Living Room Flooring with pets

[SilkieRabbits]

We currently have carpet in the living room which we inherited but we now need to replace it and wondering what to replace it with.

We are in a grade II listed cottage with beams and room is about 20 square metres. We have an indoor rabbit - I checked and with rabbits it says that wood is out (our first choice) as they eat it and varnish is poisonous to them, also can be too slippery, carpet is also out as too hard to clean properly. It suggest lino / vinyl, laminate or tiles.

We want something easily cleanable, that the rabbit won't slip on, probably best if not too dark as ceilings are only about 6 foot, lower where beams so not the lighest of rooms, that will survive a bit of water and generally fairly tough. Not sure whether to just assume between DS (ASD) and rabbit it will get trashed so get something cheap or whether to get something more expensive in the hope it lasts and looks better. Currently budget is tight but if we sell our other home then will be much higher - long term we want wood ideally but not viable for at least 5 years. I'm worried tiles will be cold on feet and expensive, also we made need permission for tiles though not sure. DH only likes terracotta tiles which I'm not a huge fan of though not ruled out.

Anyone any experience or advice or recommendations please? Thanks

We have carpet and the rabbits use a litter tray. One is happy to hop around on the karndean hall flooring but the other refuses. We’ve just moved them into a big run in the garage but that has carpet that the previous owners put down and they are very happy.

Thanks - we have a litter tray but its quite hit and miss whether the rabbit uses it so prefer something more cleanable.

Amtico click and then add a nice sisal rug or something not overly expensive to cosy up the seating area....like under a coffee table for example.

How flat are your floors? Sometimes with older properties you might be limited to carpet or vinyl without doing floor levelling and potentially losing height from the room.

Thanks for the replies. DH thinks the floor is level and says its concrete underneath but house is from 1550 and carpetted everywhere so I wouldn't be amazed if there is an issue with fitting wood / laminate. There are beams (?) at floor level all around the room except for fireplace and not sure if that would cause issues as well as we can't affect them at all.

Look into rubber flooring. It's slip-proof, comes in some great designs and I love the textured effect you can get. Very fashionable for the home right now, according to The Times!

I have linoleum (Marmoleum) and love it but it would be slippery for pets.

Is it listed? You might have to take advice from the heritage planning dept. I would go with Karndean or similar but it’s not cheap. Not great for the age of house either. Hardly in keeping with its age. Terracotta can stain. They are porous. They do breathe though and would be in line with age of house.

Yes it is listed and neither vinyl nor laminate match age of house. Tiles would match better but I'm worried as both DS and the rabbit are clumsy and crash into things. I was just going to put washable rugs initially but consensus is rabbit will eat them.

Mandarin stone have nice ceramic and stone tiles...worth a look.

LVT (luxury vinyl flooring) glue down planks are great, loads of really authentic looking designs now with texture and wood knots etc. Very suitable look for a cottage and very very practical for pets and kids.

Possibly not for a listed property though! Keep rabbit in the kitchen?

We have tile throughout the living and kitchen.

Would tile be too cold for you?

I think the rabbit would love to be in the kitchen but he can jump quite high (back of sofa height) and eats everything he can get his paws on. DS is with him all the time in the living room and they often sit together or the rabbit sits on DS and I can't relocate DS to kitchen but did wonder about different rooms (I'm allergic to the rabbit/hay). I don't think its possible though as we have an old cat as well, who will currently only go downstairs, and we have to keep them apart and she goes in the kitchen a lot. The rabbit was upstairs initially but I started getting allergic asthma from the hay.

I saw some lovely LVT though it was quite expensive (£45sqm) and wasn't sure if it will get wrecked anyway. I was worried about tiles being cold but think we will need to compromise on something.

@SilieRabbits Ah I bet a cute rabbit as the flooring is being designed around little bunny. Personally I would not have tiles in a living room - but plenty of others disagree with me. Never mind about slipping - anything dropped just breaks How about a very inexpensive carpet ( & possibly not wool as light wool does tend to stain) and just clean it pro tem & write it off over 5 years when you can get what you actually want. Otherwise maybe wood but oiled not varnished? Though maybe Mr Rabbit may make himself unwell by licking the oil

That last bit - we have oiled wooded floors and they are not lick able.

It’s obviously been modernised with a concrete floor! That’s not appropriate for it’s age! Are carpet tiles still sold? Replace one if it’s ruined. How are you going to fix flooring with beams all round the edge? I would look into replacing the floor with something in keeping with it’s age. The rabbit wouldn’t do that much damage!

There's a laminate flooring company specifically for pets called Floors for Paws 😊 bit pricey so depends on your budget

would a 1500 house not have flagstones ? I think I would go cheap and cheerful lino/laminate for now and then get a better floor when you dont have an indoor rabbit to consider

Thanks very much. I'm not sure what original flooring was, the records say it was a farmhouse and imply when built there was no floor so maybe just mud / clay - it says a floor was added later.

I think I'll go with a cheap solution for now until we no longer have an indoor rabbit. I would love a wooden floor but apparently they are dangerous for rabbits as can slip and break spine and die so that's out. He's a very cute rabbit - always stands on his back paws with his two front paws tucked in when I go in - but he does damage things a bit, mainly in early hours of the morning when he'll either jump on DS to wake him up or go on a bit of a rampage.

In that case I would start with a good look IRL at high end sheet vinyl. It's unfashionable but some of the best is surprisingly good. Even at the pricey end, with fitting it's way cheaper than karndean, and at the end of the day they are both just plastic floors. Easy to clean and no gaps for wee to leak through.

Anyone else reading this and hoping for a photo of the bunny?

Amtico is vinyl, hence why it’s called LVT. I have friends with Amtico I’m listed houses and it’s stunning. Have a look at the website and order a brochure. Their oak parquet doesn’t look like vinyl, it looks like oak. It is hard wearing and has super long guarantees.

Thanks - here are some (rather poor quality) bunny pictures of DS and his rabbit.

Oh, so adorable! You've made my day.

I would buy cheap carpet. One of our cats was a terror for scratching carpets and wrecked some. Also I would never buy wool carpet again after clothes moths.