flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

So...my poor doggie is very sick as some of you know. And she throws up A LOT (usually on the carpet) and has been peeing a lot more due to her meds.

Last night, as I was dying in the bathroom (I am sooo sick ) my dog peed all over the living room carpet. The spot is about 3 feet by 1 foot, she was walking and peeing.

We tried very hard to clean it up, but since the carpet is a very light off-white color, there is definitely going to be a large, ugly stain. Right towards the middle of the room too.

Here is the dilemma. This may get confusing.

We are not carpet people. We like hardwood floors...our new house is mostly carpeted though. There are nice hardwood floors in the kitchen, because the former owners gutted that room in 2004. The living room is somewhat attached to the kitchen, so we always said that we'd save up and eventually extend that same wood floor into the living room. Problem is that the living room carpet also runs down the steps into the foyer (foyer is tiled) and up the steps and into the hallway (we have a split). A costly job I'm sure. We also just put down cheap laminate wood floors in the three bedrooms...we really wanted wood, but we were looking for a cheap fix for now. The carpets in those rooms were AWFUL.

What I think I am trying to say is that we wanted to wait a few years, and then invest in hardwood throughout the house. Which would be $$$$ because we have a large house. We'd probably need a loan.

Right now, I want some sort of quick fix. The pee spot is not going to be able to be covered up by anything (ie: area rug, furniture, etc). It's in a weird spot...
We definitely want to rip up the carpet asap. It's reallllly gross.

Should we put down another carpet to last us for a few more years (cheaper than getting hardwood), or should we take out a loan NOW, or use some of our savings to get the wood floors NOW? Only problem with that is ... like I said, we JUST put down laminate in the bedrooms, and don't want to tear it up yet. Will it look bad to have hardwood in the hall, but lighter, cheaper fake wood in the rooms?? I really want the same floors throughout...

ACK! Help me decide!! TIA!

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Is the illness your dog has a lifetime issue or is it something that will clear up soon? I dont think it would terrible to have nice wood floors in the hallway and than "cheaper" wood floors in the bedroom. But if it will be too expensive I would just re-carpet and try to keep my dog in an area like on tile or some place where he cannot continue to damage my floors. I think even if he continued to pee on the wood floors he can damage them as well.

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

First, try Nature's Miracle to get the stain out. It works on some really stubborn pet stains.

If it's an option, confine the dog to a tiled area (though that may be easier said than done).

If I were in your shoes, I'd get an estimate for installing the hardwood floors, then the laminate and then see if I could swing the hard wood now.
I would rather not have to go through the upheaval of having work done in the house twice.

Hope your dog is feeling better!!

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Can you get an large area rug?

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

If I were in your position I would not put down another carpet. you are not carpet people and the same issue might continue to happen.

I think I would put inexpensive laminate flooring in the LR for now and save up and eventually replace it with hardwood down the line. It will look great for now, not too expensive, and easy to clean. HTH

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

i think that i would try to cover the spot on the carpet with an area rug or something... and wait until you can afford the hardwood. Wont the pee/throw up do damage to the hard wood floors as well?

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Thanks for the ideas!
The stain is in an awkward spot...kind of near the stairs. There is no way we could put an area rug there.

To make things worse, my DH just spilled a whole bowl of beef stew on the carpet tonight.
UGH!

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Posted by princessMOMMY

To make things worse, my DH just spilled a whole bowl of beef stew on the carpet tonight.
UGH!

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

I was going to suggest an area rug, or going to PETCO to see if they have anything to remove the stain

oops just saw no area rug. The doggie and DH need to sleep in the kitchen then

Message edited 1/5/2007 10:04:18 PM.

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Have you tried Capture? They sell it at Home Depot. It really takes out stains and odors. I had some kitty issues and it helped a great deal.

It's a powder you sprinkle on and then scrub in with a brush and then vacuum. It should really help.

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

Wait on the nice wood floors -- doggie pee is horrible for wood floors.

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

To be honest with you, I don't think for now, you really need to have the same flooring in the whole house. Ideally it would be wonderful, but if you can't afford it don't. I have wood floors in my whole house. My kitchen is a different type of wood (wider boards and a lighter color). Eventually we will change it but it wasn't worth it for us to put in a new floor now.

Re: flooring dilemma (painfully long and confusing)

I would have the living room done in hardwood and leave everything else the same. It won't be as expensive as doing the whole house and you can do the rest of the house later. I don't think having different color flooring is going to make much of a difference. I know others who have different types of flooring in different rooms and noone thinks anything of it.