Replies

1. 
   C._Martin | Aug 04, 1999 09:48pm | #10

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   I put about 500 sq. ft. of Armstrong's equivalent down about 9 mo. ago. Did the 1st 3 rows in 1 evening. All of the rest the following day. Installation was easy but be careful how hard you try to close small gaps. If you pound or clamp too hard, the surface chips. Better bet is to buy a color-matched filler pencil and "color" away the small gaps when done.

   My biggest complaint, and I haven't seen this mentioned, is the sound underfoot. It is extremely loud and artificial sounding. I know that Pergo sells a "quiet" underlayment but I couldn't tell the difference on the display at HD.

   Very scratch resistant, easy to clean, and pretty natural looking. I think darker colors hide the seams better, making for a more natural overall appearance.

   Good luck!

   Chris

2. 
   Guest_ | Aug 05, 1999 09:20am | #11

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   Bidding a kitchen remodel job in an upper middle class suburb of NYC. Never installed Pergo before but have done hardwood etc. What are the basic procedures and approximate square ft price. Anything extraordinary I need to know beyond what the dolts at HD can pretend to tell me?

   Thanks
   Mitch

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 25, 1999 06:09am | #1

   *There was a good article in the last year (Oct/Nov) in either Fine Homebuilding or Journal of Light Construction re: laminate flooring installation. I installed a Wilsonart floor last November, and what I learned from it is to take your time, make sure you get everything lined up good. Make sure you get all of the glue up. Need to wipe surface several times, but don't get too wet. Use web-type clamps made for laminate flooring. A supplier of flooring tools should have what you need. They run about $35 each. Buy 5 if you are doing the 18" square tiles. Leave a quarter of an inch around all edges. Near sinks and dishwashers seal the edge of the laminate with silicone caulk. Cut off door jambs and casing so that floor will slip under and still have a quarter of an inch at edge. Cost for materials and labor runs about $8 to $10 per square foot installed. Maybe someone else has a different figure for that. Hope this helps.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 26, 1999 03:27am | #2

   *Mitch,I don't know anything about laying this type of floor having never done it myself, but if your on L.I. go check out the L.I. Stove kitchen showroom. They laid a laminate floor down and then put all their displays on top of it. The floor has now pancaked in several large areas to a height of over an inch. It seems these products really need room to expand. If your cutting it in up to the kick and trimming it with a wide shoe it's probably ok, but after seeing that display I wouldn't lock it down with cabinetry. Richard Max

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 26, 1999 08:38pm | #3

   *Interesting observation Richard!Absolutely buy or rent the clamps. Absolutely. HD rents them. I thought Pergo ran about $3 sf materials and up to $5 sf labor (high side). Once you get going -- lay the first rows perfectly, even let them set up if you can -- it goes very very fast. Caulk edges as insurance.Pergo has a "long version" of their instructions that gives lot of detail. the material has been discussed often enough here -- search the archives.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 27, 1999 06:11am | #4

   *Andrew,Have you used this stuff? I really was kind of looking forward to it until I saw what happened in the showroom. When my wife delivered our second child last January the delivery room floor was Pergo or a similar product, and I thought if it's good enough for hospital grade then this must be good stuff. Now I ain't so sure. I'm gonna do the old watch and wait with this for a while.RM

2. 
   Guest_ | Jul 27, 1999 07:25am | #5

   *We did aprox 1000 sq ft of pergo in each of 2 houses. Both were imitation hardwood. What was it that someone said here a while back? - it fools you once. The first one was the regular stuff, and we had a few chips by the time move in day came around - looked OK. The second one was a comercial grade which was much more durable but looked about the same. I agree with andrew - get the clamps. They have other special tools too. Not sure what he ment when he said that it goes fast - the whole process was rather time consuming - but probably not quite as much so as real hardwood.

3. 
   Guest_ | Jul 27, 1999 09:02am | #6

   *Yeah, I have a couple of small sections in my house and am planning more for the basement. Eventually I will probably upgrade to a real wood veneer, but for now it is great. Because the floating floor is plastic and monolithic, you can clean it much more thoroughly than real wood.I only saw chipping when I was grumpy and whacked the setting block too hard. Chipping is bad news because then the surface integrity is compromised and more damage will follow. However, our unchipping floor has endured my later renovations very well despite having tools and debris all over it. I did finally succeed in scratching it, but only when I stepped on a fresh Sawzall blade... Haven't seen expansion problems, though they do stress making proper allowances. The showroom floor may have simply been too big.LOTS of discussion of Pergo in the archives. My argument all along has been that it has its place, mostly the kitchen and basement.As for fast, I let the first three rows dry and then did the rest. Because the floor was basically rectangular, I was able to cut and set the remaining planks very quickly. We have gotten a couple of spontaneous compliments on the floor already from people who don't know much about building -- so you see it is something that won't please the CRAFTSPEOPLE, but then they're a pretty hard to satisfy lot as it is.

4. 
   Guest_ | Jul 27, 1999 05:45pm | #7

   *I just put down one bundle in front of the front door where the carpet usually gets damaged. We will see what happens in the next few years. I don't like the look of the end joints in a whole floor but it looks very good in this small space with no end joints (the space is exactly the width of the full planks).

5. 
   Guest_ | Jul 27, 1999 09:22pm | #8

   *A good mat outside may help too. Most scratches come from debris pinned between shoe and floor.

6. 
   Jeff_J._Buck | Jul 28, 1999 05:57am | #9

   *Layed a kitchen floor aprox. 6 mos. ago.Easy ,fairly quick and still looks brand new.Get a good blade in the chop saw and no chipping.So far no swelling and don't forsee any.Instead of buying clamps, we used the 1/2 inch spacers along the long wall, glued up and layed 3 rows, then screwed a board the complete length about 1 1/2 inch from flooring . gently drove in long wedges cut from 2x4's to cinch it up tight .Worked perfect.Tap until a little glue comes up at the seam.Let the glue set up a little longer that they recommend(but definitly not dry)and it scrapes easier.Let dry and repeat process and save the 35 bucks!We left between 1/2 and 3/4 for expansion and base/shoe more than covers.The only downside is the hand cramp from squeezing the glue bottle all day.Get a teenager!

3. 
   Guest_ | Aug 05, 1999 09:20am | #12

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   The clamps allow the installer to make the dark seams disappear altogether. Pounding is, as noted, very risky; the steady pressure of the fancy clamps is far superior.