Wood floor damage assessment

[Carl Teravainen]

Trying to determine deposit withholding for wood floor damage, primarily from dog nails that, I believe, were not maintained, in addition to general lack of cleaning and carelessness.  These types of scratches are over at least 50% of first floor and less of the second.  Also some larger gouges.  Floors were installed and professionally finished (Bona traffic) prior to this tenant.

[Joshua Black]

I recently came from the flooring industry, so this is my opinion on the matter, based on what options are available today.

First, I would absolutely NEVER have real hardwood floors exposed in a rental where dogs are allowed, regardless of whether they're pine or Brazilian Teak.  The hardness (JANKA) of the wood is not the issue.  JANKA is impact resistance (density of the wood itself).  This doesn't mean it won't scratch.  Typically you have a stain, and a few layers of some type of polyurethane.  In all my years of flooring, I have yet to see any poly withstand large dogs running around and sliding on hardwood.  Not to mention that most pet stains will absorb right through the poly if not cleaned up right away.  In this instance, the hardwood will be permanently stained, and not even sanding will remove it.  Then the plank will need to be replaced, which adds material and labor expense.  Currently, I see ranges of $4-$8 per square foot for refinishing hardwood floors.  It is not recommended to try to refinish only damaged areas of the floor, as it is nearly impossible to unnoticeably blend those areas with the rest of the floor.  That said, here is my recommendation for flooring:

I would avoid laminate.  Although laminate is often very durable (AC rating of 4-5 is preferable) and many manufacturers have waterproof ratings, no laminate is truly waterproof.  If liquid gets down in to the fiberboard core of the laminate, that core will absorb the water and swell, causing pillowing/cupping of the visual layer, and possibly damage to the locking mechanism.

LVP (luxury vinyl plank) or LVT (luxury vinyl tile) is ideal in this case.  You want something with a 12-20mil wear layer, absolutely no less than 12mil.  Thickness of material should be no less than 4.5mm, and NO droplock (often labeled I4F or fold and tap) locking mechanisms.  Droplock locking mechanisms will walk apart at the ends, causing the planks to separate.  You do not want to have to keep going back to the house to put them back together every 6 months.  Angle/Angle (often labeled unilin, 2G, or Uniclic) is what you want.  Some good manufacturers are Shaw, Mannington, and Happy Feet.  All three companies use Angle/Angle locking mechanisms and have everything from 4.5mm 12mil budget products to 8mm 22mil high-end products.

Carpet:  Most decent carpet these days has pet stain and soiling warranties of at least 20 years.  Your best bets are Shaw for Nylon (typically more durable than polyester for super high traffic), and Dreamweaver for polyester (by far the best polyester carpet in terms of bang for your buck and stain resistance, but not quite as durable as Nylon.  Also less expensive than Nylon).  So I wouldn't be afraid of carpet the way I would've been 15 years ago.  Carpet is also less expensive than LVP/LVT in terms of installation and material cost.

How to have that conversation with your tenant?  Hard for me to say.  But hopefully this information on flooring helps.  If you have any flooring questions, feel free to message me!  Good luck, my friend!