We have two dogs, one of whom is now elderly and sometimes incontinent due to a little senility. Our carpet now needs replacing. So we were considering laminate flooring in the Living room.

The one we have in mind is B & Q, 1600 Loc Water Resistant. We would be very grateful to hear of any experiences regarding this flooring, i.e. apart from how scratch resistent do you find it with dogs and shoes etc, stain resistent to urine!, but equally does it look good, warm and welcoming? (we will also add a rug) since we have only been used to carpets.

Look forward to receiving your comments and experiences. THANK YOU

Hi Guest,
We put the B&Q 1600 Loc in our hallway a couple a months ago, so far so good, we used the oak and it is a lovely warm colour, I certainly wouldn't want to choose anything lighter. It has coped fine with the odd wee (daughter not dog!) and mine and the dogs mucky paws when returning from agility - we use the kitchen door (ceramic tiles) for returning from walks. Depending on where you are putting it you will no doubt need some sort of rug, we bought a 3 metre long runner for the hallway as the dogs go mad when the post comes and were bound to do themselves some sort of damage. As I say early days but from what we have seen it looks really good!
Best of luck, Hayley

Hi Hayley,
I would love to get laminate flooring in lounge and dining room, and was wondering, is it fairly easy to put down yourself, or do you have to get an expert in to do it? I much prefer doing things myself - and it's cheaper!
Hilda

i lay the laminate in our kitchen myself,its the glue type,thought for a first go we would use cheap stuff.hubby went off for the weekend so i thought id do something,it took about 6 hours for me to do it,but i was looking after 3 kids as well,just make sure you have a good saw for the edges,that cuts on a downwards stroke then the laminate wont splinter,failling that turn the laminate over so it has the same effect.
mel :D

Hi Mel!
I don't think I'd be much of a wiz at diy - at least not the floor laying kind! Did have a look at B&Q - the laminate that I presume is the best quality one is about £26+ a pack, so to do our lounge and dining room would come to near £500 - bit more than I want to spend on the floor at the moment! So will stick with our carpet for a bit longer! (and our rooms aren't even that big!).
Hilda

We have laminate throughout the downstairs and it has proven to be a god send. No scrathes, cleans easily and is warm. Do put a rug down though. I wasn't going to, but changed my mind in the end. Puppy has had many accidents on it and it is so much more hygenic than having carpets. I don't know how I coped without it!!

we have laminate through out down stairs, and it really is a god send when you get those little puddles and piles.
The only thing I thought about is, what effect it could have on developing hips, we've got a 6 month old springer, and she is quite adept now at handbrake turns, sliding her rear end round corners, and the four legged wheel spin as she sets off at high speed. But it looks as though the hips go in all directons at once.
Just a thought
Robert

We have it in our kitchen and dining room and are considering the lounge and hall as it is so much better than carpet! 3 kids and one puppy take their toll on the flooring!!

Robert,
Had not thought about the hip problems ! like your puppy ours does superb turns 99% of the time and others just slides into the french doors! I may ask the vet before we add more of it !
thanx for pointing that out!

Jude

our 17 week old mini schnauzer has had to have complete rest and
anti-inflammatories due to doing the "splits" at high speed on laminate.
however, they can have accidents doing allsorts and I have
no intention of changing the flooring as the pros far outweigh the
cons..besides it was our fault really for playing too much 'hyper ball chase' one evening!! :-)

Hi Paul

We have laminate flooring and I too worried about my pup damaging himself on it. However, 18 months later his hip score is back at 3:4, which is well below average. This pup was a demon as a youngster and used to love skidding around on the floor but it hasnt done him any harm.
Abby

Sorry Robert, havent a clue why I called you Paul! A senior moment..

Abby

We had laminate flooring in te kitchen. As you say, the dogs get better at handbrake turns etc but our elderly Dobe sometimes found all four legs going in different directions. i don't think it did her aging joints much good. In the end we removed the laminate flooring.:)

I have laminate flooring in one of my rooms downstairs and my elderly GSD with DM can't walk on it without doing the splits with his back legs and falling over when he turns around :( He finds it very difficult to get a grip and get up again :( He certainly couldn't manage if I wasn't with him in the room to grab him and keep him up when he falls.
I tend to keep him off it now. My other dog manages it fine - I keep his nails very short with the dremel so he can walk on it better.
It looks great! It was also a bit of an eye opener to see how quickly hair and bits accumulate on it which you don't tend to notice on carpet! It's very visible on a laminate floor. I've been advised not to use a mop on any laminate despite mine being waterproof as well as it gets down the cracks in the planks and goes black. I use the floor wipes which are great.
Lara x

We are about to get Laminate flooring put down in the entire ground floor. Interested in getting a Dremel as Min the oldie's claws will be too long for her to cope with the floors. It is not an option to get her claws cut by claw clippers or by the vet as she gets too stressed . Her claws are black as well so it is difficult to know where to cut without causing bleeding. She is not doing much pavement walking now as she is really slowing down and so she enjoys far more to wander at her own pace in the fields hence why the claws are now a problem.

