opinions on pergo laminate

[Jeannie in NJ]

we got inurance money , due to Sandy, to replace our downstairs flooring (oak hardwood, linoleum and carpet). We only have one room with carpet (our year round sunroom). We have been wanting to remove that for a while and replace with non carpet. Same with the linoleum in the kitchen and hallway. Our living room, dining room, kitchen and hallwall are open so we are thinking to do the same flooring thruout. We asked for durable and the flooring place recommended pergo. We liked one called Waverly Oak. We do not want to sand or refinish anything so no real wood anymore . The insurance company gave us a decent amount to replace the hardwood , not so much for the carpet or linoleum but we are thinking that it should be enough ro cover the cost to just put pergo in every room and not mess with carpet or linoleum. Insurance adjustor said that they just want us to replace the flooring, they don't care with what we replace it with. They sent us 1/3 of the money, then they (the mortgage company) inspect the work at 40% completion send us another 1/3 and then sent the rest at 90% of completion

 

so any opinions on Pergo as to looks and being durable and especially if you have used the oak looking ones.

[Guest inoubliable]

Never. Again.

[DawnM]

We aren't really fond of it. It feels like plastic, even the kind that is supposed to look "just like wood." Another HUGE factor for me is that it doesn't sell well.

 

And just so you know, it isn't as durable as they would like you to think. It will still buckle with any water damage, etc.... and it will scratch.

[Parrothead]

It is loud. It warps and bubbles if it gets wet. I wouldn't put it near a kitchen much less in one.

[Aspasia]

I like pergo/laminate. Does it look as pretty as hardwood? No. But I think it is pretty enough and easy to care for. Definitely better than linoleum and carpet. One thing I don't like about it is that it shows scratches really easily, and you obviously can't just buff out the scratches. I imagine over many years, it could start to look really bad. But it would be many, many years, and you may be ready to replace it by then anyway. We lived in a place with it for two years and it still looked pretty nice after that time, even with our kids and an energetic dog (about 24 pounds).

 

About the water issue, the condo we rented had it in the kitchen and it seemed fine. We even had an incident where the washing machine (next to the kitchen) leaked (!) and we were really worried. But the management company sent over some flooring guys with a machine that just sucked water out of the floor for a couple days. Almost as good as new.

[gardenmom5]

I was in a high end kitchen "designer" showroom that used pergo. (since it was for people getting a new kitchen, they don't generate a ton of traffic) It looked awful, and had been completely trashed. If you have dogs - I would suggest something else.

[HappyLady]

I have Pergo flooring in my dining room. My only complaint is that it's very slippery. I think there might be kinds out there that are more grooved, but mine has a very smooth finish. My floor has been very durable so far. I have 2 little kids who spill things constantly on it and a dog whose nails are constantly clicking on it and so far I have no damage. I do have one little scratch from when a rock got stuck underneath a chair leg (don't know how that happened) but it's not even noticeable. Everyone loves the floor because it looks beautiful. I would like it too, if it weren't so slippery. That's my only complaint.

[Kari C in SC]

We have wood laminate - not Pergo - got it from Sam's club and I can't remember the brand. As somebody else said - it is not a nice as real wood, but since my budget didn't allow for that - I love what I could get. I have it throughout my entire living room, dining room, kitchen and family room. I have 3 dogs - one with pretty darn long claws because she is old and grouchy about getting them trimmed. It is pretty common for me to have 15 kids in my house each week for co-op. After 5 years, it has scratches, but not huge ones. I don't think it will last as long as hardwood by any means, but I think I will probably get the 20 years I think the box said. As far as spills, I wouldn't leave them there, but when cleaned up - they don't damage the floor in any way. We like it so much, we installed it in an ENTIRE rental property including the bedrooms. It will last way better than carpet. Oh and clean up is a breeze! I just put a little vinegar and water in my carpet cleaner with hard floor attachment. No regrets here.

[Wendi]

We have Pergo throughout our downstairs, except the little bathroom (tile). We've been very happy with it. Water does get spilled, but hasn't ever caused a problem. I assume it would have to be a lot of water and/or left a long time to damage it. We're getting a golden retriever, so I hope it will hold up to a dog okay. It's easy to clean.

[Desert Rat]

We have something like Pergo in the bedrooms. I like it for small rooms. For common living areas my answer is no. It's loud. It echoes. And if doesn't feel, hmmm, permanent? Real?

For our living room/hallway (high traffic) we used bamboo and glued it down. We love it! But, it's a softer wood, so it will dent and we don't have animals.

We chose laminate for the boys' bedrooms (and our bedroom this year) because it's not high traffic, they are smaller rooms, and it was cost effective.

[happypamama]

We put pergo in our first house's kitchen/dining room. We only lived there for 23 months, and that was pre-kids, so it still looked very nice when we sold it. We did have one problem where something leaked while we were moving, so when we came back to the house, it had caused a bit of warping in a couple of boards. Not too terrible, but it would not be my first choice for a kitchen area because of the potential for water damage (and it's not easy to fix a small part of the floor either because of the way it all locks together.) It was a solid, cost-effective choice for that house, though, and when it's freshly cleaned, it gleams really nicely.

 

When we redid the kitchen in our second house, we put in DIY hardwood -- a little more upscale than pergo and a little more expensive. You might look into that. We only had it for about two years before we sold the house, but it looked good still and was easy to clean.

