We have carpet & dogs. Cheapest & best flooring to replace carpet?

I think you’re best bet would be luxury vinyl planks.

Laminate flooring is more durable with the dogs, affordable & very inexpensive. There is a lot of laminate now that is beautiful & in many choices! Good Luck!

Hardwood would be my first choice, but it is expensive. I am not a fan of laminate, I just ripped a bunch of it our and am replacing with hardwood. For high traffic areas, I would go with vinyl, as it takes a beating, is easy to clean and budget friendly.

We have laminate flooring that looks like wood. Easy to clean. Great with our 2 dogs and 1 cat. Very affordable. Money saving tip: purchase the flooring yourself and hire a contractor to handle the installment. We did this with our back splash. Saved a lot. We purchased the tile from a local store and we found our contractor on HomeAdviser.com. They do background checks on all their contractors and provide customer reviews too. And, here's the best part, it's free. Good luck.

I have heard that the vinyl plank is more durable than the laminate, it doesn't have as much trouble with the pets nails and running around and is also more water resistant than laminate. The vinyl won't lift up and expand as the laminate does with moisture. With dogs going in and out, wet feet will always happen and not always get caught right away. We have four dogs and a hybrid cat (that is always chased by the puppy), and a doggy door, so we constantly have either wet and muddy or dusty feet coming in the house. When we were checking out what would be better, we were advised to go the laminate plank and that we would be able to easily install it ourselves on top of the hardwood flooring that the dogs were being very hard on. No real prep, no padding to install, just cut to fit and snap together and tap with a rubber mallet. The tools needed are a sharp blade, straight edge and mallet, all of which you can get where the flooring is and don't cost a fortune.

You may want to check out a product called coretek. It is an easy to install floating floor that clicks together, has a cork substrate and is waterproof. I put it in my foyer and kitchen. Easy to clean and sound absorbing.

I am a linoleum person and always will be, laminate can get wet between the seams when you have pets, if you go with lino, you can get lino that looks like laminate and is much easier to care for!

A tip from a multi dog owner... When shopping for new dog friendly flooring? I bring my car keys in the store . When the salesman raves about the durability of the floor...I take out my keys...and on the SAMPLE he is showing me...dig my keys in and scratch the sample..HARD ! Even THEY are shocked at how their best and most costly flooring rips like tissue paper. Now imagine your dogs running through your home? This made my flooring purchase for the right floor...easy. :)

Sheet Vinyl flooring that looks like hardwood floors. Then use bound area rugs or fake Orientals for warmth / accent in each area. When those rugs get dirty - throw them. I have Sheet Vinyl flooring which looks like hardwood floors in my kitchen. Many have thought it was real hardwood. Been down for years with dogs - looks great.

Thanks everyone for helps in trying to make a tough decision. Gonna speak with a contractor tomorrow