zag300zx

Hi Everyone. I am looking for some input from basset owners. I am going to buy a house and am considering having hardwood floors installed instead of carpet in the living/dining/kitchen areas.

Now my main concern is the amount of noise that is generated by basset nails on any hard surface. My parents have that Pergo laminated flooring and when Libby is over there she sounds like a freight train dragging chains when she walks. Her nails always hit the ground, I can never seem to get them short enough not to, but I believe this is normal for bassets?

So in short my question is how loud are basset nails on real hardwood floor, and is it bearable/recommended? Thanks!

And this is Libby, the 2.5 year old!

Tuesday

I have real hardwood and there isn't a problem with noise at all. I try to keep Gwen's nails as short as I can. She is still young so I am not sure if that has anything to do with it. Hardwood isn't as noisy as the laminate flooring (which I used to have).

hig4s

We have tile in some places in our house, and carpet in others and I find this question funny, as my dogs sound like a heard of buffalo even when they are on the carpet.

FloppyToby

my parents have wood floor. the good thing about it is i can always hear exactly where toby is. and if i dont hear him then most likely he's getting into trouble!

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A basset is an asset!

Mom2Flash

Nice pics, Libby is absolutely adorable!

Basset Mamma x's 4

We rented a cabin by the river one time and were able to bring two of the bassets with us. The cabin was very old, and had honest to goodness real hardwood floors. Bo and Molly were totally excited, and kept shuffling around sniffing everything - ALL NIGHT LONG! It sounded like a Broadway tap-dance routine gone horribly wrong.

Lightning&Stomps

In my last house I had real hardwood floors, and I don't recall the sound of the dogs' nails being a problem at all. In my current home, I have engineered wood floors (nailed down), and again, sound is not bad, although most of the flooring is covered by area rugs. I would think that dogs' nails on laminate, and especially "floating" floors, would be louder. I like wood floors because, like FloppyToby said, you can always tell where your dog is. And Libby is a beautiful girl.

FloppyToby

i love running basset pictures. their faces are so funny.

__________________
A basset is an asset!

zag300zx

Thanks everybody! That makes me feel better hearing the noise isn't that big of an issue. The laminate flooring is definately crazy loud, the herd of buffalo is a good example. It amazes me how heavy these dogs sound when they run.

Now hopefully her nails won't make gouges or scratches in the wood!

Mikey T

depends etirely on the hardness of the wood. You don't want anything softer than oak, but harder is better, but more difficult to install The one thing not mentioned is hard surfaces reflect bass more. So basset barks are loader in rooms without soft surfaces to absorb the sound.

any finish on the floor can be scratch but are easy fixed provided it is only the finish and not the wood itself.


nka Hardness Scale for Wood Flooring Species

This scale is good for solid wood floors, for engineer floors it works well for scratch resistance of the wood but because engineered floors are made up of layers like plywood often the lower layers are made up of much softer wood making them more prone to denting.