We are thinking of using wooden floorboards - either reclaimed or new - in our main living room. What are the pros and cons? We have four children of varying ages and a dog! Would we be better off (from a practical point of view)using one of the many laminated wood options?

Greetings Joops!
I love wood floors, but one of the cons is the dog having to wear slippersocks!
If your dog is as lively as mine it will be like Bambi on Ice!
LIN

Hi Joops.....if you love sweeping all the time.....then laminate it is....as thats all I do.....sweep up "tumbleweeds" as I call them...I have 3 cats, and the floors are always full of hair and dust no matter how often I sweep........but saying that....I still wouldnt go back to carpets

Hi Joops,I agree with Lin & Steph, Iv got 3 dogs,and always sweeping,sometimes I feel like cinderella!They do look good though [when there clean]

I have laminate flooring from the front door to the back door and also in the bathroom upstairs. I wouldn't go back to carpets now and am thinking of changing the existing rooms to laminate too. Yes they do need regular sweeping or "swiffing" but that just shows you what would have been in the carpet The kids even help with the sweeping. The only thing I can say on the down side is that our pet rabbit doesn't come into the kitchen anymore - she doesn't like it on her feet. My mum's dog isn't too keen either. Tracey

Hello Joops
I Have both laminate and real wooden floorboards. I prefer the floorboards as they are and look more natural, the laminate also has that horibble tap tap tap noice if you walk over it with shoes. We have the laminate in most of the bedrooms so there is not all that much traffic.
Patricia

hi joops,
i put laminate flooring in my hall last year and was amazed how dirty it was within 24 hours. i sweep it daily and mop weekly but i'm glad i did it as it shows how filthy the carpet must have been! the cat seems to enjoy sliding across it as well!!! :D
claire

Mrs Mop here with a tip (10% service charge LOL)
I bought a Golden Oil Microfibre Mop (from QVC don't tell anyone LOL) as I have a tiled kitchen floor and hallway, and we are going to put a laminate in the living room. You use one of the cloths on the mop for sweeping (it grabs all the dust) and then the other cloth for mopping. The floors are dry withing seconds so you can walk on them straight away, and it only takes a couple of minutes to clean the floor. You can also wash the cloths in the machine up to 300 times - so you save a small fortune because you don't have to buy the swiffer cloths. They also say that you don't have to use any cleaning product with the mop because of the microfibre cloth - don't trust that myself so I still use a splash of disinfectant.

I too have laminated, as above it does get dusty etc but like the rest say can you imagine if that was in the carpet,the kids spill stuff all the time and forget to take off shoes so in that sence its a relief,you can just mop it over. and it does eliminate pet odours and reliefs my sons asthma, down side,i think myself, i miss the comfort of carpets,it can give a cold feeling, but it also gives the room a classy feel.
If i think about it i wouldent go back to carpet as they can get quite smelly,and with 5 kids and a shed load of pets i think laminated is a better choice.

Hi Joops! fab name!
We have laminate in the kitchen and wood block in the rest of downstairs...where does all the dust come from..we figured we must live in THE dust capital of the world! but as the others have said..urgh..the thought of that in carpets is too bad to think of. it seems the norm tho' that animals aren't too keen..our 2 lunatic dogs were really subdued when we lam. the kitchen (their bedroom-supposedly!!!!) they were off food for 3 days...the vet said they were DEPRESSED and blamed the floor!!! something to do with their feet/grip/scent or something!! have fun....guess i'd better go mop!

OOpps! the thought of mopping made me forget the wood block bit!! loves dust and "dustballs" (how big can YOU grow one in a week!!) but copes admirally with yogurt, crayon, ribena and vomit! (thank you kids!!). the dogs thought we'd lost our heads when we ripped up all the carpets!! but they approve of the rugs from a swedish shop!! they have one each. xxha ha xx

Thanks to all those who replied to my message! One of the reasons we were thinking of a wooden floor was the fact that I'm so conscious of the nasty things that might be lurking in the carpet! Everyone's comments, about the amount of cleaning wooden floors need, seems to confirm this! Thankyou everyone!

Hi Joops
There are pros and cons to wooden floors. I have not long moved into a house with no carpet downstairs at all and it can be very noisy and a bit cold in the winter. I think laminate flooring would be better as floorboards tend to mark and are not as easy to clean. The good thing is you dont have to clean so often.