Q: I was wondering what you think of Brazilian Teak as a choice for wood floor for someone with dogs. I have an American cherry floor all through my house that has been destroyed by the dog’s nails (I have two dogs).
I want to replace the floor and really like the look of the teak, but I don’t want to invest all this money if the floor is going to end up like the cherry. We had a refinisher look at our cherry floor and he told us the wood is so soft that in three months after he refinished it, it would look the same, so we didn’t want to invest in refinishing it.
A: Well, the cherry is quite soft. Brazilian teak is harder, but it isn’t as hard as Hickory which is the hardest native species. A large enough dog applying his weight to the tips of his claws would probably be able to mark any wood, regardless of hardness.
Aside from needing to keep the dogs nails well trimmed and filed, have you ever considered having them wear dog boots in the house? It may sound silly, but it’s worth taking a look at.