U for All the Respon

I absolutely love hardwood (except in the bathroom and kitchen). Yes, you will need to worry about the scratching. It's very easy to keep clean. I use a steam mop.

You will find that the noice level will increase, as carpeting does help to absorb sound. You can always put down a small area rug.

Hardwood WILL scratch with a dog....
Carpet would probably be the most economical way to go...but there's the dust factor to consider...
Bamboo? Cork maybe?

We have hardwood in a couple of areas of our house including the kitchen which is very large. I LOVE hardwood! It isn't noisy at all, and we have a large german shepherd (and used to have 2 other dogs, too). The floors aren't scratched at all, so maybe it depends on what kind of wood the floors are. We also have wood laminate in our boys' bedrooms, and I hate it. In the next year or so we're going to put wood throughout the house.

Good luck with your decision, and I'm sorry about the loss of your dog.

Most of our house has acid stained concrete. It's practically indestructible and looks great. It was a little nerve wracking when kids were going through their climbing phase and it does get slippery (VERY) when wet. But accidents, spills, dropped things don't bother us in the least. We have a large area rug for lounging on. We love it!

I have several friends with hard wood and the laminate wood flooring. I get the impression that if you spend the money on a good pad underneath, it helps make them a bit quieter. Some of my friends with darker hard wood floors complain that every spot, spec of dust and drop of water show up.

I have brazilian cherry hardwood. Don't get it . It is beautiful but shows everything even water spots. It's a pain. My daughter has has hardwood and is distressed so animal scratches are not noticiable. I don't think noise is an issue.

If I could redo all floors, and money was not an object, I would put hardwood in every room except for ceramic tile in the bathroom. Then, I would buy nice soft (washable or cleanable) rugs to put down everywhere that needed softness and warmth. I have come to hate carpeting, with dogs and cats. It collects fur and can never be completely cleaned. If you have a new pet that pees, that stays in the carpet no matter how hard you try to clean it.

I live in an apartment that was built in the 1920s with original hardwood floors. Sure, there are a few scratches and knicks, but it still looks great. I have a warm rug in the bedroom, livingroom, and dining area. I bought 8'x10' rugs at IKEA for less than $200 each and they have lasted for five years so far.

Hardwood or Pergo-type flooring cleans so easily and completely - just use a broom or vacuum and a damp mop. The house I moved out of has Pergo flooring that has been there for 15 years with cats, dog, and kids. It still looks good. The only worry with that flooring is wetness - if it stays wet too long it will swell and buckle, but will usually go back to normal when it dries completely. Any area that will be wet, I would use tile.

I like the idea of carpet in the bedrooms because it helps them to stay warmer. Nothing worse than getting out of bed on a cold winter morning and having to step onto a cold floor.

If you have kids and are going to get a dog, you definitely don't want to go with bamboo which is really popular, green, etc. It's very soft and it will scratch and dent very easily.

Hardwood would be great for the living and dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I would go tile for the bathroom(s).

Have fun deciding and picking!

I just read an advertisement in Better Homes & Gardens May issue that advertised a carpet with the name "friese" in the name as having a LIFE TIME warranty against pet urine stains. I believe it said it averaged $25-$30 per sq yd. I just read it yesterday and haven't had time to research it but I plan to check into it myself as I have an elderly dog with kidney disease.
Good Luck and let us know what you decide!

Options:
Hardwood
Synthetic wood ie: Pergo like products
Bamboo
Cork
Carpet
Linoleum
Tile (stone or ceramic)
Concrete (which is finished or stained. It can be very nice. Even patterns can be done on it. Very low upkeep and nice). It can be made to look industrial/urban or be made to look very "cottage" looking or even made to look like a European cobblestone appearance.

Our hardwood is distressed and knotty so the dirt and dings don't show. But friends tell me that a dog will still tear it up. We have a cat and have no problems. I love it, it's easy to clean, just vaccuum, I don't bother wiping it down often.

Other good options are: tile. Since you live in Texas and it gets hot, tile may make your house feel cooler and it is available at many price points. Test the tile out before installing by wetting it to make sure it will not become dangerously slippery in the kitchen or bathroom or ....

Linoleum is about as $$ as hardwood, lasts long, is easy to repair, non toxic, and somewhat softer and less noisy than tile. Great colors and patterns.

If you install any hard flooring, it is easy to add an area rug to reduce sound problems, add color and softness. The great thing about an area rug is that it can be replaced easily when worn and it lifts up so it doesn't trap dirt and mold like wall to wall carpet.

