As a pet owner, you want your furry friends to feel comfortable and safe in your home, while at the same time protecting your nice floors from scratches, spills, and accidents. If you’re planning on installing new flooring, you need to think about the pet-friendliness of your flooring choice.
Important Flooring Factors To Consider
Scratch Resistant Flooring
Many dogs, cats, and other animals have an instinct to scratch. Your pet-friendly flooring should be resistant to scratches if you want it to last.
Stain Resistant Flooring
Even our most well-behaved furry friends can sometimes cause accidents that leave food, drinks, and other substances on your floor. If you’ve just brought home a baby furball, you’ll want a stain-resistant floor while they’re being house trained.
Flooring That’s Comfortable & Safe For Pets
Our dogs and cats are part of our family, and their comfort and safety is a top priority. The floor they live on needs to offer at least some traction to avoid injury from slips and falls.
Want the rundown on all things flooring? – Check out our free Flooring Buyers & Maintenance Guide
Flooring Choices For Pets
Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring just might be the best all-rounder option for great pet flooring. One of the pet owners’ biggest concerns is scratch damage to their floors. But even for big dogs or animals with long sharp nails, vinyl flooring holds up better than any other flooring to resist scratches and stay in good condition.
Your dogs and cats will love the softness and good traction of vinyl flooring. And if you’re worried about your pet having accidents inside, vinyl won’t damage, warp, or develop mold. Just make sure you don’t leave urine on the floor for too long.
Vinyl is an extremely affordable price with a great ability to mimic other flooring types like stone, tile, or hardwood. It’s tough enough to protect against both scratching and stains and is our top flooring option for your pets.
Laminate Flooring
With an uncanny ability to mimic hardwood flooring, laminate is can be a surprisingly good pick for your dogs and cats. Like vinyl, laminate flooring is also very easy to clean and maintain.
However, there are some downsides to using laminate flooring for your pets. Laminate is very slippery and not very comfortable for pets to walk on. If you’re going with laminate, it’s recommended that you purchase a textured finish for additional grip and avoid high gloss or smooth finishes. Additionally, frequent spills can damage laminate flooring by seeping between the planks.
Stone, Ceramic Tile & Porcelain Tile
Stone and tile flooring can be one of the best choices of flooring for your pets. They score among the best flooring types for their durability, water resistance, ease of clean-up, and is nearly impervious to even the largest dog nail scratches.
Keep in mind a few of the downsides to stone, ceramic, and porcelain. Stone is one of the most expensive types of flooring you can buy and is not also not the softest or most comfortable material for your pet to lay on. While stone and tile are cold and hard to lay on directly, this can easily be remedied by strategically placing some softer rugs and mats around your home for your fur friends to lay on.
Cork
Cork is considered another top flooring choice for pets partly due to its high anti-microbial and hypo-allergenic qualities. That means less chance of your floor harboring viruses and bacteria that you or your pet bring into your home.
Like Bamboo, cork is environmentally friendly, and one of the most comfortable flooring types for your pet to walk on. Cork is also quite a sound-absorbent floor, meaning less noise when running around or playing.
While Cork is a good all-around choice for your pets, there are a few things to consider. Cork dents under extremely heavy furniture, and with certain finishes, cork can be quite slippery for your pet. Cork is also resistant to scratches but not immune. And cork is also water-resistant but not water-proof, meaning you must clean up skills and accidents quickly or risk damages.
Carpet
Everyone (including your pets) loves the soft and plush feel of the carpet under their feet. And though it provides great insulation and coziness, most people understand that carpet is otherwise not one of the best choices for your home if you have pets.
Carpet wears and tears easily, and is easy damaged by spills, urine, and other accidents. Carpet also attracts and holds onto bacteria, pests (mites, ticks, & fleas), and allergens like dust, dander, and pollen. Depending on the type of carpeting you have, pet hair can be a bit of a nightmare to remove and a constant struggle to keep clean.
If you are going to choose carpet for your pets, make sure you choose a non-loop or low pile carpet type that’s odor and stain-treated.
Considering new a flooring option for your home? Contact your local flooring experts at Specialty Interiors for great flooring advice tailored to your needs.
You May Also Like – How To Choose The Right Flooring For Your Home
