Laminate Flooring (Pergo-type)

[Donny]

Will laminate flooring be damaged if dog pees on it and pee sits there all day?

[cm]

Yes

cm

[trader4]

Laminate flooring is a tough synthetic material. If the pee just stays on the surface, it will not be damaged. In fact, that is one of it's main selling points.

Now, if there is a real flood of pee and it goes through joints and gets underneath, then it's possible it could cause it to warp. But, IMO, it would take a lot to do that, as the material is pretty foregiving.

[m Ransley]

Not if it happens once in a while, continously in the same area it will soak in underneath it could do harm, eventualy it would stink forever

[mm]

What about something in the middle, if the dog piddles where two pieces come together, and it's not enough to get underneath, but it does wet the edges of two pieces? How do you dry that out, and will it cause damage.

I took a couple piece of Pergo flooring home once for a few days to think about it, but I don't remember what the edges are like.)

[Rick Brandt]

You have to weigh the risk against the damage. My parents laminate floor got wet from a leaky ice maker just a couple weeks after install. All the edges within three feet of the fridge swelled and turned up (looks like hell).

If something like that happens from your dog in the middle of the room your only recourse will be tear it all up or buy an area rug to hide it.

[Stubby]

Pergo used to be glued together but now it just snaps in. That may change its water resistance. Look around on Pergo.com a bit. Here's one item I found:

The Pergo Warranty All Pergo flooring is warranted against wear-through-stains and fading and will resist water damage from everyday spills and damp mopping when water is promptly removed. Some Pergo flooring has additional warranty coverage. See your individual warranty details or your authorized Pergo dealer for more information.

Also, note the Pergo is cheap. If it fails you can just rip out a section and redo it. There is a bit of technique involved, but it can be done.

[Norminn]

Why try to plan for a flooring that has dog urine on it all day? Either do the dog a favor and get him a better home, or arrange to care for him/her properly. Yuck!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

If it has any effect at all.

My engineered wood flooring was wet from a heater pressure relief valve that went bad. Water ran under the floor from the utility area. Probably was wet for 6 hours or more. I dried up what I could but there was no damage at all to the wood. I was happily amazed.

[KC]

When I had some Pergo installed, I asked specifically about the dogs, particularly when they drink sloppily and splash water on the floor. The installer said that he had three big dogs and understood my question and said that if they slop alot of water on the floor, I should mop it up when I see it, but I don't have to run screaming for the mop the second they do it.

Now, he said, if you have a leak and lots of water sits for a long time, that's much more of a problem. Sounds like you were fortunate, but your situation is more of what my installer said to be concerned about. Some dog piddle shouldn't be a big deal, apparently.

KC

[KC]

Well, yes, if you're tallking about a dog that's never been housebroken and roams around the house peeing.

But, I've had to clean up a couple of accidents since I moved into my new home after rebuilding when a fire destroyed the original house. One of my dogs is a rescue that took quite a while to get housebroken and she's regressed a bit after living in 4 places in a year. Donny may just be thinking of all the things that *could* happen.

My dog's problem could be solved by me turning off the sprinklers so she won't swallow a gallon of water attacking them. Amazing how that reduces the need to pee.

KC

[michaelong]

Yes, like most of have said, laminates will expand when come in contact with water consistently. As it is HDFs (Higher Density Fibreboards) or MDFs (Medium Density Fibreboards) within the laminate floors, when in contact with water, the whole floor will expand, causing the floor boards to warp and you will see 'hilly' effects at the joints of the affected areas. Or even worse, the top layer of laminate might just peel off sometimes.

Laminates imo will never be able to resist water like many companies claim. But the good point about laminates is the fact that it is low in value and therefore you can simply change the floor say every 3-5 years if there are problems with it.

If you are thinking of choosing a floor that gives you value for money though, something that will last longer and feels better, then my suggestion would be to go for engineered wood floors as they are dimensionally much more stable than laminates or solid wood floorings. My shop's engineered wood floor was flooded for a night due to a broken pipe and I only managed to clear up the mess after a day. I aired the place and then let it dry. Till now, think it have been a year, there still have not been any visible problems with the floor as yet.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Hope they help.

Michael

KC wrote:

[Dan]

Is there any way that you can arrange for someone to walk your dog once a day? I am assuming you are working when your dog is peeing on the floor. We had the same problem and it was solved by having a neighborhood kid come by and walk the dog after school. Plus we bought a Scooba robot mopper. If the dog did pee, our dog walker just pressed the button of the Scooba, let it go, took the dog for a walk and shut the Scooba off when he returned with the dog. That way the dog was walked, the pee was cleaned up (if there was any) and we didn't have to deal with the piss after a hard day of work. Those two things - dog walker and Scooba mopper - saved us a lot of grief. Just thought I would share.

Daniel