws. It also hides dirt almost too well Much better than the linoleum in our old apt kitchen.

ksdk

We kept the existing "floor" and I use the term loosely. It is the original HW planks, with paint, patches, different width planks, etc. It is what most people would cover with carpet or rip up and replace. But A) I wanted to maintain the heritage of the home and the history that the floor shows (I can explain if nec.) the budget is tight and C) I did not want to disturb whatever toxins are living under the floor and get into a remediation of toxic waste disposal (lead paint, etc.)

So we filled any holes with planks from other parts of the house, or from my DH's woodshop. Then we painted it with porch floor paint. It takes a beating but we can repaint. It runs continuously from one of the children's rooms, through the kitchen, out to the living room and down the stairs.

jennyk213

ksdk:

We kept the existing "floor" and I use the term loosely. It is the original HW planks, with paint, patches, different width planks, etc. It is what most people would cover with carpet or rip up and replace. But A) I wanted to maintain the heritage of the home and the history that the floor shows (I can explain if nec.) the budget is tight and C) I did not want to disturb whatever toxins are living under the floor and get into a remediation of toxic waste disposal (lead paint, etc.)

So we filled any holes with planks from other parts of the house, or from my DH's woodshop. Then we painted it with porch floor paint. It takes a beating but we can repaint. It runs continuously from one of the children's rooms, through the kitchen, out to the living room and down the stairs.

This sounds so cool!  Do you have a picture you can post?

ksdk

Some day : ) I am of the scattered, stressed, and overwhelmed variety, so I haven't gotten around to pictures. But as soon as those Xmas decorations are out of sight, I'll try. I have some good before pictures that are the real meat of it.

(Sorry, I meant to quote JennyK.) 

jennyk213

ksdk:

Some day : ) I am of the scattered, stressed, and overwhelmed variety, so I haven't gotten around to pictures. But as soon as those Xmas decorations are out of sight, I'll try. I have some good before pictures that are the real meat of it.

(Sorry, I meant to quote JennyK.) 

I hope you do.  I'd love to see pictures! 

ksdk

jennyk213:

ksdk:

Some day : ) I am of the scattered, stressed, and overwhelmed variety, so I haven't gotten around to pictures. But as soon as those Xmas decorations are out of sight, I'll try. I have some good before pictures that are the real meat of it.

(Sorry, I meant to quote JennyK.) 

I hope you do.  I'd love to see pictures! 

I linked to one in my sig. It's from the top of the stairs, in the living room, with a view of the kitchen and bath. The floor is primed in the kitchen, leading to the old brown paint in the liv room. I'm inspired to make an album... I'll share it when it's done.

carrottopshaw

There are different types of bamboo flooring, We just went and looked last weekend and the stranded bamboo is super hard and durable. I tried to scratch the sample as hard as possible with my keys, and it didn't scratch at all. It is more expensive, but looks really nice.

jennyk213

ksdk:

jennyk213:

ksdk:

Some day : ) I am of the scattered, stressed, and overwhelmed variety, so I haven't gotten around to pictures. But as soon as those Xmas decorations are out of sight, I'll try. I have some good before pictures that are the real meat of it.

(Sorry, I meant to quote JennyK.) 

I hope you do.  I'd love to see pictures! 

I linked to one in my sig. It's from the top of the stairs, in the living room, with a view of the kitchen and bath. The floor is primed in the kitchen, leading to the old brown paint in the liv room. I'm inspired to make an album... I'll share it when it's done.

Wow, looks like you guys were doing lots of work in there!  I bet it looks great all finished with furniture and whatnot.  

sm23

Another thing to keep in mind with bamboo - where it comes and whether it was sustainably produced.