As temperatures plunge with the coming winter, more pets will be brought inside the house, so it is time to think about what are the best and worst flooring choices when you have a pet.
Avoid Using Carpet
One of the top things you can do for your floors is a little research. When you decide to remodel or just replace your floors to make them more pet-friendly, one of the worst things you can do is put in carpeting. Carpeting not only holds pet smells, but cats love to claw it. Once pet odors soak into the carpet pad, your expensive carpet is ruined.
Yes, if you can always catch the accidents before they soak into the carpet, then a high-quality pet odor neutralizer will do the trick. But often our little buddies are tricky, and manage to find a hidey-hole where they hide their droppings.
If you do have pets and carpeting, here are a few tips:
- After soaking up the unwanted “bathroom area,” take the urine-soaked paper towel or newspapers to the place where your pet is allowed to potty, like putting it in your cat’s litter box.
* Cleaning stains with strong chemicals like ammonia or vinegar will reinforce your pets’ desire to keep marking the area.
* Black light will help you identify old soiled areas.
*Pets are attracted by their own scent, so doing what you can to get rid of that scent with neutralizers will increase the likelihood that they will tire of going where they should not.
Most of Pet-Friendly Flooring
When looking for the right type of flooring for your home, aesthetics is always important, but easy care is equally so. You want to have floors that will repel pet accidents, or clean up quickly when they happen.
Tile or Stone
While obviously water, stain, and claw resistant, thus being pet resistant, tile and stone flooring is cold and hard. You will need to make sure your dogs have a nice bed to sleep on (cats are good at finding their own couch or chair), or you can add a radiant heat system under the flooring. Learn more about the radiant heat system, Ditra Heat by Schluter, by reading our past blog, “Keeping Your Footsies Warm This Winter.”
There are almost limitless design choices, from wood-look tile to travertine. Just remember that stone is a natural organic medium, it will need to be sealed annually.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Less expensive than stone, tile, or wood, luxury vinyl flooring comes in tiles and planks, offering many beautiful styles, but they are much better for pets. Luxury Vinyl Tile does not scratch or tear, and it is much softer on the feet, and it is water resistant.
Hardwood, Cork, and Bamboo
Wood is the most popular type of flooring today. Make sure to use hardwood. It will stand up to those little nails that go click-click-click. Some sources suggest engineered hardwood, but a rustic-look hardwood floor is very strong, beautiful, and comfortable.
Cork and Bamboo can also endure all your babies have to give. Cork acts as an insulator and it is sound proof, so no more click, click, click when one goes walking down the hall. It is also microbial, meaning it fights mold and allergens. Strand woven bamboo is the proper flooring choice for pet pwners.
Pets Growing in Popularity
Over the last 30 years pet ownership has grown by fifty-six percent. This equates to almost 95 million cats and 90 million dogs, with care and feeding costs of more than sixty-nine billion dollars.
Having the proper flooring will make pet and home care easier, insuring co-habitation is happy and harmonious.
