I need some help finding the pros and cons for each option. Since this is a gun board and all, I decided to ask y'all for the information![:D]

We have 5 dogs, a ferret and a cat. The flooring will be in our kitchen, den, entry, and master bathroom with an eye towards putting this type of floor in the rest of the house.

I want something that will last well and will hold up to animal traffic, water, spills, and etc.

So, should I go laminate or real hardwood?

In NM I'd say you could, and should go for the genuine article.  The laminates look just like what they are, and will feel funny if not installed with just the right tricks (don't know what they are, but if seen it both ways).  In a place like FL, the laminate is technically superior (tolerance of humidity), but in a low humidity area like NM, it's not an issue.  One sees real hardwood here, but it warps fast.

Good luck with whatever you do.  There's nothing like the look of the real wood (say, a natural finish oak) floor.  If you have the Spanish/hacienda style house  (I love that style)  be sure to use the broader boards as they go well with it.

I think that hardwood is the best floor to have. I love a house with old hardwood floors. I cant help but imagine what caused a particular gouge in it, or the crazy things is has seen in the last 120yrs. That could be just me though.

I personally like the looks of the real thing.

I had 3 cats on a laminate floor for about 4 years and it NEVER showed any sign of wear.  When they ran across the floor and lost traction, you could hear their claws scraping - but not a scratch!  Plus, I had the kind that you glue together (not the snap together stuff) and water wouldn't seep through.

My inlaws put down hardwood and just had (at the time) 1 small dog.  Within a year, you could see the wear - mostly the shine was gone where the dog ran.  Maybe theirs was cheap?

I don't know, but I've been considering putting hardwood in my new house anyway.
CR

I chose real wood 3/4" x 3 1/4", mostly cherry with a few rooms in maple. Real lumber (flooring) will last far longer than a laminate. It can be refinished, where as a laminate hasn't got much meat to it.
I suppose it all depends upon what one wishes to spend.

Good laminates look and feel the same as real wood, cost less, and are much easier to maintain.

I have Pergo in all living areas.

Along the same lines, is it very easy for a dog to scratch a floor? Im moving into a house in a few weeks that has either a laminate, or a wood floor (not sure which), and I'm concerned that his claws might gouge it up. Anyone with experience with this?  Thanks.

Jake

The best I can tell is with a quality laminate, probably not a problem.

Hardwood - if the dog doesn't gouge it, his claws can wear off the shine.  But it can be refinished (as mentioned above).

I don't know how big your dog is, but my cats weigh about 12 lbs and sounded like they were tearing the laminate to shreds, but they didn't leave a mark.
CR

I'm a General Contractor working out of CA.
We don't have humidity so I'm not sure of the effect of it.
This last few years I've specialized in very high end kitchens and bathrooms.
Laminates in my oppinion are inferior to hardwood and/or tile.
They are a cost saving substitute that can dent with amazingly small but direct pressure (I've seen dolly wheel marks and table leg marks that will never go away).
Laminates can also recieve rolled edges over minimal water exposure.
It's not all that great in my book.
It doesn't look the same,but it sure is less expensive.

There are two types of laminates; the first type uses a photo etched [u]paper[/u] on particle board substrate, the second type uses a hardwood veneer on a plywood substrate.

The first type sucks, although it looks good when first installed, and is cheap, but it will not stand up to wear and tear such as scooting a chair across it.  Once the surface is damaged, the only fix is to change out the entire panel.

The second type comes in at least a couple of variations.  The lowest cost version has a very thin surface veneer that can be refinished once (or even nonce), and the better variety has a thick veneer that can be refinished three times.

In some respects, the plywood laminate is superior to solid hardwood because, if it is manufactured correctly with a balanced laminate, it will be very resistant to warpage due to temperature or humidity change.   Solid hardwood is at the mercy of the millwright that cut the strips, and you can bet they ain't quarter sawn.

I just installed pergo in one room in my house. a fun do-it-yourself project. If I had to do the whole house, I would've used real wood; but in one room (low traffic), you cant really see the fakeness.

