I'm thinking of getting a new floor covering but with 4 dogs carpets are a bit of a nightmare to keep clean and I swear it retains doggy smelldoes anyone know what the best scratch resistent, non porous, non slip, mopable floor covering is?

thanks :) :)

....carpet??  :)  :)

I don't think that there is an ideal :) I've got ceramic tiles in my kitchen (quite a large area). They are fine up to a point - yes, they are cleanable, but it takes me a long time to wash such a big area (having swept it first). They make the kitchen echo as they don't absorb sound like a softer surface. Things dropped break :D They don't scratch, which is good and look good. I have got tongued and grooved solid mahogany floorboards in my lounge. I did consider removing the carpet but can't face the cleaning - also don't like the idea of the dogs sliding around on it. Fortunately my dogs only go into the lounge of an evening and only if dry/clean, so my cream carpet stays clean :) Not much help, I'm afraid. If/when we move, I will probably have tiles/wood in the kitchen/hallways, but carpet in other rooms :)

Daisy

We have laminate in hallway and dining room, welsh slate in the kitchen and carpet in the lounge. They all get dirty and I spend ages washing and sweeping them all. I guess the best thing to tell you is that the laminate is warm and not as hard as tiles, it looks cleaner than the carpet, it does not hold smells and can be given a quick once over with a damp cloth, as well as hoovered or swept if a quick one two is all you want to do. I would advise though, that you choose a middle range floor price wise and one that is waterproof so it won't pucker up after a good soaking.

Thanks for the replies :) wonder what technology has done for lino these days, it used to look quite naff but ive seen some nice stuff around, that might be warm, nonslip and easy to clean.

We used to have Flotex in the kitchen - it was fantastic. Easy to clean (for normal spills), soft on the foot and wore very well (we had it down for about 16 years and it looked pretty good considering). The only thing that worried me was when we had had the puppy weeing on it, I was never totally convinced that I had cleaned it thoroughly - hence the change to tiles :)

Daisy

We were thinking of Flotex but the girl in the carpet shop said that it looked like 'old people's home' carpet to her and it really put us off!  :)

It doesn't 'look', these days, as good as tiles or wood - but we put it down when the only real alternatives were carpet tiles or lino :D It looked far better and, as I have said, was very user friendly. It's always a toss up and, when it comes down to it, it's up to individual's needs and personal preferences :) Good luck with your choice :)

Daisy

My flotex went extremely smelly.  Cleaned it with everything going.  In the end came to the conclusion that it was the backing just hanging on to smells and any washing just seemed to make it worse   It also was a devil for enjoying a tussle with the vacuum cleaner as to who was going to hang on to the hairs.  My best mate's was the same, we still reminisce about the horror of it over a bottle of wine to this day :D
My favourite dog friendly surfaces are rough slate, although not so good for the furniture, or real wood floors.  We have a large rug in the living room, jolly expensive, high quality, dense wool, I also find this amazing at vacuuming up beautifully, with not a trace of a wiff.  It has had a couple of piddles on it over the years which have mopped up without a trace and it's a, predominantly, wine colour which has been handy for the other type of spills it has experienced more frequently :)

Hi

We have got rid of all carpets apart from the one in my bedroom which I want out but hubby refuses to as there is nothihg wrong with it. Instead we have laminate everywere bar the kitchen that has hard tiles.

We have mats but that is all. I have a cheap hoover that picks up all the hairs in mins and all it needs is a quick mop over when dirty.

Spilt a glass of red wine on it and it cleaned up perfectly

I wouldnt now go back to carpets. I hate to think of the germs in the last carpet. The amount of blood my bitch droped on the floor when she was in season made me think about what the carpet must be hiding. You can only wash a carpet so much. My house no longer smells either

Wendy

If you go for tiles, you can put electric underfloor heating underneath.  We have it in the conservatory and kitchen, not cheap, but you only have to do it once.  Have laminate in the lounge, but the dogs only come in when we are sitting in it and are not allowed to run or play on it.  So easy to clean.

