When it comes to your choosing your dream flooring, pets can throw a spanner in the works. Many experts would probably advise you to stay away from real wood flooring and to choose laminate or vinyl due to its reluctance to scratch. However, if you are willing to deal with the odd dent or scratch, then wood flooring is perfectly acceptable.

If your heart is set on wood flooring, then there are a couple of key factors that will make the decision a lot easier for you. We would recommend a hardwood floor such as Oak or Walnut as it is a lot more durable and probably more cost-effective in the long run. Furthermore, the only way to remove scratches from a wood floor is by sanding them out. This is why we also recommend a solid wood floor rather than an engineered floor; as most solid wood floors can be sanded more often than a thin engineered board. If you are desperate to buy an engineered board then a wear layer of at least 5mm would be advised

Scratches caused by a pet can be noticeable, especially on many dark floors. Oak would be a great choice as it is light and contains a high amount of graining within the planks, this can potentially camouflage scratches and dents making them less noticeable. Another way of hiding scratches is by choosing wood with lots of surface texture. Hand-scraped flooring adds character to a floor and many say that added dints and scratches only increase this character.

cat on hardwood floor Credit: Unsplash

The biggest decision when deciding on a wood floor with a pet is which finish to choose. The difficulty when making this decision is that lacquered and oiled flooring both have advantages and disadvantages. Lacquered flooring will get scratched more often, however it is a lot more durable, easier to clean and will brave the challenge of a pet extremely well. On the other hand, oiled flooring is harder to scratch, although the floor will need re-coating more frequently.  The decision depends on how committed you want to be when it comes to maintaining the quality of your floor.

There are also a couple of ways that you can reduce the number of scratches and damage to your floor. Ensuring your pet's claws are trimmed is a must, if your pet’s claws are sharp and long then it significantly increases the chance of scratching. Also scratching may be caused by dirt that’s brought in on your pet’s paws. Laying a mat inside any external exit reduces the amount of muck brought into the house by both humans and pets, further dramatically reducing scratches as there are fewer stones underfoot.

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What flooring do you have in your home if you have pets? Share with us in the comments section!

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