My daughter wants to replace the super-dirty carpet on her condo with either tile or laminated wood floor.
We want to do it ourselves if it's not very difficult. We've been reading the instruction from the Internet but still have quite a bit of fuzzy ideas.
My question is since she has a small puppy and is not very well trained yet, which floor (tile or wood) would be more appropriate. Someone said the grout between the tiles can be discolored and smell. Others said laminated floor would be worst.
"Laminated" can mean different things to different people. Today even "tile" can mean many different things.
Wood floors with a real wood surface (as opposed to a plastic surface) would not be my choice for this situation. As you have pointed out, there may be puddle problems and the resulting smell after it gets into the wood. While it is possible that a well finished wood floor may resist the moisture, most don't. There is also the possible problem as the dog grows that it's claws will scratch the wood. I would not choose a real wood surface floor material.
Plastic surface floors with or without wood under-parts, may or may not be able to stand up to the puddles and scratches. Some of the plastic surfaces are very scratch resistant and moisture resistant, when properly installed for that kind of environment. I would consider this kind of floor, and carefully choose one that is rated for moist areas like baths and follow any special installation instructions for moist areas.
Today a tile looking material is available made of a plastic material. It would rate the same as the plastic surface wood look material.
There are many other tiles. In your case make sure the surface of the tile and the grout are sealed against moisture and you should be fine. You may want to check on the ability of the specific tile product you are looking at to resist damage from the claws. Some will show scratches.
Train the dog and owner first, THEN replace the carpet with whatever appeals to you. If you're going to replace the flooring first, then you need this:
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