Protecting Hardwoods in a renter

[Steve B.]

I had a recent vacancy in one of my rental houses after six years. This house is a small 1940’s with original hardwood floor. The problem is the hardwoods look aesthetically bad, but the good news is the floors have never been refinished, and had been covered with carpet most of their lives so their potential for restoration down the road, for sale, is pretty good.

This will be a low end rental so I really don’t want to sand and refinish the floor for renters with pets then have the same issues when they move out.  Obviously I don’t want to remove the hardwood floors as I will refinish them when I sell the house down the road.

Other than carpet, which I hate, what would people suggest for protecting the hardwood floors as a pet friendly rental. I’m thinking of just putting laminate over the top or some type of vinyl product that wont create a mess. Of course that creates additional work trimming doors and redoing the molding. Let me know if anyone has a good solution to this challenge. thanks