[DIY[_5_]]

Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too slippy
for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone have experience
of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and noisy as laminate?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
DIY wrote:
Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too
slippy for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone
have experience of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and
noisy as laminate?

How slippery it is will depend on the finish. As regards noise, it won't
be the same clackety-clack you get with loose laid laminates.

--
*(on a baby-size shirt) "Party -- my crib -- two a.m

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Jules[_2_]]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:33:00 +0000, DIY wrote:

Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too slippy
for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone have experience
of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and noisy as laminate?

Hmm, do you mean hardwood tongue/groove flooring vs. some cheapy thin
plastic-like crap? (I believe* "engineered wood flooring" is also
typically a laminated design, rather than using solid bits of wood)

* possibly mistaken

cheers

Jules

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article . com,
Jules wrote:
Hmm, do you mean hardwood tongue/groove flooring vs. some cheapy thin
plastic-like crap? (I believe* "engineered wood flooring" is also
typically a laminated design, rather than using solid bits of wood)

Think it covers a few designs. Mine is solid strips of oak keyed and glued
into something like traditional sized T&G planks. When assembled
properly there are no gaps anywhere. Looks very good and should be as
hard wearing as a traditional oak floor.

--
*Is there another word for synonym?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[slider]

"DIY" wrote in message ...
Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too
slippy for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone have
experience of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and noisy as
laminate?


How about wood effect Amtico?

[Jules[_2_]]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:57:46 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article . com,
Jules wrote:
Hmm, do you mean hardwood tongue/groove flooring vs. some cheapy thin
plastic-like crap? (I believe* "engineered wood flooring" is also
typically a laminated design, rather than using solid bits of wood)

Think it covers a few designs. Mine is solid strips of oak keyed and glued
into something like traditional sized T&G planks. When assembled
properly there are no gaps anywhere. Looks very good and should be as
hard wearing as a traditional oak floor.

Yep, that's what we have here - 1-1/2" wide strips of about 3/4" deep (I
think the modern stuff's a bit wider, typically). Very hard-wearing,
although some types of spills can damage the finish and of course it's
vital to put pads on the bottom of the furniture so it doesn't scratch (we
used felt ones, but rubber would probably be better).

Our floors aren't particularly slippy - I've never just fallen over on
them (if I run through the house in socks I can just about manage a
3' skid... :-)

We don't tend to trim our dogs' claws so they clatter a bit when they
run, but not too loud - and we don't hear them at all if they're just
walking.

The main downside I think is the lack of insulation offered by a carpet;
we've got a full basement which makes the lower floor a bit cold
underfoot during the winter. On the plus side, it's easy to clean a
hardwood floor (and judging by the amount of crap that gets swept up, it's
scary how much dirt and debris must be trapped in the average carpet!)

I'm not sure how long you're supposed to go between re-finishing such
flooring (the stuff here could use a new coat really, but I don't know
when in the last 60 years it was last done). The guy living next door
installs hardwood floors as his job, so at some point I'll just go ask...

cheers

Jules

[Roger Mills]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Jules wrote:

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:33:00 +0000, DIY wrote:

Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too
slippy for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone
have experience of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy
and noisy as laminate?

Hmm, do you mean hardwood tongue/groove flooring vs. some cheapy thin
plastic-like crap? (I believe* "engineered wood flooring" is also
typically a laminated design, rather than using solid bits of wood)

* possibly mistaken

cheers

Jules

Engineered wood flooring is *real* wood - unlike laminated, which has never
been anywhere near a tree!

Engineered flooring has a thin layer of hardwood (about 3mm) at the top and
(usually) two lots of a softer wood underneath - with the grain going
lengthways in one layer and crossways in the other - making a very stable
product. The overall thickness is about 14mm - much thicker than laminate
floor.

The sort which I used is tongued and grooved - but with the tongues and
grooves having a cross-section which snap into each other - so, with the
help of a smear of glue, you get a good solid job with no gaps.

You need expansion gaps round the edge of the room, of course, and need to
remove and replace the skirting and undercut the doorframes if you want to
make a proper job of it.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

[DIY[_5_]]

"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?

I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer wood
effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.

