Question about floor coatings, for dogs

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been working on my dog training building and finally determined that I need some "real" floor over the 5/4 board. What use to be a kinda pole barn with only 3 walls is now enclosed. We will have lots of dogs inside that building. WE have looked & looked & looked. Our budget is already kinda strained on building cost, road, fencing...

The wife found a product called Original Color Chips by Norken. It is an epoxy floor covering that we are considering using over plywood. I know many people have used Rust-O-Leum. The wife's research on the Mini-Cooper sight seems to suggest that the Rust-O-Leum product is thinner & less durable than the product she is considering. I was wondering if anyone has used the Norkan product and could comment on it? I also thought the posters here might have alternative ideas for a very tough floor that will not break the bank.

My search here turned up a link to epoxyproducts.com & Sherwin Williams Tile Cladll so far. We are checking into them. I thought I would just mention the specific application here & see if any ideas or real life experiences might be available.

[tod evans]

mike, for about the same cost as some of the better epoxys on the market you can have fiberglass reinforced concrete blown in, like is used over radiant heat flooring. and being a concrete product regular concrete dyes will color it........just a thought..02 tod

[Lee DeRaud]

Are you worried about wear&tear or just sealing the floor against liquid accidents? I'd be concerned that the various epoxy paints were too slippery, with potential for joint damage.

[Doug Shepard]

The place where I took my beastie for her obedience training put down a heavy rubber floor out of those 1" thick 2'x2' tiles with the interlocking tabs. The stuff is great. Easy on both the feet of the dogs and the humans and it cleans up pretty easily. When I first started the classes they just had a linoleum floor which could get pretty slippery from peoples wet shoes coming in during rain or snow times. Unless you add the non-skid type additives the epoxy type coating might still be prone to slip and falls. If it's just you using the space you could just make sure to wear the right shoes. But if the owners are bringing dogs and training with them, you might want to err on the side of caution to avoid any liability issues.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the fast replies guys. I did not know about the spray in will check that out. does anyone have a link, company name etc.?

In terms of concerns, my first concern is for doggie feet, "accidents" should not be to regular nor a large issue. This part of the building (2 nd floor) is for training & socializing dogs not kenneling. There is concrete flooring on the ground floor to kennel dogs in, but we are not a kennel, just for dogs to rest in during the day. The epoxies we are looking at have addatives that make them "no slip". I believe tha addative is a sand like substance. I was told that it is used in kennels and the epoxy removes enough sharp sand edges to make it safe for doggie feet.

The 5/4 board has to have gaps that on occasion doggie toe nails can hang in, which is one of the reasons we are looking for an alternative. Carpeting would hold odors, is tough to clean & gets trashed too quick. The building is at the edge of flood plain with lots of small ponds, creeks, streams.. so wet dirty dogs is an issue. There will be a tub set up to wash dogs on that same floor. We are looking at dirty wet dogs coming in & damp ones going out. Easy mopping would be nice.

[tod evans]

mike, concrete products are a local kind of deal......call the local yards and ask who`s blowing floors over radiant systems then speak to them..02 tod

[Bill Lewis]

The place where I took my beastie for her obedience training put down a heavy rubber floor out of those 1" thick 2'x2' tiles with the interlocking tabs. The stuff is great. Easy on both the feet of the dogs and the humans and it cleans up pretty easily. This is what we use in our basement. My wife wanted to use stall mats until she found out how expensive they were. We found the best deal on these at Tractor supply company at the same time we were looking at stall mats.You can also find them at WW shows, but the quality of the ones at TSCwere better, and they came with border strips too.

[Mike Holbrook]

I guess I should mention that we are talking about 1800 square feet here, not a small training room at a kennel. Some of the alternatives like the raised rubber flooring just get to expensive to cover that large an area in. For now I need to get a permanent floor down before the final plumbing & cabinets get put in. We are outside Atlanta so there is not much radiant flooring around. I will try to locate someone but I have my doubts.

We want dogs to be able to go just about anywhere in the building, but training will be limited to a large walled off section (20x60), that may get special treatment at a later date. We have 12 acres & covered & open ground level training areas covered in wood chips & small worn gravel so there are many options.

A regular class will be help in the building though. The heating & cooling in the building are often required to get participation.

[Joe Chritz]

We used to run a kennel and training facility. We used the snap together floor blocks for the kennels for a long time and only really aggressive chewers managed to tear them up. For 1800 sq. ft. plus it is expensive.

Look into using floor substrate, OSB or plywood and using rolled rubber mats. They work well for everything training except jumping and I wouldn't regularly jump my dogs inside anyway.

I once found the rolled matting at a BORG in six foot widths. This was the ribbed rubber flooring sold for runners in hallways. Made in black and extra wide it works good for dog work areas.

One thing we learned (the hard way I may add) is that dogs are very hard on any floor. What seems economical at the begining may not be if you stay in business for any length time.

Plan on some maintainance and replacement costs of mats and tape to hold everything down. The only really good surface is ouside, everything else we try to make do as best as we can.

Also you may want to check with another club that does indoor trials. They often used a thick rubber ribbed mat in 12 foot widths.

Joe