I installed some Pergo Presto last November in the kitchen. It has been fine until this week. We usually clean it with a fine mist of cleaner expressly for laminate flooring. This week, it got wetter than usual, and now there are about 4 boards in one location that are warping up. I am amazed that this happened, because it is near the sink, and the edges were well sealed by the sink. Plus, there is no way that the cleaning left more than 2 oz. of water on the whole area.
Questions: Is it even possible that this cleaning is what caused the warping, or should I look for another cause?
The warping is not severe. The edges are raised 1/8 inch or less. It is possible to reverse it with weight? Is it possible that as the moisture evaporates, the boards will return to their original state?
Or should I just look for a professional to replace the boards in question with standard Pergo?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Snabby
Replies
Snabby, is this flooring on a second or third floor? I'm just thinking maybe you have a slight leak in one of your plumbing supply lines, which would be very bad. I've installed pergo only a handful of times and if i remember right, it's it's basically MDF so theres no way of getting those boards back to there original condition. First I'd check for any water leaks then, cut the old boards out and replace them which could get nasty considering they're tounge and groove.
Is this Pergo the click together or glue together? if click then pull the sections until the damaged is removed and reinstall. If glue type then there is a process with a special router bit to replace sections in the field. I have watched the video a few times and it looks "fun" to do.
Most of the companys are changing to click together beacuse of warranty claims with it are much cheaper to settle.
Thanks. It is the click-together kind. Problem is that it's in the middle, and it seems to me I have to undo everything from one side in order to get to the damaged pieces. That may be my only alternative.
Check to see if Pergo will give you some new flooring because of this incident. The glue together survives better because of the glued seams but only from water on top.
These floors have zero tolerance for moisture, "This week, it got wetter than usual", ya, I guess.
An 1/8th inch isn't going to disappear, look into having it replaced.
That's what I was afraid of. Surprised that somehow water got down inside, because the stuff seems pretty impervious when snapped together correctly, which it is, and as I mentioned, the edges are sealed because the damage is near the sink.
Thanks for your input.
Nate,
Thanks for your message. The Pergo is on the first floor (we have a basement) in the kitchen. It's slightly possible that there is a leak, but in the several days since this happened, there's been no increase. I believe it was caused by the cleaning.
Thanks.
Acitcity liguids like urnine, tomato juice, etc will cause the warping . Water would not , except if left for a period of time. Im afraid you have someone in the house who is not fessing up. I have wilsonart on my main floor, about the same thing. The very same thing happened to my floor. [dog] I checked into it throughly. Your floor is ruined in that area and must be replaced . There is a technigue involved with fixing it .I will be happy to share if you are going to try it your self .
There is an exception to what I said . A concrete floor must have a water proof membrane under it , sealing the moisture from the floor. I have a basement under my floor , so it wasnt required . This flooring is not advised in a basement .
Tim Mooney
Yeah, those laminate floors sure look great. Go in cheap, too. I think they're even guarenteed not to scratch for ten years...of course, then you just tear them out and replace them.
Seems to me people should compare them to sheet vinal instead of hardwood. Then they don't seem like such a great deal. I guess they're fine if you think in terms of replacing stuff every few years or moving.
More crap for the landfills.
Brinkmann for president in '04
I'm with you Jim. I see these houses built in the late 1700s, still with their original floorboards and wood trim. Sure they were working with better wood, but even so, there's a lesson there. The trend seems to be more and more plastic/synthetic/cheap components that have to be ripped out in a relatively short number of years.
Is pergo really more environmentally sound or economical than wood if wood will last 100+ years while 5-10 loads of pergo will be ripped out and trashed in the same time?
Pete
Thanks. I am not going to try this myself, as I know I don't have the skill involved. Putting the floor in new was not hard, but I don't think I can do the replacement.
I am pretty sure that I am the guilty party, because I did clean the floor, and left some moisture, and where it was heaviest is where the damage is. And while we have 3 pets who could've done it, there was no smell, and no residue on the floor.