[Bruce[_4_]]

"DIY" wrote:
"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?

I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer wood
effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.


I would choose Amtico flooring over just about any other, except real,
solid wood. It is both attractive and incredibly durable.

Did I say it was incredibly durable?

[Broadback]

Bruce wrote:
"DIY" wrote:
"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?
I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer wood
effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.


I would choose Amtico flooring over just about any other, except real,
solid wood. It is both attractive and incredibly durable.

Did I say it was incredibly durable?

We have Amtico bathroom flooring, about 6 years old, always cared for
with their own product and instructions, certainly showing signs of age,
quite grubby in places. Whereas the rather naff laminate flooring in the
dining room, which has much more use shows no such sign. Sigh, Her
Indoors says it will have to go as it looks, well artificial. ;-)

[Jules[_2_]]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:11:34 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:
Engineered flooring has a thin layer of hardwood (about 3mm) at the top and
(usually) two lots of a softer wood underneath - with the grain going
lengthways in one layer and crossways in the other - making a very stable
product. The overall thickness is about 14mm - much thicker than laminate
floor.

Ahh, OK - I'd call that a laminate as it's layers of material glued
(presumably) together - but that doesn't necessarily make it the right
term within the industry :-)

Our stuff here's just solid 3/4" T+G with some form of tarpaper backing
(presumably as a moisture barrier)

You need expansion gaps round the edge of the room, of course, and need
to remove and replace the skirting and undercut the doorframes if you
want to make a proper job of it.

Ours seems to have been done with a thin barrier of caulking around the
edges, which I suppose picks up the slack (there's no sign of there ever
having been skirting boards; we're slowly putting some in). I suppose the
size of the gap needed varies greatly with the type of wood used.

cheers

Jules

[Bruce[_4_]]

Broadback wrote:
Bruce wrote:
"DIY" wrote:
"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?
I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer wood
effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.


I would choose Amtico flooring over just about any other, except real,
solid wood. It is both attractive and incredibly durable.

Did I say it was incredibly durable?

We have Amtico bathroom flooring, about 6 years old, always cared for
with their own product and instructions, certainly showing signs of age,
quite grubby in places. Whereas the rather naff laminate flooring in the
dining room, which has much more use shows no such sign. Sigh, Her
Indoors says it will have to go as it looks, well artificial. ;-)


There's always one, isn't there.

[Jules[_2_]]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:46:53 +0000, Broadback wrote:
We have Amtico bathroom flooring, about 6 years old, always cared for
with their own product and instructions, certainly showing signs of age,
quite grubby in places.

Hmm, when we moved in we had bright green shag-pile carpet in the bathroom
over the top of its hardwood floor. Needless to say, years of moisture had
taken its toll somewhat...

(in other words, it could be worse

[The Natural Philosopher]

DIY wrote:
Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too slippy
for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone have experience
of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and noisy as laminate?


yes.

[DIY[_5_]]

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote:
yes.

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions that a large vets bill could result from
a dislocation/fracture.

[slider]

"DIY" wrote in message ...
"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?

I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer
wood effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.


We have Amtico Spacia down in two bathrooms and downstairs hallway. Comes
in 7.25" x 48" strips and looks just like wood.

http://simplyamtico.co.uk/index.php?...id=76&parent=3

[slider]

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
"DIY" wrote:
"Slider" wrote;
How about wood effect Amtico?

I can only find wood effect Amtico vinyl tiles, I think I would prefer
wood
effect sheet vinyl rather than tiles.


I would choose Amtico flooring over just about any other, except real,
solid wood. It is both attractive and incredibly durable.

Did I say it was incredibly durable?


It is guaranteed for 15 years in a domestic environment and 10 years in
commercial.

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
DIY wrote:
Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too
slippy for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone
have experience of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and
noisy as laminate?

yes.

Indeed it is, and dogs claws (if they're big dogs) "distress" an
engineered wood floor very quickly however dogs themselves don't have
problems with either surface.
They have completely independent 4x4 drive system all intelligently linked.

We have a Greatdane x greyhound now 14 yrs old whos hips are weakening
and he's been fine on the floor for the last 4 years.

