On 2006-11-10 18:18:55 +0000, "peter" said:

Following the upgrading of our kitchen and bathroom and blockweaving of
the front garden of our chalet bungalow we are now at the point where
it is now sensible to replace our hall flooring. The shape is
irregular, approximates to 14 square metres and is presently carpetted
with a carpet that reflects fully the ravages of the previous building
works! My question is which is most likely to give us good service - a
top end laminate or real wood given that:-

1. We have two west highland terriers - an easy wipe surface has strong
attraction although of course we will have a suitable mat at the front
door to trap mud/grit.!
2. As a hallway leading to all other rooms / upstairs the location is
obviously high wear although possibly less so than in the past because
our sons have grown up

Comments / advice please.

Thanks

Peter

I have hard floors throughout the ground floor with the occasional rug
in specific places. The main thoroughfares such as entry ways and
through ways are large slate tiles, while rooms where people sit are
oiled and waxed solid oak floors. The stairs are oak as well with
treads oiled but not waxed.

This was all done with animals in mind - principally cats but it is
Sloberador resistant as well.

I wouldn't entertain the idea of laminate floors anywhere in the house
because regardless of price because they all seem to have an unnatural
plasticy appearance and clacky sound underfoot.
To me, the difference between this and a proper wood floor is like the
difference between closing the door of a Skoda vs. a BMW - clang vs.
thud.

I think you could use real wood as a floor for the high traffic areas,
although to keep maintenance sensible, this would probably need to be
finished in a pretty serious varnish. Unfortunately this usually has
the effect of making the surface shiny or very shiny, which personally
I think is a shame to do with wood because it again veers to the
plasticy appearance. Moreover, when it needs to be attended to, the
whole lot has to be sanded off, usually and started again.

It was these factors that led to our mixed choice of stone for higher
traffic areas and oiled and waxed wood for the lower ones.

The slate areas can be wiped or completely washed quickly and easily,
or for more typical dry dust and grit, vacuumed up very rapidly indeed
- very animal practical. The finish is important. In order to
achieve a good colour rendition but without gloss, there are a good
range of products from Lithofin which work very well and take a lot of
punishment.

The layout of the house is such that animals with wet paws have dry
paws before they reach any rooms with wooden floors, but are not
explicitly barred. These floors are maintained by quick vacuuming
and then periodically with beeswax using a good floor polisher. Over
time this richens to a superb appearance. If anything is accidentally
spilled, it can be wiped up easily and small areas can be rubbed with
more oil and wax so there is not the issue that the whole floor would
need to be redone for a small problem area.

With cats only and no small kids, I might consider using an oiled and
waxed floor in the hallway, but probably not with dogs. I wouldn't
personally go for a varnished solid wood floor either but that would be
infinitely preferable to laminate.