Protecting hard wood floors?

[ukiltmybrutha]

I know it is the garage forum but the pool of knowledge is sooooo high here that I will just ask it here.

I have dogs that go nuts and wreck the hard wood floor with their nails. We trim their nails etc but that only goes so far.

Is there anything that I can do which (hopefully) does not require lots of effort to protect the floors while they are still in reasonably good shape?

Thanks!

 

[Walkers]

Dog training. Start with one of the books by the Monks of New Skete. Please dont take this suggestion as me being holier than thou type of attitude. I have benefited greatly over the years from their books and an in person dog training class that I took one of my dogs through.
Also Ruggables (sp?) Rugs. Place them in the locations that are problematic.

 

[ukiltmybrutha]

Dog training. Start with one of the books by the Monks of New Skete. Please dont take this suggestion as me being holier than thou type of attitude. I have benefited greatly over the years from their books and an in person dog training class that I took one of my dogs through.
Also Ruggables (sp?) Rugs. Place them in the locations that are problematic.

Thanks, and I don't see it as holier than thou sort of thing. I was just looking for a hardware solution like a coating or something. The issue is that they really tend to effect the floors when they make sharp turns. The ruggables would be in impractical area. They are not really misbehaved, it is that they lose traction when making turns in the kitchen as a rough example and that area suffers in particular. I didn't mention the cats either.

 

[The Cobbler]

It really the nature of the beast in my opinion. you have to choose between nice hardwood floors or...

 

[Walkers]

Thanks, and I don't see it as holier than thou sort of thing. I was just looking for a hardware solution like a coating or something. The issue is that they really tend to effect the floors when they make sharp turns. The ruggables would be in impractical area. They are not really misbehaved, it is that they lose traction when making turns in the kitchen as a rough example and that area suffers in particular. I didn't mention the cats either.

My point was, if they are running in the house, then their behavior is less than desirable, but can easily be modified with training. Did you mention what kind of dogs they are? I suppose if they are Jack Russels, or Chihuahuas then you ate lucky they do t leave claw marks on the ceiling and walls. Most other breeds are trainable to pretty reasonable manners.

 

[ukiltmybrutha]

It really the nature of the beast in my opinion. you have to choose between nice hardwood floors or...

What do you mean? If it's hardwood floors I just have to expect that from a hardware perspective or go with something else?

 

[The Cobbler]

what I mean is large dogs & hardwood doesn't go well together . especially excitable dogs.
BTW< I am an animal lover

 

[ukiltmybrutha]

My point was, if they are running in the house, then their behavior is less than desirable, but can easily be modified with training. Did you mention what kind of dogs they are? I suppose if they are Jack Russels, or Chihuahuas then you ate lucky they do t leave claw marks on the ceiling and walls. Most other breeds are trainable to pretty reasonable manners.

Close...Rat Terrier then a Australian Cattledog Mixed with Beagle....then a mutt who is around 12...Pitbull Chihuahua mix (don't ask lol). I kind of like the way that they are. They don't run very much....just at that area. I have owned dogs for a while and I train them tailored to what is important to me. Don't poop or pee in the house etc. I like most of their crazy nature perhaps even to a fault.

 

[ukiltmybrutha]

what I mean is large dogs & hardwood doesn't go well together . especially excitable dogs.
BTW< I am an animal lover

Oh ok, roger that. That is what I figured. Thank you. I just wanted to be (doggone no pun intended) sure that there wasn't some special sauce coating that I was missing out on. You just never know. I have refinished a hard wood floor and while some people like doing that it certainly does nothing to make me happy.

 

[stoich]

Lots of runners and area rugs, then be OK that scratches will happen and you can't 100% prevent it.

When I had my hardwood floors refinished I asked the floor guys the same type of question since I had a mastiff at the time. Their response: nothing really.

 

[paredown]

People have talked up Bona Traffic HD as a floor finish that withstands wear better than most. (I personally have not used it.)

A quick search gets stories with mixed results--better, but not a magic bullet:

Will Bona Traffic HD prevent dog scratches?
Bona Traffic HD is the most durable waterborne urethane finish on the market to protect against wear and has excellent scratch and scuff resistance. However, there are no finishes on the market that are bulletproof against scratching. This is why we place a heavy focus on preventative maintenance, like putting felt pads on heavy items that will be moved frequently, keeping dog nails well maintained, and dusting and cleaning hardwood floors with a Bona Microfiber Mop and Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner of choice. These are the most effective ways to help preserve the beauty of hardwood floors.

