Anyone replaced carpeting with hardwood because of dogs?
 

Next time I will do things differently, but none of my 3 dogs are very well potty trained. We take them out every 2 hours (none are puppies) but they still have accidents. They have ruined my carpet and I need to replace it. I like the warmth of carpet but with 3 dogs it is unsanitary and I am spending a fortune on carpet cleaning, so am thinking of getting either hardwood or laminate. I pulled up the carpet in my bedroom a year ago and they have only had one accident in there since then, so Im hoping with the carpet gone they will stop. So for anyone that has done this, did it help...did they stop, or would I be wasting my money ? Thanks for the help.
Laura

if i wasn;t renting it would be gone in a heart beat!!! when i get a house it won't have a whole lot of carpet.

We had the very same problem. Final decision was to get new carpet and "fence" off the carpeted area (living room and dining room). We are only letting them in the closed off areas when we are with them and can watch their every move. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats in the house. We got the new carpet two months ago and this is working out great.:D

We replaced our carpets with hardwood floors and when we built on 3 extra rooms, we left the floor concrete and we stained it. This was all before we got Rexy and Rowdy. BUT my mom (who lives with me) has carpet in her two rooms and I had a devil of a time with Rexy when he was potty training. He NEVER went on the wood or concrete but he would make a bee line for her rooms and potty there on the carpet. I finally had to put down a very hard bamboo type rug cover in the hall with carpet, and had her keep her doors to her rooms shut until he got out of the habit and now he never goes in the house anywhere.

Rowdy on the other hand marks :rolleyes: but it is just a sprinkle here and there, on the rug, concrete, or wood, makes no difference to him.

You will find a couple of threads on this subject if you do a search. I would NEVER have anything but wood or concrete (or tile - there's a good discussion of the virtues of tile too), EVER AGAIN. We put down the wood floors ourselves a few years ago and thus, we pulled up the carpet ourselves. OMG!!! :eek: It was just totally gross, disgusting, and horrible to see all the stuff in and under the carpet. I almost died and vowed never ever again to have carpet in my house. I heard someone compare carpet to wearing a sweater for 10 years without taking it off and then just washing off the outside of it while wearing it - because shampooing the carpet is only getting the dirt off on the surface. Anyway, pulling up our carpet made a believer out of me!

I think it was txshopper who posted some great pictures of her concrete floors after they took up the carpets and stained the concrete. They were beautiful. We love ours too.

If I remember correctly on the threads about hardwood vs laminate was that you have to be pretty careful with laminate as it will warp or peel - if it gets wet. Of course, that could be the quality of the laminate and I am sure there are some good ones. We have an occasional spill or throwup on the wood, that I don't find till they are dried sometimes, and we have had no stains or warps or any problems at all.

Good luck with your decision!

Tile gets our vote!!
 

We like tile as its more durable than wood, does not get damaged, and cleans easily..

I had a thread on here in march last year and got so many negative replies about the ceramic tile, hardwood and laminate wood, that when I pulled my carpet up, I replaced it with a high grade vinyl that is similar to the old style congoleum. Most people that are in my living room where the dogs are think it is hardwood until I tell them. But no, it didn't help much. they still have accidnets. Only thing, I mop a lot now.

My dogs never have acidents on my linolium, but given unsupervised free run of the house Peanut will just potty everywhere. Before I moved into my house I was renting a duplex and both Toby and Peanut always had access to the carpeted area. Needless to say my carpet was like one gigantic pee pad!! I had to pay $900 out of my deposit when I moved to replace the carpet. I don't know why they have no desire to go on the linoleum, but if they ever do have an accident at least it is much easier to clean up. I say go for it!! :thumbup:

I wonder: Does the vinyl become worn like hardwood requiring a lot of preventative methods (treating the floor). My husband and I were talking about getting hardwood in our future home, because of the accidents from our other dogs and allergy problems but now I'm thinking vinyl would be better. I would love to see the thread you are speaking about......*going to search*

I replaced all my carpet with Armstrong (high quality) laminate. I put a piece of it in a glass of water for 9 hours and then let it dry. No warping. I then put it in a glass of Clorox for 24 hrs. No fading. I do make sure I clean up any accidents right away, but I know if they have an accident when I am not home, it will not harm the floor. I love it!

