<p>When we had our floors refinished, there had been carpet on the floors. So there were nail strips all along the perimeter. After the floors were sanded, the workers installed new quarter round moldings to bridge the small gap between the wood and the baseboard molding. Our baseboards didn’t get damaged by the sanding, although I did re-paint.</p>
<p>Google shoe molding and pick the images option.</p>
<p>I am not a floor expert. I base what I say from my experience when I had tiles, carpet, laminate (!) and hardwood flooring installed in my previous and current homes. I didnt need to replace baseboards when installing new carpet or laminate. But with laminate and hardwood there will most likely be a gap between the laminate/wood floors and the baseboard. The shoe molding will cover that gap. You may need to repaint the shoe molding if it doesnt match your baseboard or you could also pick a shoe molding that matches the new floor. </p>
<p>If your baseboards are not high enough for me it isnt aesthetically pleasing to my eye to have short baseboards which what will happen if you install shoe molding over the baseboards. So I tend to have the old baseboards ripped out and install taller baseboards. The new floor can be slipped under the baseboards. This step can cause dings and possible dents on the wall near the top of the baseboard. So, you just need to touch up the wall with paint. No biggie.</p>
<p>If you keep the old baseboard you may need to touch it up too because of some dings. The new baseboards would have to be painted or stained before installation (I think its easier than doing it after installation) unless you pick the prepainted kind.</p>
<p>I had all new, high molding put in after tile floors replaced with wood. I painted the planks myself over the weekend, and they were installed the following week. It is easier to paint outside, when I didn’t have to tape and worry about leaks to wall paint. I also saved money painting the wood doors myself over the weekend.</p>
<p>I have a dog with real wood floors on the entire first floor. I went with natural color wood. I did not want a stained floor because once it is scatched you see the scatch is a lighter color. I have a section that is very scatched but you can only tell when it is bright day light and at an angle. You see claws have scatch the clear coat off but the color of the floor stayed the same.</p>
<p>Until three weeks ago, I had three standard poodles (my oldest poodle died). Big dogs who love to chase balls in the kitchen ;)</p>
<p>Our floors are high-quality oak, finished with polyurethane (matte finish, not shiny). They look pretty good, and I’ve done pretty much nothing since we moved in here three years ago. I wash them with soap and water (moist towel, not direct water) and that’s about it. I do have mats at the doors to reduce the dirt that comes in.</p>
<p>I have had tile in the kitchen: never again! It is so hard on the back when you’re standing for long periods. Carpet in the kitchen? NO NO NO! Stuff will hit the floor, whether you mean it to or not. </p>
<p>A possibility that hasn’t been mentioned is cork. I looked at cork for the kitchen when we remodeled and didn’t feel it would stand up to my dogs (I borrowed a sample), but I’ve seen some in other people’s kitchens and it looks great. However, they are all people who keep the dogs out of the kitchen, not throw balls for them.</p>