The smaller chiohouha x thing also has no problems, so slippery isn't an
issue for dogs as long as the dog has 4 legs.
:¬)

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

DIY wrote:

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions that a large vets bill could result from
a dislocation/fracture.

See my above reply.
We have 46m sq open plan (including kitchen) Khaars engineered 14mm oak
surfaced wood.
Neither of our dogs have had any problems. and one has huge great gangly
legs.
I wouldn't let that worry you.
You'll be paranoid for the first 18 months of a wood surface though as
big dogs claws leave small grooves and indentations in the wood
everywhere, but the floor is like a stainless steel sink/worktop etc it
takes quite a while for it to become "broken in" to the point where new
marks just blend in with the old and you enjoy it for it's unique
properties and durabillity once newness has vanished.

:¬)
Pete

[Jon Fairbairn]

Jules writes:
Yep, that's what we have here - 1-1/2" wide strips of about 3/4" deep (I
think the modern stuff's a bit wider, typically). Very hard-wearing,
although some types of spills can damage the finish and of course it's
vital to put pads on the bottom of the furniture so it doesn't scratch (we
used felt ones, but rubber would probably be better).

You have to be careful about the type of rubber. I used
some black rubber under furniture on a maple floor and was
dismayed to find that after five years or so some of the
black had migrated into the floor (very hard to get out). I
was planning on using felt next time!

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2008-04-26)

[The Natural Philosopher]

DIY wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote:
yes.

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions that a large vets bill could result from
a dislocation/fracture.


not really. sling some rugs around.

solves all the problems. Our dogs do ruckle them up a lot tho.

you can get a sort of sticky sheet that stops it.

[slider]

"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
DIY wrote:
Have considered laminate flooring but ruled it out because it is too
slippy for dogs and noisy when their claws tread on it. Does anyone
have experience of engineered wood flooring? Is it just as slippy and
noisy as laminate?

yes.

Indeed it is, and dogs claws (if they're big dogs) "distress" an
engineered wood floor very quickly however dogs themselves don't have
problems with either surface.
They have completely independent 4x4 drive system all intelligently
linked.

We have a Greatdane x greyhound now 14 yrs old whos hips are weakening
and he's been fine on the floor for the last 4 years.

The smaller chiohouha x thing also has no problems, so slippery isn't an
issue for dogs as long as the dog has 4 legs.
:¬)

get shut of the dogs!

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk[_2_]]

Slider wrote:

get shut of the dogs!

I've been telling everyone the big one won't be around much longer....
started saying that about 5 years ago. Old boy just keeps going on and
on and loving life.... when he's awake.
:¬)

--
http://www.GymRatZ.co.uk - Fitness+Gym Equipment.
http://www.bodysolid-gym-equipment.co.uk
http://www.trade-price-supplements.co.uk
http://www.water-rower.co.uk

[Jules[_2_]]

On Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:02:32 +0000, Jon Fairbairn wrote:

Jules writes:
Yep, that's what we have here - 1-1/2" wide strips of about 3/4" deep (I
think the modern stuff's a bit wider, typically). Very hard-wearing,
although some types of spills can damage the finish and of course it's
vital to put pads on the bottom of the furniture so it doesn't scratch (we
used felt ones, but rubber would probably be better).

You have to be careful about the type of rubber. I used
some black rubber under furniture on a maple floor and was
dismayed to find that after five years or so some of the
black had migrated into the floor (very hard to get out). I
was planning on using felt next time!

Hmm, point taken. Felt does work well, but reduces friction a little too
much - I'm forever making little adjustments to the sofas, coffee table
etc. because they've been bumped out of line :-) OTOH it's handy being
able to just drag stuff around sometimes (e.g. completely moving a sofa to
sweep under it)

Actually the other plus with felt is that it's porous (IYSWIM) - so can
absorb little bits of dirt. When we first moved in we thought that the
underside of the sofa legs were so smooth that they wouldn't cause a
problem - but of course little bits of grit seem to work their way under
there somehow, and it's *those* which can then scratch the floor. The felt
does a nice job of preventing this (whilst attracting insane amounts of
pet hair :-)

cheers

Jules