Best Flooring Options for Pet Owners
Whilst planning to renovate your home, finding an ideal type of flooring can be a difficult task. Especially if you are a pet owner and need to look for a flooring solution that is pet-friendly and practical, yet also stylish.
As a pet owner, one is concerned about pet’s comfort & hygiene. You need to ensure that the flooring type selected is scratch and stain resistant, and also easy for animals to walk on as some hard surfaces can be slippery underfoot. Most importantly, it should be super easy to clean and maintain and if it is waterproof or water-resistant, it will be an added advantage. Also, because this is your space, you need it to look beautiful too!
There is a wide range of flooring options available for homeowners, such as laminate, engineered, luxury vinyl flooring and more. All of which have different qualities to consider before selecting the ideal flooring material suitable for all of your needs.
Let’s go through the factors that need to be considered before making the buying decision.
Pet-friendly flooring needs to be scratch-resistant
Even if you keep pets claws to a minimum and groom them regularly, animals have an instinctive urge to scratch and claw and this can easily scratch any soft flooring. Hard, engineered floors are a good solution to minimise this – carpets can be easily damaged by pets clawing.
Not all engineered floors are the same though – ensure you pick one with a robust top layer and sealed finish, plus also sometimes the surface can be refinished, such as with engineered wood flooring.
Another good idea is to select a style in which scratches can be camouflaged seamlessly by the texture and colour tones.
Water resistant flooring is ideal for pet owners
For pet owners, it’s better to go with a water resistant or waterproof flooring option.
Even if your pet is toilet-trained, accidents can happen. Plus, around feeding areas waterproof flooring is a great solution for messy eaters. When drinking water from a bowl, pet may spill water on the floor. If one’s dog drools excessively, then also it becomes essential to consider water resistant flooring, plus a pet can bring in wet mud on its feet from garden outside.
If you don’t clean it immediately, even a small amount of water/liquid can damage some types of flooring materials. So, make sure, the flooring you select is water resistant.
Best Pet-friendly Flooring Picks
To help you decide more easily, let us dive into the best pet friendly picks according to flooring experts.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Click vinyl flooring is an excellent choice for pet owners as it is scratch resistant as well as water resistant. Nowadays even waterproof options are available.
Apart from being an ideal material to handle scratches and water spills, it is exceptionally durable. It is also extremely comfortable for pets to walk and rest on vinyl flooring.
Aesthetically, it can mimic the look of solid wood, tiles, stones and any other material or design as per your liking or interior design. And it is budget friendly too – a perfect all-round solution!
If someone is looking for a pet friendly and affordable flooring material, then One Step Beyond is your go-to online store. They can cater to all the flooring requirements. They offer a wide range of flooring types, such as engineered, laminate and vinyl, including SPC vinyl flooring.
Laminate Flooring
Nowadays nonslip, pet friendly laminate flooring is also available. Although you need to ensure you choose a water-resistant laminate to ensure that the flooring is safe from any serious damage.
If you want to buy wood look laminate, select an embossed design, this will offer the much-required traction for your pet to walk or run without slipping.
Another advantage of laminate floors is that they are easy to clean and maintain.
Engineered Wood Flooring
If because of pets, you never thought of considering solid hardwood for your home, engineered flooring is a great option. The look and feel of the flooring is similar to solid wood as the top layer is real wood. So the textures and appearance are authentic.
When you decide to install engineered wood floors, as a pet owner, you need to choose the harder wood variety such as walnut, maple or oak. Avoid soft wood species like the chestnut, pine and fir.
You can get a scratch resistant finish to keep your floor safe from any damage. The lacquered finish can ensure superior protection against stains and scratches.
A clever trick that most pet owners would find useful is to purchase a distressed wood look or rustic effect so that scratches can be camouflaged.
Also, select a thick top wood layer, so that you can get it sanded and refinished when you feel the need.
Explore engineered wood flooring available in an array of designs and colour options at One Step Beyond Flooring and find the perfect one for your home.
So these are the top flooring materials for pet owners. Hope after reading the article, you’ll be able to create a pet friendly home by selecting an ideal flooring.