Hardwood floor protective coating?

June 15, 2009 7:44 PM

How to protect hardwood floors from my dog and child?

We are moving into a new house that has very nice new-ish floors. The floors were either refinished or perhaps replaced about 1-2 years ago. They look great. I'm told they are "cherry," if that matters.

In the house we are leaving, the floors are destroyed. Our dog and our kid have just beaten the heck out of them over the years.

So, here's the question: is there anything we can do for the new floors before we move in to protect them? We have talked with a couple of floor guys, who both say that they would put "a couple of coats" on the floors before we move in. But, other people have told me that putting coatings on the floors will just make the eventual scuffs and scratches look worse. I have no idea what kind of coats we are talking about.

Obviously, we will put rugs and runners where we can.

Any clues here? Thanks

posted by Mid to home & garden (9 answers total)

Rugs, runners, and more rugs. I've learned this one the hard way.

Also, our kids have (1/8 inch plywood) drawing boards for when they draw/glue/cut/paste...
posted by R. Mutt at 7:48 PM on June 15, 2009

Dogs: Trim nails regularly and/or nail caps? Soft dog toys only for indoors (keep bones and the like outside).
Kids: Sequestering them to a specific room for messy activities, with some kind of crappy rug as a base. Also, putting waterproof anti-slippage mats under the rugs to protect from spills seeping through. Having a strict no-shoes-indoor policy.
posted by greta simone at 7:59 PM on June 15, 2009

Get carpet?



Just remember to polish and buff the floors every year or two and you should fend off most of the damage.

To really stop the damage, leave the dog in other areas where he/she won't mar the flooring. Those dogs nails, compress the wood fibers, which a coat of anything won't really stop nor hide.

I think that with the use of rugs and carpet runners in addition to some other measures, you should be okay mostly.
posted by Gravitus at 8:03 PM on June 15, 2009

Sad to say there is not a lot you can do. I have three dogs, three cats and a baby boy on the way. The dogs' nails leave indentations that you can see when there is a glare. But despite the dogs' relatively large size, they do not scratch off the surface color.

I have learned just to appreciate the imperfections on the floor...but I think of my house as a home to be lived in, not a museum. Or maybe I just tell myself this so I can live with the the floors' imperfections :)
posted by murrey at 8:39 PM on June 15, 2009

um, i'm pretty much resigned to the fact that i will not have the most beautiful hardwoods. they're not horrible, but they're not as gorgeous as they can be. but then again, what i get out of my 75lb goof of a dog more than makes up for it.
posted by violetk at 11:17 PM on June 15, 2009

I was told that if a wooden floor is made from decent wood then you won't have any problems.
posted by devnull at 1:34 AM on June 16, 2009

Cherry floors, if they're real cherry, are going to be fairly soft and will damage more easily than other hardwoods typically used for flooring. As noted above, a 'couple of coats' of floor finish won't do much to protect them. Use runners and area rugs in high-traffic areas, and resign yourself to some imperfections.
posted by jon1270 at 3:27 AM on June 16, 2009

The "couple coats" the floor guys are talking about is probably coats of polyurethane. It's a clear coating that is applied to hardwood floors to protect the actual wood. The coating itself will get scuffed and scratched but, unless you've got some AMAZINGLY destructive dogs and children, the actual wood should stay in pretty good shape. Every few years, you can have the floor guys back in to lightly sand the floors and apply a new coat of polyurethane. Alternatively, the Bona company has a couple products you can use to touch up the finish on your floors when they've become dull or scratched. I put a couple coats of their "Refresher" on my kitchen floors and it really improved their appearance. (I don't work for them, in case you wondered.)
posted by rhartong at 4:44 AM on June 16, 2009 [2 favorites]

Keep the dog's nails clipped short. Use rugs. Use floorwax; it helps avoid scratches.
posted by theora55 at 10:23 AM on June 16, 2009