Calling all members with Laminate Wood Floors!! Opinions needed here!

[Daisy&Lucky's Mom]

Have laminate floors .We put them in 13 years ago this Thanksgiving. They were not Pergo nor were they heavy duty but have lasted through daisy's puppyhood,three dogs dragging water in from rain and snow,husband tracking in mud as well as just general wear. We will do laminate again but probably commercial grade or 20 year guarantee. I really would like hardwood but the price stops me . I have talked to a local shop who manufactures hardwood floors and they have shown me some great floors with heavy duty polyurthane(major msp) but the chemicals it would involve scare me. We went lower end of the choice of laminate flooring 13 years ago and its lasted. I use a Hoover floor scrubber that sweeps scrubs and picks up the water. Hope the job gets done quickly.
I hate remodeling but love having gotten it done. The one thing for sure w/ GSDs hair laminate is a win over carpet.

[Kyleigh]

I have laminate floors .. it was a must when I was house shopping. If it can withstand birdpoop getting scraped up with a butter knife on a daily basis, and Ky ... and not a scratch anywhere, it will withstand your dogs!

I LOVE my floors!

[valb]

Well another vote for the laminate (Pergo) here. It was already
in our house when we bought it nearly 11 years ago. Still looks
as good as the day we bought it. I do have mats under the
water bowls, but doing that, spillage has not been a problem.

I use a Swiffer wet mop once a week, but I do get a big fluffy
white towel and scoot around the kitchen with it to pick up
more of the moisture afterwards.

[gaia_bear]

My old place had laminate flooring I'll also jump on board the "watch the water" train. It's fine for wet paws but spills etc should be cleaned up fairly quickly so they don't have chance to get under the flooring and lift/peel it. My boyfriend also put his guitar gear on top of it, which is quite heavy and it caused it to raise, it was a "floating" floor so that's something to keep in mind as well.

We now have hardwood throughout our whole house and it does scratch fairly easy. We're looking into putting some kind of seal on it but there's a lot of upkeep. I love the look of hardwood but I do miss my laminate floors, they were soo easy to keep clean.

[Mr & Mrs Kirkley]

What about vinyl that looks like wood? How well does that hold up?

[Mr. Aero]

Its easy to maintain. One of my GSD is afraid to go too far onto the laminate flooring. Although he has a 6 ft section to cross to get to the backyard. He will sometimes panic, get low, and hurry across causing himself to lose traction and cartoon slip on ice. It's kind of funny and also a bit worry some, considering he is 100lbs. My other GSD has no issues at all though.


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[llombardo]

Mine are close to the same color as yours, maybe a little lighter. Its much easier to maintain. I sweep and use the vacuum on them every 2-3 days. As far as washing them, I go over them with water/vinegar once a week. I had one area rug, but I added a second, because the GSD was sliding on the bare floors. The 2 area rugs break it up and she hasn't slid since I put the second one down. As far as water on the floors and doing damage, I have had no issues. I have two fish tanks that I clean and I'm always spilling water

[shepherdmom]

I see lots of people love laminate. I hate it. I thought it would be wonderful and when we bought our house I was thrilled our kitchen was laminate. Almost 10 years later (it still looks great BTW) I can't stand it. It is horrible for senior dogs, while entertaining with a puppy like not so much with older dogs who struggle. Luckily it is only the kitchen and my dogs can avoid it by going around the other direction but they all want to be in the kitchen with me when I'm cooking. With various seniors I've had to put rugs down so they don't crash because they insist on being in the room with me. The tap tap tap of dog nails across it at night is also intolerable. I have hardwood in parts of my house and the difference is dramatic. They don't slip nearly as badly and the the tip tap is muted. Yes it is scratched but IMO it just looks lived in.

[Rerun]

Our house came with laminate in a couple of the rooms. The "dog room" (it's a bonus room off the dining room) and our master bedroom. I love the flooring in both of them and eventually we'll do the whole house in laminate.

It's easy to clean, I've yet to see ANY scratches anywhere, and we do water outside only and have done it this way for years, so we don't have water spilling issues inside causing issues.

Can't speak as to what brand it is, whether it's pergo or something cheaper, I have no idea since we didn't put it in.

[Liesje]

Wait....I have wood floors....what am I supposed to be doing to maintain them above and beyond laminate? I don't do anything to them at all besides vacuum dog hair.