Both the laminate and hardwood will scratch and gouge. With so many animals, I'm wondering why you are not considering tile. It is far more durable and is similarly priced to hardwood. If you have large dogs, I would definately steer clear of laminate for durability issues. I used to sell kitchens and have seen in upwards of 1,000 different kitchens. Laminate floors with pets is a bad combination. I've seen several kitchens where they had large dogs and the laminate floors were torn up beyond recognition. The wood grain in entry ways was no longer visible because the dogs tore it up so bad in one kitchen.

The people who mentioned above the price difference are right though. If I remember correctly, Pergo goes for around $8 a square foot installed and hardwood is around 30%+- more depending on the type of wood.

One more vote for hardwood over pergo. But if it were my house and I had five indoor dogs, cats, ferets, lions, tigers, elephants or whatever you had, I would certainly put tile into consideration.

Another thing, remember that hardwood will be more resiliant than pergo or tile. So if you have back problems and spent a lot of time standing in the kitchen the hardwood will be the best for you back. Oh yea, tile grout is a bitch to clean, but it beats having permanent scratches and gouges in either pergo or hardwood.

my .02 cents.

if you're considering site-finished hardwood, i would steer clear of it because of the dogs and ferrets.More than likely it'll get pretty scratched up.  Most prefinished hardwoods,however,  are pretty durable, due to the factory finish. I think you should put down a "cat-skin carpet". Cats are in good supply.

We chose laminate INSTALL BY MY WIFE for the kids rooms Perfecto for its use.

Wood where the adults are...LR DR Den.

If you are considering tile, put it in the low-traffic areas. This is not because of durability, but because of foot strain. Tile is hard on the feet in areas where you will do much standing.

I have 9 ferrets.  When I had the house built I went with hardwoods throughout MINUS the kitchen and bathrooms.  It's worked out wonderfully.  A little Murphy's Soap from time to time and they look wonderful.

The floors have resisted the normal animal use plus the usual spill of Hawaiian Punch and grilled foods.  

Had hardwood in old house. PITA. Have Pergo in new house and I like it. Looking at a new house and it has hardwood, like it.


Toss a coin.

We have two hundred pound dogs and laminate flooring.  After almost two years there is not a scratch.  That said, though it looks pretty good, it can't match the look of real wood.  You just have to decide which is more important to you.

Tile.

I like hardwood over the laminates. But you have five dogs, a cat and ferret, definetly go for laminate!

Your dogs nails with scratch up hardwood floors real good and real fast, the laminates are alot harder to scratch.

Hey ratters, what brand of floor did you use? I've seen good laminate and not so good laminate, but I've never seen a two hundred pound dog before. What breed is he? What have you been feeding him? [;D]

OK, 2 one hundred pound dogs, better? [;)]  Actually my friend has and English Mastiff male that is 220 lbs.  A true gentle giant.

We used Alloc laminate flooring.  It had a bit of texture to it so it didn't look quite so fake when the sun was shining on it.  We also used their laminate tile for the kitchen and bathrooms.  There I wish we would have gone for real tile though.  But as we were having the entire house refloored/carpeted we were kinda running out of money.  Ah, the joys of home ownership.

I have both. AND I have a dog and cat.

Hardwood floor is heartbreaking to look at. Scratched to all shit.

Laminate (Pergo) looks EXACTLY the same as when I put it in ... 4 YEARS AGO! and YES I put it in myself.

I Have Laminate flooring. It still shines with no scratches. The good thing is I keep an extra box of the Laminate. If I ever get a deep gouge or scratch(which I never have yet) I can just easily replace that one section, Its so easy to install its no problem(No nails).

I say go Laminate all the way


223devil

You're not going to scratch or dent quality laminate. I took I full practice swing with a 4 iron and smacked the floor by accident. No scratch, no dent. My swing clocks at 112 mph.

We have Pergo laminate; moved in five years ago and it still is in great shape.  We also have six large dogs (Labs, Goldens, etc) and the Pergo has held up very well under them.  The only problem is that the dogs don't like the flooring very well and we have had to add a few rugs so they have a surface that they will walk on.  One of the dogs will actually not walk on the Pergo at all.