Big Dogs versus Hardwood Floors

We met a client the other day who had a problem that we’ve heard many times: The couple wanted a really hard, scratch-proof floor because they have Bernese Mountain Dogs. These are big dogs, weighing around 170 lbs. The couple also really wanted a hardwood look because they love the beauty of hardwood.

Because big dogs usually scratch the daylights out of most hardwood floors, the couple thought the only possibility was a wood-look porcelain floor. It’s a good choice; porcelain is ceramic tile that has been fired longer and at higher temperatures than ceramic flooring, so it’s very durable. And porcelain comes in some gorgeous wood-look planks these days. So, it’s a great flooring choice for someone who has big dogs but who also wants a hardwood look.

Here is an example from Houzz.com of a beautiful porcelain, wood-look plank floor:

However, there are some drawbacks to porcelain. Porcelain is cold and hard underfoot. In our client’s case, the floor area included the kitchen, and if you work in the kitchen all day standing on a porcelain floor, your feet often get sore. And of course porcelain, like ceramic tile, doesn’t hold heat, so it’s cold. Installation is another problem. While porcelain tile itself is not expensive, installation can be. Porcelain, because it is so rigid, must be installed on a very level surface. If not, the tiles crack over time. It almost always requires a cement board subfloor, and that makes installation expensive.

So, what to do? We suggested an alternative: bamboo. Bamboo has gotten a lot of publicity these days because it is beautiful and it is, environmentally, a “green” option. However, many people still aren’t aware of how incredibly hard it can be. The line of bamboo flooring we carry, Cali Bamboo, is as hard as the hardest wood in the world. According to Wikipedia, the hardest wood is something called the Australian Buloke (i.e., “bull oak”). It ranks at 5060 on the Janka hardwood hardness scale.

Here is an example from Houzz.com of a wood-look bamboo floor:

Cali Bamboo rates a 5000+ on the Janka scale. To get an idea how hard this is, red oak is considered a hard wood. It ranks at 1290 on the Janka scale. In addition, Cali Bamboo is coated with 10 coats of finish, including eight layers of polyurethane and two more layers of extra-hard aluminum oxide. To compare, a finish on-site wood floor usually has only two coats of polyurethane. Aluminum oxide is not an option with finish on-site floors because it can only be applied as part of a manufacturing process. So, Cali Bamboo, in addition to being incredibly hard, is also very scratch resistant.

Perfect for big dogs.

Cali Bamboo is surprisingly affordable, both in its relatively low price and in its ease of installation – it requires no cement board. It is also warmer than porcelain and easier on the feet.

A word of caution: you have to be careful when buying bamboo. Bamboo is a manufactured product, with strands of bamboo glued together to form planks. So the manufacturing process must be reliable. In addition, unscrupulous manufacturers sometimes use formaldehyde as a cheap shortcut in the manufacturing process. Formaldehyde is a hazardous material.

There are only two places in the world that are reliable sources: Spain and Portugal. Why? Because those are the only two bamboo-exporting countries in the world that have a strong enough legal system to enforce laws regarding the harvesting and manufacture of bamboo. Cali Bamboo is from Portugal.

So for anyone out there who wants a wood-look floor that is affordable to buy and install and is warm and comfy on the feet, Cali Bamboo is a great choice.

Have any other questions? Please visit our Web site: Floor Coverings International, Cincinnati East. And feel free to contact us if you have any questions: 513-729-7499.