 

This house came with pergo in the dining half of the kitchen (not the sink/stove/fridge/meal prep area -- that has linoleum that I detest but which is good for that space) and the room that we use for the schoolroom. I would prefer real hardwood (this is an 1830s house, which has true old hardwood in some rooms, which I like, even though it needs refinishing), but I can't justify ripping out perfectly good pergo, especially when the hardwood under it is likely not in great shape. We are HARD on our pergo, which is in a very high traffic area. We stomp wet boots over it (because that's our main entrance into the house, and DH needs to walk over to the table and chairs to sit down to remove his boots), we spill stuff on it, we have four children (who are hard on things), and we have two cats. We've been here six years, and honestly, the pergo still looks really, really good. I vacuum it, because a lot of dirt gets tracked over it, and it still hasn't scratched. It cleans up so beautifully and looks gorgeous when freshly washed. (It cleans up much nicer than the lino in the kitchen area.) Even with the various liquids that end up on it from time to time, no warping. If hardwood is the norm for your area, I would not go with pergo, because of resale value, but if it's not, the pergo has served us very well. (And really, I'm not exaggerating; we are really hard on stuff. Furniture -- sigh. Even the wide hardwood flooring in my living room has scratches in it, but not the pergo.)

 

Edit: Re: noise/echo. IDK. We're just loud. I don't think it echoes any more than the lino or hardwood in the other room. It IS cold, and it does tend to be a little slippery, but again, no moreso than the lino or hardwood.

[Elinor Everywhere]

About 10 years ago our neighbor was laying laminate (not Pergo) in his house, and he had extra. We bought it for what he paid (very cheap), took up the carpet in our living room/dining room, and laid the laminate. It's not my favorite pattern of wood (oak-ish), but the price was so good that we laid it down - I think it was glue back then, instead of the lock/snap. Anyway, 10 years later, with 2 cats, a chocolate lab, and now a terrier-sized dog, the laminate looks as good as new. So strange....didn't really want it, but now I love it. Ours has a layer underneath that helps with sound.

 

We put bamboo in our bedroom about 4-5 years ago, and it's softer and easily scratches and dents. I like the pattern, but I would never have it in a high-traffic area. Our laminate has done much better.

[Jeannie in NJ]

thanks everyone. The flooring guy is coming Tues to measure our floors for an estimate. The contractor is coming tomorrow to tell us when he can complete the work under the house. Pilings need to be capped and a center beam fixed and then he will level the floors and then we can get our new floors installed. Hoping this is all not delayed any longer now that we have some of the insurance money to pay for it (there are some owners that have not even had their insurance adjustor come out out , we are the only ones that we know of that have received insurance money). Dd's boyfriend's parents house was flooded bad, had to be completly gutted, their entire house has to be raised x number of feet and they were just told that they will not even have electricity restored by the summer and they are only 2 miles from us, on the same island.

[Liz CA]

we got inurance money , due to Sandy, to replace our downstairs flooring (oak hardwood, linoleum and carpet). We only have one room with carpet (our year round sunroom). We have been wanting to remove that for a while and replace with non carpet. Same with the linoleum in the kitchen and hallway. Our living room, dining room, kitchen and hallwall are open so we are thinking to do the same flooring thruout. We asked for durable and the flooring place recommended pergo. We liked one called Waverly Oak. We do not want to sand or refinish anything so no real wood anymore . The insurance company gave us a decent amount to replace the hardwood , not so much for the carpet or linoleum but we are thinking that it should be enough ro cover the cost to just put pergo in every room and not mess with carpet or linoleum. Insurance adjustor said that they just want us to replace the flooring, they don't care with what we replace it with. They sent us 1/3 of the money, then they (the mortgage company) inspect the work at 40% completion send us another 1/3 and then sent the rest at 90% of completion

 

so any opinions on Pergo as to looks and being durable and especially if you have used the oak looking ones.

 

We had Pergo in a family room / loft and it held up well under very large dog paws, many children and later teenagers running around on it.

It will not look as nice as hardwood and sometimes when you mop it, it streaks. Mop in the evening after the sun is set, then it won't bother you.

 

:laugh:

[myfatherslily]

We put in Pergo laminate in the kitchen/livingroom/hallway when we built our house 6.5 years ago. I don't have any strong complaints. We DO have a small area with water damage. Rain was leaking in our back door for a time and a few boards bubbled up. I haven't had any water damage from normal use. When we first moved in, it was bright and shiny, I noticed every tiny new scratch, and it was more slippery. Now it's evenly worn and scratched all over, so I don't notice!:) It really doesn't look bad and people often comment that they like the flooring. Vinegar and a microfiber mop works best for cleaning (for me!). Oh, and though it's not as slippery as when we FIRST moved in, it is still a little slippery. You may find a better option for you, but if you don't want real wood, it's not a bad option.

[GSOchristie]

I thought it was supposed to be so durable, but we have scratched it quite a bit. Silly things that I didn't think should cause a scratch. We have ours on the bottom floor on a cement slab, so cold! It seems like even with rugs, it is always freezing down there. I guess I would do it again, because carpet is much grosser.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

If you get Pergo, get a few extra boxes for future use. The newer Pergo is snap/click/lock and if you need to you can take the planks apart and replace any that are damaged without replacing the whole floor.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

If you get Pergo, get a few extra boxes for future use. The newer Pergo is snap/click/lock and if you need to you can take the planks apart and replace any that are damaged without replacing the whole floor.