My husband and I remodel homes to rent in east Dallas. The flooring almost always needs replaced. I rely on my floor guy to recommend type. He has tile, wood, engineered wood and all kinds of carpet.
Brian comes to look at the house, the flow from doors, garage. He always ask if I am allowing pets of size and type. His price always beats the big box store, plus looks great, wears well and cleans up. He coordinates the installation and stops by to make certain all is done right. I rely on my expert - Brian Mulvehill ###-###-#### The Boston Carpet Guy
____@____.com
Yes - he is from Boston but he got to Texas as soon as he could!

I have hardwood in the kitchen, dining room, entry way, and hall. It is distressed hickory. It is very hard and can stand up to kids and a large dog. It has a few scratches but they are not really noticeable. I put carpet in the bedrooms and great room because I wanted to sit on the floor and play with my small children. If didn't have small kids I would have probably done all hardwood if I could afford it.

I love the look of hardwood floors. We have them in the living and dining rooms.
But recently, I redid the master bath floor. I took pieces of contractors paper (you can use grocery sacks) and glued them to the concrete. I roughed it up with sandpaper and went over it with some stain. Then I put two coats of ultra fast drying polyurethane on top. It looks awesome--like stone.
I would like to have all the floors like it. Definitely the easiest to clean and maintain. And if it ever gets messed up, just glue another piece of paper down.

You may have already made up your mind...
But I respond EVERY time someone asks about flooring.
We had a whole-house flood destroy the laminate AND the tile in our house. And I stood there with our contractor, absolutely dizzy with flooring choices, but determined not to have to replace it all, should that happen again. We have 3 dogs, 5 cats, and a four-year-old. So we picked the most beautiful floor you have even seen, that can literally withstand everything, and it has! Three years ago, we had a 3-room fire, and here it still sits, just as beautiful as the day it was laid down.
Pros: WATER-PROOF (not resistant, Proof! We even have had water stain it, in the case of water underneath something plastic, and the stain was gone in less than a week all on it's own! It is in our bathrooms and the kitchen, so the whole house matches which makes it look bigger and very stylish), soft to touch (sometimes, glasses don't break when they drop! And soft when the kiddo falls), temperature neutral (never hot, or cold, but nice and cool), flexible (our foundation moves and sometimes broke our previous tiled floor), not tongue-and-groove (so any piece can be replaced easily, though we've never needed it), looks EXACTLY like wood (every single person, from other contractors to the Fire Chief has been fooled and thought it was hardwood. It's actually vinyl, so it can be fancifully designed, like some rooms have borders and a horizontal laying of the planks).
Cons: It costs just as much as wood. This isn't really a con for me, but some folks couldn't afford hardwood to begin with. This stuff is, of course, more durable that real wood, so it's actually more valuable and you are getting a bargain.
The brand name is Karndean, the product is their Da Vinci line of vinyl planking and we choose "Spanish Cedar". And I could not be happier, I will never have to buy another floor again!! :-)

I have wood in my formal area. It has a distressed look as well but I do not allow my dogs on it at all. That area of the house if off limits to the dogs.

We have travertine tile in the entry and hallways which is a large area. I like it... it stays clean.

I have a ceramic tile in the large kitchen and pantry.

We have carpet in the bedrooms and tile in the bathrooms.

We like the travertine a lot and are planning on replacing some carpet with travertine.

Good luck.

I have carpets throughout (except for kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room and entryway, which are all tile) and a dog, and I HATE having carpets with a dog. I would like nothing better than to put in hardwood floors and I would go with the distressed/hand-scraped finish so that if the dog (or kids, for that matter!) did scratch it up a little it wouldn't be noticeable. I would probably keep carpets in the bedrooms.

Every time it rains or we put the sprinklers on, then I have to worry about the dog tracking in dirt/mud onto the carpets. We're constantly having to clean her paws on those days and for days after. And still there are times she manages to track mud in. If the floors were hardwood then it would be so easy to clean, but with carpets it is such a pain -- after a while, they just never seem clean no matter what.

I had considered doing the stained concrete but someone told me that if your dog piddles on it, it will bleach out the stain! So, that's not a good thing if you're going through housebreaking.

I'm not really a big fan of tile throughout (even travertine), but it certainly would hold up well to a dog, and probably keeps the house cooler in the summer.