Carpeting seems to call to the best of potty trained dogs. Our new Pup lulu is not allowed upstairs at all..it's fully carpeted. The minute she steps on carpeting she goes potty. Drives me batty. When she is downstairs (parquet floors and linoleum) she does have some accidents but will also go on the pee pad. When she gets into the livingroom it's open season on the area rug. It's drives me batty. The minute she can escape to the carpeted areas she starts in to handle her business.

I totally agree that it's like a sweater that is worn for 10 years. No matter how much you clean you can't get it all out. Most houses have carpeting with sponge under it for extra cushioning. Things get down on that as well. A steam cleaner can only go but so far down. So I am sure that no matter how well we clean the mess there is some residual smell that they can smell and that is why they will find their way right back to the dang rug to piddle/poo.

With children, hubby and two dogs and a cat I would vote for the hardwood. Plus overall it's money well spent. Laminate does run into issues of warping and all that good stuff. Plus the finish doesn't last as long. With hardwood you can down the road refinish and not have to replace like you wood with laminate. My dad put laminate in his livingroom and his older dog zeus peed on it and god did it get messed up. We are going to have to remove that part. The cost of hardwood is not that much more than laminate.

When we were renovating our house before we moved into it...I made SURE we had a budget to have hardwood and ceramic throughout. I knew we would get a dog soon, and I know kids can be messy (even by accident), and I know that when I get nauseous (happens frequently) I don't always make it to the bathroom on time. An easy to clean surface was a must! Some people think that dirt shows more easily...especially on dark hardwood. I agree, AND I think it's a good thing....it encourages me to make sure my home is clean! If I couldn't see the dirt, I'm not sure how often I would tackle the task!

Yup...we replaced carpet with hardwood just 3 months ago and you know what...they go on their potty pads now!!!!! That carpet was just too irresistable!!!! $$$ well spent. They ruined our carpet...Moral to the story, carpet and Yorkies=a HUGE potty pad.

I totally agree.

I don't have any carpet in my house & I love it. It was a little to get used too..especially in the bedrooms & all our feet were sore at first from walking on hard surfaces. But.... I mop my floors once each week & twice a week in the kitchen & I am amazed at how dirty the mop water gets.....makes me think of how dirty my carpet must have been.

I got Snickers 3 weeks before we moved, so I'm sure he doesn't even remember what carpet feels like & he does pee on my hard floors (just marking, but he was neutered yesterday so hopefully it will help) BUT, it's an easy clean up. One bit of advice though.....its hard to see dried pee on hardwood, so if you have your little one loose while you're not home, you should go around & check for what I call shine variance on your floors when you get home:)

When we built our new house, we put Armstrong laminate wood flooring in every room except tile in the bathrooms. There were a few non-believers that insisted we would regret not having carpet in the bedrooms but living out in the country, we really thought it was best decision. I've not regretted it yet. The wood floors get filthy.... you can see every grain of dirt and dust (of course it's worse when it's rainy or wet outside and mud gets tracked in) but I use my Shark (cordless vac) all the time and love it! I think of all the dirt I see on the wood floors and know that if we had carpet, it would be all down in the fibers.

But to answer your question about the potty training..... while we were building, we lived with my MIL. We got Tatum at that time and you know, the only place she ever had accidents was in my MIL's bedroom - the only room with carpet! I know we made the best decision to go with wood and tile!! And yes, once you pull up carpet and see the nasty stuff under it, you'll be convinced forever!

No the vinyl doesn't require anything but mopping. If you go with it, make sure you get the higest quality you can afford. It is guaranteed like twenty years. That is what you see in most of my pictures I put on here. The post was back in late Feb and early March

Yes it helps and no you wouldn't be wasting your $$
Also you might want to consider using washable chucks in a corner of a room, they may go on that in between visits outside and stop p-ing on your carpet. Mine did

When I bought my house in March, it was fully carpeted. In October I had the living room/dining area/ and hallway pulled up and replaced it with hardwood laminate. The only carpet now is in the bedrooms.

I don't regret it a big!

