I noticed that Lowe's is now selling Pergo's engineered hardwood flooring. It comes prefinished in 3- or 5-inch-wide strips, 3/8" thick, tongue-and-groove side and end joints, 20-year warranty on finish. Looks like good quality material and finish. Slightly beveled side and end joints are nice compared to other brands I've seen. Cost at Lowes is around $4 per square foot for material only. For info, go to:
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'm planning on installing the floor in my kitchen and nook area, which has ceramic tile on concrete slab on grade. According to the installation instructions, the strips can either be glued directly to concrete or other hard surface floor, or laid as a floating floor with vapor barrier, foam underlayment, and glued joints between strips.
Does anyone have experience with this Pergo hardwood flooring? How difficult is installation? I was thinking that the floating floor method might be a better choice than the direct gluedown since all joints would be filled with glue and there is less chance that kitchen spills would damage the flooring. It would also be easier to remove the flooring in the future if necessary.
My experience with Pergo goes back about 8-10 years and I am sure their product has improved since. I installed about 100 square feet in the kitchen of our previous house. In general it was a good product and easy to install. Good and not-so-good:
Good:
1) Installation was pretty easy. I installed a floating floor over existing vinyl. All I had to do was pull up existing quarter round, install and replace trim. The closure trim where I joined with carpet was a little cheesy but it worked. The product I installed used a green creamy glue to join the tongue and groove edges. Product was very easy to cut for finishing aroung doors, etc. There was slight tendence for the surface to chip while cutting, but not bad.
One thing I overlooked in original planning was an existing built-in dishwasher. I ran the pergo an inch or so under to washer's bottom face plate - no problem. Getting the old dishwasher out to replace it a year or so later was a problem - barely had clearance to get it out from under the cabinet.
2) Seemed very durable. I recall, shortly after installation, I dropped a large butcherknife point down. As I watched it descend I though "damn, there goes the floor!" Didn't leave a mark.
3) Cleaning. Mixed bag. Our floor was fairly light maple. It was a snap to clean but the finish was so smooth that the slightest smudge showed (think fingerprints on a freshly washedcar). I believe some of the newer engineered "hardwood" floors have enough texture to hide smudges.
Not so good:
1) Smudges (above)
2) Sound. Walking on the Pergo floor in no way resembled hardwood. It emitted a plastic-like sound and women's shoes caused a hollow click.
3) Temperature. Also unlike wood. Even with the foam underlay it got just a cold as you would expect a plastic floor to be.
Overall, if I install another wood floor in the future, Pergo will be on my look-list. I think it is a pretty good product and probably improved from my early experience.
Check out Sam's Club if ya got one. They sell a floating floor system with the foam pre-installed. The cheapest I've been able to find something like it. I think it was a 25yr warranty. It wasn't pergo though.
I have Mannington engineered wood. I'd go with the floating floor again for some of the reasons you mention. It is really a fairly simple install. A few hand tools and a miter saw it all you need. Unlike laminate, it does not have the noise when you walk on it. I did about 400 sq. ft. and it took me a weekend+ but I had a fair amount of cutting and trimming. Never had a big spill, but a few little ones were not a problem.
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