New Flooring Questions

[FlDebra]

I cannot deal with my carpet anymore. Ben started marking after I kept Rocky -- 2 males is not working here! I have a 17-yr-old dachshund who pretty much goes whereever she is when the urge strikes her. Hard to get mad at a poor old gal who can't hardly walk, see, or hear. Since these two are making smelly places in the carpet, I think the others are sometimes following suit! I always said I would never let my pets smell up the house -- but they are doing it now. The carpet has to go. So, now the question is what do I replace it with? I am replacing the living room, dining room and den. I have already made the bedrooms off limits.

Hardwood -- Preferred look but, more maintenance and pets, pool, and our sandy area make it a poor choice.

Laminate -- I worry about the bubbling/lifting issue if they pee on it, kids dripping from the pool, spilled dog water, etc.

Porcelain Tile -- I have found one tile that will match nicely with the stone fireplace walls in the living room and den. It was almost impossible to find one that looked okay with it, then I found a good one -- 18" square.

Wood Look Porcelain -- Friend has one that looks so much like wood, you have to get down and feel it and then still not sure. But I checked everywhere and her particular brand/style is discontinued. Most others are so dull looking, not sure how they would look in a whole room. Does anyone have wood look ceramic/porcelain that you like and know the brand/style ? I want i tto look like real wood.

Vinyl Wood look Planks -- some look real cheap but some look very much like real wood and the big plus is this is the only 100% waterproof flooring. Anyone have one they really like for a medium price? I saw one that looked great but it was $10 sq.ft before installation! Too much for me -- I need 1200 sq ft. I really wish I could see this product on a floor.

I am probably going to sell the house in the next few years. I only have the one son at home now and he goes to college next year. This house is too big for me if I am going to be by myself (2889 sq ft.). So, I have to think about how much I want to sink in the house. Hardwood would have best resale but not if my dogs mess it up in the meantime.

I appreciate any feedback, experience, ideas! Pictures would be great too! I searched through some of the old thads but thought I would ask for an update too. Thanks in advance for anyone who can share!

[MauiGirl]

I have similar conditions to you, living with dogs, pool, sand/dirt, and I was delighted to get rid of carpet in my main living area and replace with 20" porcelain tile that looks like travertine but less maintenance. It is fantastic, and so nice to know if there is an accident it can be cleaned up really easily.

Now I'm looking to replace carpet in my upstairs bedrooms, and am looking at hardwood. There are so many choices, and I wouldn't use laminate either, but the engineered wood and carbonized are supposed to be pretty resistant to water damage, and can be resanded if necessary. I wish I could just do tile, but can't because of the weight. I'm still looking too.

[BonBon]

Do you know what condition your slab is in? Have you thought about staining the concrete? It's supposed to be less expensive than a lot of other flooring materials & it looks great. I love my stained concrete floors! The contractor had the floors done in my house when it was being built, so I'm not sure what the cost would be on an existing floor.

I have a thread on here somewhere with pictures of my floors. Let me see if I can find it real quick.

Here it is:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/off...-flooring.html

[Yorkiedaze]

If your selling the house in a couple of years I would put down linoleum, and then right before putting the home on the market, have some inexpensive carpet put down. It would look and smell nice and new and could help with a quick sale.
We replaced our carpet with hardwood flooring. We dearly love it and it's so easy to maintain.

[Ellie May]

We went through this because of dear sweet Ellie. grrrrrrrrr.
At least the floors were old and needed to be replaced anyway.

Hardwood was waaaaaay outta budget and tile wouldn't have worked where we lived at the time (long story). Anyway, we went with vinyl wood planking and linoleum.

The linoleum in the kitchen was already scratched less than a year after it being laid. And who wants to use the warranty and have the stuff torn up and have no kitchen for another wek??? Then we had linoleum in one of the bedrooms. It was wood look. It seems this is a very good way to go for dog pee (as long as you can keep it scratch free).

We did vinyl wood planking in the living room. It was very, very cheap, but people thought looked like wood. Okay for pee, but there are grooves it. It got scratched extremely easy, so we kept some extra on hand in case a piece needed to be replaced. Some kinds may lfit easily unless your installer uses a good glue. I have heard of someone hating it (looked terrible) after it was installed. We liked it, but were tired of the scratches. I may have a pick around here somewhere.

[Ellie May]

The sun must have been out in the pic.

[Mardelin]

I have the wood laminate flooring.....has great wear and tear value....no bubbling, and I do have markers, very easy to care for.

I had tile in my home in Texas.....hated it, hard on the back when cooking and hard on those yorkie knees.....So, this time around I decided that I'd go with a floor that gives.

Forgot to say, purchased at Lowes and hubby installed it.

[my2boyz]

You might want to consider a nice, heavy, wood look lenoleum to suit your current purposes an when you sell the house give a flooring allowance to the new owner.

We just removed the carpet in our house and had 3/4 inch solid oak hardwood flooring installed and we love it but it wasn't cheap so I do understand your concerns about it being ruined by your dogs before you sell.

[MyTrixie143]

Well we have just about every type in our house. Tile, carpet, hardwood and linoleum.

The hardwood floor is nice but takes a lot to maintain and scratches easy.

The tile is very nice, easy to maintain and always looks great. The downside is it is soooo cold in the winter and the surface is very hard on them.

The linoleum didn't last long at all. They scratched it and were able to rip some of it up somehow. A complete waste of money.

The carpet we do have is going very shortly. We have decided to in it's place we will be doing wood laminate. It looks great, easy to maintain, and doesn't scratch as easily as the hardwood.
If you install it right using a good under pad and a sealant, leaks or spills are no worry. They are a lot more durable than you would think.

Good luck with your decision!!

[Pinehaven]

I put sheet vinyl in my yorkie room about 5 years ago and I love it! Doesn't scratch and is easy to clean. Most people think it's hardwood and they're amazed when I tell them it's vinyl flooring.

[jeanietoo]

I had my carpet ripped out in the "yorkie" family room and had sheet vinyl put down. I think it's the best option. I do have tile in my kitchen where they are allowed but as the above poster said it's cold and hard. The rest of my house has carpet but my dogs are confined to the family room and kitchen

[Bianca]

I love Porcelain . It's SO easy to keep clean and the value of your home will go up. Either that or regular tile, it's just so easy to either mop up or swift up or even vacuum up.
Good Luck

[FlDebra]

Thanks for all the ideas and especially the pictures! The wood-look floors do look great. The flooring man is coming to the house Tuesday and is going to give me his recommendations based on what we have in each of the rooms. Since I have a stone fireplace/wall in the living room and real rough-wood (kind of like barn wood, I guess) paneling in the den, it might be a tough decision. He did have a porcelain tile that looks really good with the stone wall. I have one 18" square of it laying in the living room and the more I look at it, the better I like it.

I really wanted the hardwood, but not sure of a room of all wood walls and a wood floor. Might look like I was inside a tree. I may just let wood or wood-look be the choice for my next place.

It is always hard for me to make decisions like this that will cost a tobn of money and last for so long.