I replaced all my carpet with hardwood but one room, my bedroom, cause I wanted it warm when I got out of bed...mistake, they love to pee in there, so now I am pulling it up and thinking about putting ceramic tile down...Its not a waist of money, they use there pee pads great on the hardwood, carpet is another story....:rolleyes:

my hubby and i have been doing the research on the armstrong laminate and will prob get it soon. dang its expensive though.....

Our carpet was ruined, too! I pulled up the carpet everywhere except the bedrooms (those rooms are gated now). I had my concrete smoothed out, cut to look like 18 inch tiles and stained. I absolutely LOVE my floor.

Here is a picture of my floors. Ignore the towel...a pup had pulled it down, but I love my floors...cracks and all!

Didn't you do that last summer I remember seeing pics of it before...I would love to have that down, but I don't have concrete, it looks great....:p

Thanks! Yes, I had it done in July (I think). Took a week (about 4 days longer than expected) because it rained all freakin week long. They are so easy to keep up with. Only complaint is that you can see every speck of dirt the girls bring in. Oh well...much cooler in the summer, too.

Oh, I'm glad that you posted Kimberly - I too, just love your concrete floor! Ours is the same color, but we didn't have it scored, ours is just smooth - except for the cracks of course, which give it character. You are right though, the concrete shows everything - I don't mind a bit though, it is soooo easy to take care of!!!

Someone mentioned above that their hardwood or laminate showed every speck of dust. I guess I'm lucky because mine does not. It is various lengths and colors of wood and so there is so much variation of color and patterns, that it does not show anything!!! I love it. Of course, that probably means it is dirtier than my concrete :rolleyes: since the concrete shows everything! But I don't care! :D

floors
 

I know someone who is replacing ruined hardwood with laminate..I have Pergo and nothing stains or seeps through the cracks...I have stone tiles in the kitchen and baths...and I will never have any carpets again..but I live in Florida..I tried tile/laminate in Md and it was too cold for us.

Luckily, I have only lived on homes with hardwood floors. Both because of the dogs and because I just hate the look of carpet. :)

That is our next major project. I dont even want to think about what it looks like when I pull them up. My vet was telling me about virgin vinyl they had installed in their house and they love it. They say it looks just like hardwood floors and is so easy to clean. I will probably go with that. I am sick of shampooing carpets all of the time.

I too am trying to decide what to do with my flooring. I had a very nice berber, but my dogs have ruined it. I love hardwood, but everyone tells me too hard to take care of and shows every little marks from a scratch or chair or whatever.
was considering laminate, but our ex neighbor who sells it said he would never do that, it will warp due to the pee.
I recently decided to go with big tiles, I also really like the concrete, i hadnt seen that before.
My problem is my house is so cold, I think this might make the problem worse.

does anyone have any experience with radiant heat (some sort of heating coils under the flooring). I am wondering about the cost of that.

I am also now curious about who you guys got to smooth out your concrete and what that might cost, that looks great!

I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with the radiant heat, but just the other day, I was talking with someone who had it installed under her tile floor and she loved it. Yes, the tile, hardwood, and concrete floors are cold, and that can be a problem, especially for those of you in cold climates. In Texas it is a big PLUS in the hot hot hot summers!!!

Also, I can't help about the smoothing of the concrete floors - we didn't have to smooth ours, we built on to the house and just stained the brand new concrete slab, so we didn't have to smooth. I do know though, there are companies that do nothing but smooth, score, and stain concrete floors.

That may have been me you're talking about. Being out in the country and having so much dust (and kids and hubby and dog running in and out!), yes the floor can look dirty and dusty quite often. I think the main place I notice it is on the side of the house that is all windows. So much light comes in that it shows the dust and dirt more on the floors. That's definitely not a big issue with me though. I'd much rather Shark the floors every 2-3 days and know that the dirt/dust is gone than to think of it hiding in the carpet fibers!

But I have to say again I'm so glad that we didn't put carpet in the bedrooms like so many people said we should. Just knowing that Tatum's favorite "accident spot" was my MIL's carpeted bedroom kept me from having any carpet.

And I would have LOVED to have the radiant heating but it wasn't in the budget. I probably would have sacrificed something else to have it if we weren't in TX but still, it would be nice to have during even the mild winters we have.... I'm so cold-natured!