Before I had a dog, I always wondered how wood floors would fare. Would there be more scratches from four paws with large nails? Would there be a large scratch when the dog ran full tilt and came to a sudden stop? What about soggy paws, slobber or wet noses?
(You don't mind seeing a bunch of cute dog pictures do you? Kerri was so cute with a new hair cut!)
Well I am happy to report that both the wood floors in the previous house and the floor in this house are doing just fine! A dog is only a very small portion of daily abuse we dish out for the floors to handle. Grass from the freshly cut lawn is ground in, wet shoes tracked across it, dirt and grime from the latest project scattered about.
It has been about a year since a put a couple extra coats of shellac on the floors. They survived the winter much better this time.
My floors certainly aren't perfect, they weren't perfect to begin with! But they have held up rather well for being almost 100 years old and refinished by an inexperienced person who didn't quite know what they were doing.
Of course there is that little dent where the iron fell off the ironing board and under the table there is a patch of tiny scratches were Kerri likes to lay (I got a bit aggressive on the nail cutting, now I file her nails after trimming and the problem is solved.) and next to the rug in the front hall is a bit of a water spot from some winter boot.
So perfect floors? No. Perfect for dogs and life? Yes!