I, often hear my Mum Sarah ponder “Why is there this myth that you can’t have an oak floor if you have a dog?” She says that a lot of customers ask her if an oak floor is a good idea with an ‘energetic’ dog and her answer is always the same, “Yes, an oak floor is perfectly suitable for an ‘energetic’ dog, or any pet really. You need not choose between one or the other, you just need to make yourself aware of how to correctly maintain your oak floor”.

In this blog, I am going to share a few successful and efficient ways to maintain your oak floor to keep it in perfect condition, even if your four-legged friend enthusiastically runs around the house every time the doorbell rings or has an unfortunate toilet-related accident. After all, I love our oak floors at home, and I want to share Strathearn’s advice so many more of my doggy friends can experience living with oak floors too.

Here, I have listed the most common issues related to oak floors and pets, and how to manage them.

  1. Scratches – Scratching is often the first thing that pops into your head, when thinking of the combination of a wooden surface and dog or cat nails. Oak is one of the most dense and durable timbers and so is harder to scratch, but it is worth keeping your pets’ nails trimmed on a regular basis as this will help avoid fine scratching.
  2. Spills, urine and vomit – if you have a spill or I have an accident (oops!) on an oak floor don’t panic, just make sure the spill or accident is wiped and cleaned up quickly. Your floor has good protection on the surface but engrained or permanent stains can happen as a result of neglecting and procrastinating over wiping up, not necessarily as a result of the spill or accident itself.
  3. Eating area – I do my best not to make a mess at tea time but I love my food so much that I just can’t help making a bit of mess! Try relocating the feeding spot to a room with tiles or vinyl flooring. If this is not possible, or your entire house is covered with oak flooring, then be sure to always place a waterproof and wipeable mat under food and water dishes -the bigger the better. Replace the mat regularly because it can hold moisture and dirt, and so could damage the floor underneath.
  4. Shedding – Mum loves brushing my golden coat but not the tumble weed balls of hair that blow over her lovely oak floor! These are easier to spot on a timber floor than on carpet and quick and regular brushing over with a microfibre mop lifts the fluff easily away (Osmo Dust Mops are brilliant!).

Final word from Mum…

In general, as much as I dearly love having Summer in my life, she does tend to make my home messy and more dirty, and as a result my cleaning routine needed to change to reflect this. I now vacuum most days and clean my oak floors more regularly, usually twice a week with a slightly damp Osmo micro fibre mop and then once every couple of weeks or so with Osmo Wash & Care. If my oak floor gets really dirty and engrained with dirt and starts to look a little tired, then for a deeper clean and refresh I use Osmo Wax Cleaner. At Strathearn, we always recommend Osmo care and maintenance products, as all Strathearn oak floors have an Osmo oil finish.

So, with this advice, I hope you no longer shy away from having the beautiful oak floors you have always dreamt of, just because you have a dog or two. And if you are still in doubt, ask a flooring expert… Strathearn’s team are always happy to answer your flooring-related questions (after all they all have pets as well, so they come with first-hand experience!).

Lots of Love

Summer and Sarah x