Check out the Karndean range of flooring, whcih is the modern lino equivalent. I am in the process of tryng to choos kitchen flooring and thought their brochure gave some pretty good alternatives. Perhaps lino will be the next laminate eh!!?

Laminate flooring IS lino in strips!!!  :) 

LOL :D My OH hates 'imitation' wood :D He would only, ever, put down solid wood flooring :D

Daisy

If only it was :)

I would love real lino :)  It's lovely, and green, but very expensive. 

My friend has just put down Karndean in her kitchen/diner and it looks like stone, really nice, but expensive, she is thinking of doing her living room as well. Doesnt look like lino.

Weve got flotex in teh kitchen, like you say its just a nightmare all round really hehe theres plenty of wine stains on it especially where ive been merrily preparing food whilst sampling the cooking wine :D.  it just never feels clean even after i hired a carpet cleaner .  Thought about the slate though - is it easy to clean etc? the only worry about that is being porous and smelling like a zoo if one of the dogs had an accident weed on it by mistake, I mean obviously they are all housetrained.

You treat it with a sealant when it is first laid and then retreat every 18 months or so.  It's a very simple job, it's just a liquid you spread on with a brush.  In between it just sweeps and mops no probs and looks beautiful, I think.  I have the rough surfaced sort for the dogs to keep a grip on but it is hard on the furniture being slightly uneven all over the place so not really suitable for good quality dining chairs.

hmmm thanks for the info :) i'll look into that.  No worries about the quality dining chairs - chance would be a fine thing

My kitchen and utility room floors are rough slate.  It was sealed when it was first put down ten years ago - but I've not bothered since.  Each of the slate tiles is a slightly different colour and because it's natural stone each individual tile has variations in colour.   All my tiles get is a damp mop to keep them clean.  I don't worry about stains, they just blend in with the tiles.  The tiles may be slightly porous, if there should be any lingering odour from a spill or accident regular cleaning takes care of it.  Stone does not retain odours.  When is the last time you found a smelly rock?  :-)

Okay, I should give them a really good scrub and reseal them ... but it's way at the bottom of my "to do" list!

Slattern :D

Doesn't sound like the Flotex I had :D Never had a stain in 16 years - was always very easy to clean. Had two babies/children doing all sorts to it as we lived in the kitchen a lot of the time :) The main thing that worried me was that it was layed on hardboard and if the puppy had wee'd on a join, it would probably go through to the hardboard :(

Daisy

Mine never stained Daisy.  Looked as good as new on the surface but the pong! :rolleyes:  You are probably right about the hardboard angle :) but it was definately the flotex that wiffed because hubbie pinched it to line the back of his Landie after another good scrubbing outside and there it continued to humm away to itself until I told him I would not be getting in it again until the flotex went :)

do any of you have any suggestions what can be put on stairs apart from carpet?  I have laminate and tiles down the stairs and hairballs, fluff and dirt all get tramped into the carpet which is a nightmare to hoover depite having a dyson :rolleyes:.  I'm not totally mucky and unhousetrained but I believe that there are better things in this life to do than clean stair carpets so any hints would be appreciated.  Thanks 

Are they old stairs, would the wood look good stripped?  We have a non slip matt varnish on our living room floor boards that I think would be safe enough on stairs.  My stairs are carpetted and are attractive to hairs but I generally give them a quick over with a stiff brush before hovering which seems to make the job very much more effective.

its a new build house so probably no nice wood underneath.  I usually resort to brushing them but being as lazy as I am I'd prefer to have minimal upkeep on them and still have my house looking like a showhome lol!  I was speaking to a man in a carpet shop  recently who was trying to explain to me the benefits of plastic carpets (nylon mix no wool) as they were virtually indestructable but I think I would still feel cheated with a plastic carpet - should probably invest in astroturf instead!

I think nylon would be even more likely to attract hairs.  In my experience the better the quality and density of the wool the more dirt repellent it is although, obviously, some nylon in the mix does make it more hard wearing for things like stairs.

