Are you wanting to have hardwood flooring installed in your home, but often think you can’t because you have pets and fear the flooring won’t last or be durable enough?

Well, this is simply not true. By choosing the right hardwood flooring for your home and lifestyle, following some day-to-day maintenance and accept that your hardwood flooring may look a little more worn and lived-in, you can have both your pets and dream flooring within your home! 

Greyspace Flooring recommend the following to ensure your hardwood flooring is easily maintained and possible damage is prevented by your pets.

Choosing the right flooring & protection

When deciding which flooring you’d like to have installed within your home, why not consider more distressed looking or lighter toned woods? These styles of flooring will disguise scratches and markings much more than others.

Also think about investing in a good durable lacquer or hard wax oil to finish the flooring once installed, as this will add a long-lasting, additional layer of protection to prevent any damage to the floor, that could be made from pets or furniture. If you’re unsure which flooring or lacquer is right for you and your needs, our experienced, support team are on hand to assist you. 

Rugs & Mats

Greyspace Flooring always strongly advise that mats are used at all entrances in the areas you have your flooring installed. This could be a built-in mat-well that can be fitted when your flooring is installed by our installation team, or any durable mat of your choice. Having these mats in place will not only give you a place to take off your shoes after a walk, but ensure the majority of the dampness and dirt from those muddy paws is soaked up before walking on the floor.

On the days when it is raining and pets are in and out from the garden, lay some towels down along your pets main walkways as a little extra protection for the flooring.

Never place your pets water or food bowls directly on the flooring, again use a suitable mat to avoid water rings and droplets of water splashing on the floor, as water left to sit on the flooring can cause discolouration.

Invest in a good rug for your main living area where your pets can lay comfortably off the floor. Not only will this add a nice cosy feeling to the room, it will also prevent scratch marks from pets such as larger breed dogs, who may suddenly jump up, if for example: someone knocks on the door or post is delivered.

Clip those claws!

It is important to keep your pets claws trimmed and filed. The perfect way to check if they are too long is if when walked on surfaces such as tarmac and you can hear their claws tapping against it, this means they are slightly too long. A quick trip to the groomers or more regular walking on these types of surfaces, will help keep the claws filed and will help minimise any noticeable scratches on the flooring.

Daily maintenance 

Daily maintenance is vital to prolonging the life of your hardwood flooring, even more so with pets. Try to hoover daily, this will pick up any loose dirt and small stones, which if left and kicked about, can scratch and mark the flooring.

Mop up any spillages or wet patches straight away, using a hardwood flooring cleaning solution and microfibre spray mop. Never use a steam mop, wet mop, furniture polish or abrasive products on your hardwood flooring.

Pet-friendly Bona Pro cleaning and maintenance products available in store.