Question is does the dremel make a loud noise when you use it and where now can we get them as have tried B& Q etc and haven't seen them a round ? Or any other suggestions on getting the claws down ?

Thanks

Lucy

We have just moved into a house with laminate and it is going to have to go, due to the fact none of the dogs can walk on it. I am getting really worried about how it might affect future hip scores. The dogs either end up on their faces or walking on the spot.

Hi Lucy

B&Q should definately stock dremels - I get most of my attachments for it from there :) I think I bought mine from Homebase.
Yes, they are noisy but the dogs get used to them if they are introduced to them slowly :)
Look here
Lara x

Lara

Thanks ! All the info needed ! I have found them on the website so will go ahead and order one ! I think they have hidden them in the stores as we couldn't see them ! Making room for all the summer stock ! Good instructions on how to use it as well ! :D Just hope Min will not be too much of a wimp !

Lucy

We had an elderly girl and laminate flooring in our living room and although it is brilliant for clearing up the mishaps she had great difficulty walking on it for the last year of her life. At first we used to carry her from and to her bed (as she was dobe, not easy) and then we used strategically placed rugs to make life easier. Its just a thought.

We too have laminate throughout the downstairs area and it has been brilliant with pup. Any accidents are quickly wiped away and you tend not to get that "doggy" smell . Only thing is pup teends to "skid" about a bit when he has his mad half hours .
Lel

we have old flooring in our front room but the dogs slip on it.

debbie

We have 2 oldie Newfoundlands, and have put laminate flooring in our living room and all the bedrooms as they are both 'leeking'. 1 of the oldies did find it difficult to walk on so we put rugs down [use blue tack to secure] and bought paw wax which grips slippery floors. No more problems. We also have a 5 month old puppy Newfy who has been used to the floor from the begining and we have had no problems with her.

Hi we had solid oak flooring in our lounge I personally found it a nightmare for dogs
We've decided to put a carpet on top of it using a system 10 fitting.So heavy duty
underlay goes down and the carpet is stuck to this so if we ever decided to lift the carpet
we have not damaged the floor underneath.We also can allow the baby to crawl around in comfort.
My partner has a degree in cabinet maker and puts alot of flooring down when he's not making furniture
and is finding people are asking him to rip the stuff up from those who have dogs.

I personally find its easier to hoover a carpet at least all the dust and hair does not blow and roll
around.Wiping over wood floors even if they are sealed with any water does
them no good.Also my partner would not personally recommend wood flooring
in any kitchen it may look nice, hes yet to find a wood floor that if hot water should get spilt
or anything out of the oven does not damage it.

At the end of the day its what your happy with,and what suits your needs.
Personally I hate the stuff with 2 goldens and children.Will return to oak flooring
when the children have grown up and the downstairs bedroom can get turned into a second lounge
with carpet.

Regards Briony :-)

At the end of the day it's up to you what you like and what you want

I'm with you on this, Briony. I have tiles in part of the ground floor, and hate the way the hair and dust blow about and are hard to get rid of - on the carpeted areas it's a doddle hoovering up.
:)

It is funny how we all differ isnt it? :p

The whole of my downstairs has wooden floors and the dogs are fine with it and it doesnt seem to attract dust. But upstairs I have laminate in my bedroom and the dogs slip a bit on it but as they are usually on the bed so it doesnt matter :D It also attracts a lot of dust.

Gina

There's me about to rip up all my carpets and go with wooden flooring :) The thing that I don't like is how dirty the carpets get - depending on the colour, it is more/less noticeable. At least with wooden/tiled floors you can wash them. In my kitchen, in my pup's favourite corner, there is ancient Flotex and it gets absolutely filthy where she lies (fortunately it is quite easy to wash it). If this is repeated round the house, the rest of my carpets must be filthy :D

Daisy