Remember that wool is fire-retardant - the safest carpets are 80% wool with 20% manmade fibre for durability. Nylon carpets would give off toxic fumes as well as accelerating the spread of the fire.

I never thought about the fire aspect of it, he was selling the 'you can clean it with bleach - yes real household bleach' aspects of it and extolling the virtues of it in a doggy household, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I moult as much as the dog despite regular grooming

I had a great wood floor in the kitchen in my last house. It was real wood laminate, so only the top few mm were real maple. Hard as nails, nothing stained it, nice and warm underfoot and dishes didn't break as easily as they would have on tiles. It was cheaper than real wood floors and we laid it ourselves quite easily. Plus, we got a factory applied varnish that was slightly textured, like a matte finish, so it wasn't as slippery as the fake wood laminate. I wish I had it now! Although I think I'm going with bamboo in this house when some extra dosh is handy.

Bamboo is good - we've put in down in our bathrooms :)

Daisy

Is bamboo expensive?

Got ours from the internet - cost about £17 per sq m according to OH :)

Daisy

woo thanks everyone :D These are all great ideas i'll going to have a search an all the options :D oh yeah and work on the O/H to try and convince him that whatever i decide was his idea

We have laminate at the moment which has been fine but it is very noisy and gets very dusty. We are soon to be getting Karndean as recommended by someone earlier in the thread. My neighbour has it and it looks great but is as durable as lino. Good luck :)

We moved here last Summer and so far have laid sealed slate tiles  in the Kitchen/utility/dining and hallway. the rough texture makes them non-slip even when wet and they're a doddle to keep clean. We've taken up the lounge carpet and stripped and waxed the floorboards underneath - the dogs are only allowed in there in the evening under supervision and so far the floor has no scratches etc Upstairs is still carpeted - cream and we'll strip/wax the floorboards in the bedrooms but we have the same problem with deciding what to do with the stairs - the carpet just has to go - and I'm inclined to go for slate tiles up the stairs as well but I'm worried that they might be dangerous when wet - It's an old house and so far the floor boards have been lovely so the stairs should be OK if stripped too but would they be noisy - has anyone done either of these two things and how successful were they ?. 

Yvonne

I don't think they would be slippy but I would look into the weight issue particularly if they are old stairs.

The weight is more likely to be an issue if it is a new house.  The older houses were built much stronger.

If you go for slate on the stairs, you will need to have the edges arrised or bullnosed or you will have a sharp edge.

>older houses were built much stronger

That's the theory ;) but my cottage's stairs are barely stronger than a step ladder :)

id personly  reccomend polyflors camaro /colonia , amtico , or Karndean ( vinyl flooring!) In my Opinion  very hard wearing and easy to clean and a huge range of colours that you can match up to . basicaly you can design the floor yourself
www.polyfloor.com           www.Karndean.com           www.amtico.com
lino is ok but the viynl is more compact usualy harder wearing .

Laminate ( which is actully ... normaly made from a sandwich of melamine and high density fibreboard  ) is ok pretty hardwearing , but it could swell at the edges if any water gets down there  ( you can buy  water resistant ones  . and really you need to know what your looking at to get a quality one ( quick step is my reccomendation there ;) very good quality )
www.quick-step.com

Woods ok ( personly I wouldent reccomend it for the kitchen or bathroom  ) the same it could  swell iand we have found beech floor can suck up moisture and may go black
Bambo is great :D very good with water ;) it depends if you dont mind being limited to a few colours to choose from .
Tiles are good but can be cold under foot unless you have underfloor heating you need to be careful not to drop anything that may crack tiles .
Goodluck :d theres alot to choose from ;)

The best flooring I have is ceramic tiles in the kitchen.  The carpet in front room always looks good, but I am obsessed that it smells doggy (even though my dog has his own bed on it).  In my hall I have wooden flooring, which has scratched terribly but we bought it before we had our dog.  In my back room I have wooden flooring also, this has scratched too.  My boys would play running around with my dog and that is what scratched it.  But I suppose if your dog doesn't run about then wood flooring should be okay, even though the dogs slip and slide a bit.