FAQs

www.bona.com

 

[My Old Tools]

We went with oil finished floors partially for that reason. It is easy to add a bit of oil and hit it with a floor buffer and white pad. Most scratches blend right out.

 

[Daveyclimber]

Rug runners in high traffic areas. Bona products are good and are holding up to dogs and construction in my cabin so far.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Not sure how practical it is but dog booties?

 

[wssix99]

You need more coats of polyurethane over the floor. (Higher grades help.) This won't stop the scratching, but will allow you to buff the scratches out at a later date. If you have areas that get scratched up more than others, use area rugs or runners, as mentioned above.

 

[engineer2]

Our dog's nails grow like crazy. We used to pay to have them trimmed, but have switched to doing it ourselves. Mini sanding drum on my Dremel like the groomer uses. Dog hated it at first, but she is getting used to it. Important to use an emery board afterwards to round the sharp edges. The more often you do it, the more the quick retracts, resulting in shorter nails.

She's a little dog, so no floor damage, but she likes to run around like a maniac when the mood suits her. Even knocks that cat over sometimes.

 

[DGersic]

1/2” plywood over the whole floor surface should work.

 

[Firebrick43]

First, the wood species has to be hard enough. If you have yellow pine, no finish on earth will stand up to dogs because the wood underneath the finish will collapse. Now most don't use yellow pine(i have a neighbor that has) but something like American cherry or even red/white oak is still pretty soft. Hard maple is in the middle. If you have a domestic species like hickory/pecan or Brazilian cherry, or Ipe, they are very hard and will resist most of the damage as the hard finish just has to resist scratching, not high PSI point loads as well.

The neighbor that has yellow pine in their kitchen(don't ask me) has Brazilian cherry in their dinning room and the large dogs they have do virtually nothing to it while the yellow pine looks terrible. My dog and cats do nothing to my hickory floors and they are shellac and wax. Now I do not let my dog (and past dogs) run in the house but the cats do on their freak outs at 11:30 every night.

Also most polyurethane finishes can not be reworked. They have to be stripped back to base wood and reapplied or they look hazy/bad where a new layer was placed over a previous damaged layer even if it was well sanded/blended. Its just the nature of polyurethane.

 

[Walkers]

Close...Rat Terrier then a Australian Cattledog Mixed with Beagle....then a mutt who is around 12...Pitbull Chihuahua mix (don't ask lol). I kind of like the way that they are. They don't run very much....just at that area. I have owned dogs for a while and I train them tailored to what is important to me. Don't poop or pee in the house etc. I like most of their crazy nature perhaps even to a fault.

Gottcha, you may be unhelpable!

 

[jar944]

I've never had issues with hardwood floors showing scratches from dogs? (And I have 3 excitable bassets)

 

[txvwnut]

White oak flooring throughout my place and the best thing I found was to trim their nails then file them to rounded end. This helped immensely but didn't totally alleviate the slipping and trying to dig in issue.

 

[Joe Reed]

clear epoxy

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

Do something before it's too late. I dated a lady long ago that let her golden retriever run rampant in the house. She had a beautiful craftsman style house. Notice that I said "had." The dog destroyed her hardwood floors, every piece of trim, doors, and most of the furniture. When it came time that she wanted to sell the house, the floors could be redone, everything else needed to be replaced.

 

[rsparks64]

I know it is the garage forum but the pool of knowledge is sooooo high here that I will just ask it here.

I have dogs that go nuts and wreck the hard wood floor with their nails. We trim their nails etc but that only goes so far.

Is there anything that I can do which (hopefully) does not require lots of effort to protect the floors while they are still in reasonably good shape?

Thanks!

booties

 

[Blueshound_GJ]

Nothing for now. Refinish when you sell. At least that's my plan.

 

[onewheat]

I've got Hickory floors - in the right light, I can still see scratches from our lab. I just figure they'll have to be redone at some point. Dogs, me, kids (if I had them), and whatever else happens - it's my house, not a museum.