I just put down 1300 sq ft of laminate flooring and ripped out my vinyl and carpet. I can already tell you that I wish I did hardwood but money was a factor and the fact that I also have a rottwieler which I am certain would ruin hardwood. The thing that is bothering me about laminate is the moisture issue. My husband locked the cat in a room overnight w/o a litterbox and I have already replaced 4 boards due to urine getting inbetween the boards and curling the boards not to mention that cat urine stinks to heck and back. Granted that it is a weird error he made but still it demonstrates how fragile those seams can be. That urine sat overnight. That being said, it is FAR FAR better than carpeting any day of the week! Since we installed it all ourselves and bought it at Lumber Liquidators for a super great price on the best laminate the sell, it was much cheaper than carpeting and new vinyl.
This is how I am dealing with the potty pad situation though. I put down a potty pad (I use washable pads from PersonallyPaws that are waterproof backed) to absorb and misses of the upper pad, then I lat down a plastic crate bottom the size of my potty pads, then I lay a potty pad in the crate bottom. My male puppy has a red fire hydrant that he pees against that is stood in the center of the potty pad. So far it is working well. They do try to pee on the edges of the pads so I need the bottom pad to catch the occassional misses. I am very anal about cleanliness so this may look like overkill but it works for me. I also lay a pad under the litterbox to catch litter. |