We all love our pets! But between sharp nails, hair and other messes, it can be hard to maintain a clean and like-new floor in your Guelph home. Try some of these tips for minimizing the damage caused by your four-legged friends.
Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring is undoubtedly one of the best flooring options for houses with pets, especially dogs or cats. Laminate floors are super durable, standing up to scratches and water much better than hardwood floors. We haven’t been shy about our love of laminate flooring, especially with the colours and finishes available today. Laminate flooring these days can mimic hardwood flooring, even down to knots with texture.
Harder wood
For some people, it has to be hardwood – so if you have pets, make sure you’re choosing a harder wood. Softer woods will get damaged much more quickly, especially with a dog or cat in the house. Hickory is one of the strongest woods for floors.
Be prepared
One of the best ways to protect your floors from damage is to be prepared, and one way to do this is to make sure your pet’s nails are trimmed! Keeping your pet’s nails at a reasonable length will prevent scratches from occurring in the first place, so you can rest easy. Another great way to prevent scratches is by using rugs wherever you can, like hallways and other high traffic areas. You can also purchased vinyl nail caps for your dog or cat, which is a great, pain-free option for keeping your pets from scratching your floors.
Quick clean up
Anyone who has a hardwood floor will know how vital it is to clean up messes right away, especially moisture. Hardwood floors can warp and bend with too much moisture, so if your pet makes a mess, clean it up as soon as you can to prevent more, long-term damage. It’s also a good idea to wipe your pet’s paws after they’ve been outside, as well as put a plastic mat under their drinking bowl.
Pet-free areas
If there are rooms in your home with hardwood that your pet doesn’t need to use, consider making them off limits. You can do this by putting up baby gates for these rooms, or even train your pet to stick to carpet or ceramic floors.
Touch-ups
Keeping your hardwood looking like new can be as easy as filling in scratches or other superficial damage as it happens. You can do this by filling small scratches or marks with the right floor stain to mask the difference in colour. Check out some of our other tips for fixing scratches in hardwood.
