You have "wear through" which is when the finish is pierced and the wood is exposed to the elements. The dark areas are where dirk/water/mud have stained the floor. It is possible to get this out... but probably not all the way. A floor that has wear through needs to be sanded right down, stained (if you wish) and then refinished. Patching can occur...but it is almost always a waste of time because the "look" can be very different from the original sitting right next to it. I don't recommend it for your situation. The second photo shows the deep scratching. Ideally, you would have had your floors looked after BEFORE wear-through occurs. There are some "regular" scratches to the Left in photo 2. You can see it is visible...but no discolouration....THAT is where you draw the line. The darker "wear through" to the Right in photo 2 = too late = full sand and refinish. If you catch it BEFORE wear-through, you can do a "buff and coat". This is a light sanding with a few coats of high end finish over top. The buff and coat is roughly half the price (in Canada at least) as a full sand/refinish. For this reason it is important to catch the floors before you get to this level of scratching.. That being said, you now get to pick some stains (test patch, test patch, test patch). The first photo shows two different woods...you could ask to see if the lighter would could be matched to the darker wood (lots of testing to achieve this). It won't be pefect...but then again you wouldn't have used reclaimed building materials if you were after "perfect". The match can lessen the colour variation to a more manageable (design wise) level. As for "good for dogs" - natural colour of wood = best colour for scratches. A lower gloss (like a satin) can help. You can ask for the "best" finish with scratch resistance that comes in a can. You will pay a premium for it...but it could/should save you thousands of dollars over the long run. A highend, scratch resistant finish means you can get away with the cheaper buff and coats (every 7-12 years...or so) and be able to retain the original (expensive) finish for the full 25 years. The other thing to note: dogs claws require trimming 2-4 PER MONTH when working with hardwoods. This is what the hardwood flooring refers to as "routine" trimming. Some of my clients thought "2-3 PER YEAR" was "routine". I laughed. You have heavy, high energy, powerful dogs. A single lab can cause some damage over time. Two labs can do a number on a floor. Three labs and you have a very short lived hardwood finish. You have 7. I would find the most expensive, scratch resistant finish available in Australia. I would have the maximum amount of finished put your floors (you will pay extra) it and I would budget for a "buff and coat" every 5-7 years.

I read an interesting comment somewhere, where a lady invited a group of her friends over to lovingly point out all the problems they saw (through fresh eyes) with her home on preparation for sale. She said she was surprised at marks and damage that she had lived with for so long she no longer noticed them. We "owner built" a home previously, and when we came to sell 7 years later, we painted the garage and did those jobs that we had put off, and it became sad to finally see her at her best, at the end, when we could have been living in a completely finished home all that time. I read about a lady who decluttered her home, had it professionally cleaned (build clean, or bond clean) and had a professional styler do her home and she realised just how nice it could be and decided not to sell. :) ta

I have just been reading everyones comments about kitchens , butlers kitchens , laundries , bedrooms , bedroom floors , Walk In Robes and the like . I have been thinking , and I think we need to look forward , and really think about how we design our houses and our lives . This is my solution -- -- Bedrooms and dining rooms should have 'pits' built into the floor -- a bedroom 'pit' will be the size of a bed , the dining room will have one the size of your dining table , and either benches or individual stool sizings . Laundries will be sunk around 1 metre into the floor . -- Somewhere in your house will be a switch , or maybe it will be controlled by an app . You hit 'cleanup' mode , a hyraulic pump whirs , and your bed and table ( lounge suite and coffee table will be extra-price options ) drop to floor level . -- You get your broom , and sweep everything on the floor to your laundry . Clothes on the floor -- yes . Rugs -- tick . Sheets and duvets -- yeah . Table cloth -- yep . Last nights dishes -- certainly . Seep them all into the laundry , where there may be a small shute -- into the washer . Another app will turn it on . -- Fire up the app again , and the beds and tables ( swept clean , no lint , no crumbs ) all rise to the correct height . With a bit of practice , 10 minutes every couple of days should be all you need for a super clean house , including clothes and ( plastic ) dishes . Now , any ideas for self-washing pots and roasting dishes , or should we just stick to the microwave ?

windows in master bedroom need to allow views and privacy and much as i would prefer bed on NE this keeps the bed in view towards and from family room so prefer bed on south wests wall and small sliding doors pushed towards north side of room with tall narrow window beside sliding door and highlight window for light with privacy and wall space for chest of drawers...acknowledging theta the pwdr doesn't have a window but my suggested arrangement uses less total space more efficiently and is better for older kids and long stay visiting parents (more people can use the various options at the same time) and a small ventilating skylight will exhaust and brighten the toilet and vanity area ...the wide door into the lounge can be a stacker or stable door so you need to investigate local options (and everything is expensive unless it does what you want...we always use solid core doors that can be ten times the price of a basic hollow core door but love them so we economise elsewhere) and barn door between entry and family would be OK as long as you like them and it doesn't compromise lounge doors but could look ok if both doors are the same style and different widths...and location of dishwasher is personal and if you have already been unhappy with sink in main kitchen then have it in the scullery...main advantage of my suggested kitchen location is that it's closer to the front and the family area and external doors and the pantry uses the central space that can be much better illuminated with another ventilating skylight instead of a tiny external window and noisy exhaust fan