What is your experience with bamboo flooring and dogs?

Julie B
by Julie B
We are interested in putting down bamboo flooring. We have 3 German Shepherds who live in the house with us. I read that it is a strong as steel for their nails. We live in central Oklahoma. Can anyone share their experience with bamboo flooring?
  12 answers
  • Hillela G. Hillela G. on Dec 31, 2016

    Hi Julie,

    From what I've heard bamboo flooring scratches really easily, even without pets, might not be the best option- here's a helpful article that I found https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/Pet-Friendly-Flooring-Options

  • Hi Julie,


    At acufloorz.com we distribute wood flooring. One of the manufactures websites is...


    http://www.wflooring.com/BamtexCollection/Products/default.aspx


    In one of there Q&A pages you can find the following Q&A


    I have pets. Are hardwood floors a good idea for me?


    Pets present a challengeā€¦but not a huge one. If you keep your petā€™s nails trimmed, floor scratching shouldnā€™t be a problem. Plus, our UV-cured Acrylic Urethane finishes are pretty darn tough.


    Janka Hardness is a test which measures the pounds of force it takes to drive a .44" diameter steel ball 1/2 its depth into wood. These numbers are taken from various publications but principally are from the U.S. Forest Products lab. The higher the number the harder the species.


    Bamboo, Natural 1400

    Oak, Red 1260

    Bamboo, Carbonized 1120


    Red Oak positions itself in the middle as far as hardness.

    If you need help with Bamboo flooring or installation, we have a form on the contact page on our website.


    Paul Spurlock

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Dec 31, 2016

    I have laminate not bamboo with three dogs and do not having an issue with them scratching the floors.

  • Carole Crawford-Evon Carole Crawford-Evon on Jan 01, 2017

    Have bamboo in Florida that my husband installed. We have a German Shorthair Pointer. No issue with scratches, but we have real oak hardwood in Michigan and we have lots of scratches.

  • Julie B Julie B on Jan 01, 2017

    Thank you all for the information. I can't remember where I read that bamboo flooring was as strong as steel. I will get on the above-mentioned website. I continue my research. This will not be installed until the spring.

  • Karen Ruff Karen Ruff on Jan 14, 2017

    I had bamboo floors installed throughout my home a few years ago. I do not recommend this floor for family and pets. My floors are easily dented, scratched and marred. You wouldn't know these floors are only a few years old, they look terrible. Bamboo IS NOT a hard wood. I had engineered hardwood installed.


    • Karen Ruff Karen Ruff on Jan 14, 2017

      Also, if your pets have an accident (like going in the house) the wood floor stains and it is difficult to get the odor out of a wood floor.

  • Kathy Guy Kathy Guy on Jan 22, 2017

    I have 4 dogs and the only scratches in my floor are from furniture being moved. I do not have any scratches or marks from the dogs. My floors are dark so scratches show very easily. I have very few. Dog hair on dark floors however is a real pain. I would use this product again only in a lighter color! I have a very large house and bamboo through out.

  • Linda Swanson Linda Swanson on Jan 30, 2017

    We laid bamboo in a who house renovation and found after we did so the bamboo did scratch very easily! Wouldn't do it again..but our house that has hardwoods with pets no problem.

  • Go to your nearest floor store find the bamboo choice and scratch it that's what we did and we opted not to use it..because it scratched way too easy they say it's the hardest but for some reason unless you pick one that has the color all the way through it which is extremely expensive,it will surface scratch because they do like a coating of color over the top.

  • Gabi Serbu Gabi Serbu on Feb 28, 2017

    I had bamboo flooring in my home and it's actually a very soft wood. You could see the indentations from the furniture on it. I would recommend some tile that has the natural look of bamboo. Can't go wrong with that.

  • Rc Shoe Rc Shoe on Mar 02, 2017

    I wanted bamboo flooring for years and finally convinced my husband that was all I wanted for Christmas about 7 years ago. (I am impossible to buy for. ) Our beloved yellow lab, Abigail was about 8 years old then. She never did adjust to slipping on the floors and later had some incontinence problems, not too bad, but enough to seep into seams and ruin the floor.

    Shepherds are so prone to hip dysplasia as it is, I would use wood-look textured vinyl that is not as slippery as wood flooring.

    We lost our Gailie at 14 and I always regretted making her last years so tough.


  • Paula Taft Paula Taft on Feb 17, 2020

    I have the tiger bamboo. With our small dog keeping it clean has been effortless. Our son has a larger dog that we have to occasionally dog sit for. It's harder to maintain with him. But the valspar hard wood floor cleaner has been amazing.