You might be familiar with this great channel HGTV that featured “The Kids Bedroom Show” by Sarah Richardson, so with reference to that, I decided to write about Kids friendly flooring on my blog for everyone.
So you have it, it doesn’t matter if you are building a brand new home from the ground up, doing a renovation, or just doing some flooring upgrades in your home – every home needs a newer and better floor. But, what about when you have kids and pets? Does the flooring world change? Of course, it does according to HGTV!
In the same way you wouldn’t use a tennis racket to hit a baseball, you wouldn’t want to buy a flooring that doesn’t work well with your pets. Obviously, it's your home. But, if you are like most other people who own pets and want their homes to be designed that way, they consider their pets a part of the family. Not only do you want them to be comfortable when they lay or play on the floor, but you want to make sure that clean ups and accidents are easy to clean too. So what are the best types of materials for flooring for pets?
Hardwood Flooring
Hardwood flooring can be a really beautiful asset to any home. It's made of real hardwood and it comes in all sorts of different tree materials and stains, as well as plank sizes. It feels good under your feet and can beautify any home.
Pros: Available in quite a few colors and finishes. Also very easy to clean.
Cons: It can be quite expensive, especially once you start getting into trees like Cherry and Walnut. Also not going to work too well with water – and what do pets do, they tend to spill their water a lot.
Make sure if you get hardwood that you place a mat under their dishes so the water doesn’t spill and stand for long periods of time. Most importantly, if a pet urinates on the floor the crystals in the urine can actually cause stains and even smells to reappear in the future.
Carpet and Carpet Tiles
Carpet is a pretty inexpensive option to consider, right? It's also very cozy and warm and it can dumb down the noise inside your home – also great if you have a dog that loves to bark. With wood, the bark would echo more. With carpet, it will echo quite less.
Pros: It comes in a lot of different colors and piles (thicknesses) and it's soft for both you and your pets.
Cons: It can be expensive to get replaced unless you have tiles. If you have tiles you just need to remove the tiles which need to be replaced – no biggie. Another con is that over time, the floor can be harder and harder to clean and keep stains and odor out of.
Bamboo Flooring – The Alternative Wood
Bamboo is quickly becoming a popular material for floors in homes. But, is it good for your pets? Let's see.
Pros: It's really quite good when it comes to high traffic in the home and it's very resistant to the usual wear and tear. It's also very stain resistant and scratch resistant which will work well with your pet's claws and it's green friendly.
Cons: Depending on the brand, it can be expensive. It's best to shop around to find the best price for your budget.
Laminate Flooring
This super sexy material works and looks/feels just like hardwood but it's cheaper and you have more options available to you. You can get these made as is from the manufacturer and they can mimic real wood like Oak, Cherry and Walnut. But, you can also get photos printed on them that will look like different materials, colors, hues, etc. It's a very versatile flooring material and it's also quickly becoming a popular choice in households.
Pros: It's very easy to clean and take care of. It's also moisture resistant. Also, if you get a darker color or tone you will notice scratches (if they appear) less than a lighter wood tone or color.
Cons: It's moisture resistant, but it's not water resistant. You definitely need to watch water around this material, especially standing water. It's also not as long lasting as hardwood. Hardwood can last for centuries if taken care of properly. This flooring will only last for around 15 years. Maybe more if you really take care if it properly! However, since it is so budget friendly, if you really like this material, but it becomes too war-torn, you can just have it replaced with a new floor. You can't exactly say that about hardwood. Hardwood can cost several thousands of dollars to get installed, especially for an entire house. But, wood laminates are so inexpensive, you probably won't mind updating them in a few years anyway.
I haven’t heard of bamboo flooring before. Thanks for the guide!
Carpet for me seems to be the worst with my dog. So much hair on it. But I can sweep up the hair on my laminate flooring in the kitchen. And the dog water does get everywhere. I put a waterproof mat under the dog bowls. These are very good tips to follow with pets.
My first thought is that tile would be the most durable with pets!