# Exp with Pergo aka laminate flooring

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exp-with-pergo-aka-laminate-flooring/729642>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 1, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exp-with-pergo-aka-laminate-flooring/729642 "2015-09-01T21:55:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exp-with-pergo-aka-laminate-flooring/729642/41 "2015-09-06T15:20:35Z")

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> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Sorry, I’ve lived for an extended time with virtually every kind of flooring there is, and installed a fair number of them myself. (Not tile. I leave that to the masters.)
> 
> Laminate is fine stuff - but it does NOT look like real wood except in photos, and does not “walk and talk” like real wood. And yes, I am talking about the expensive, high-end stuff like Pergo XP, not Lumber Liquidator’s Chinese toxic cardboard.
> 
> As for hardwood - we have about 1,000 square feet of hardwood on the first floor. It’s 3/4 cherry, with the original contractor finish, and that’s nothing to get excited about (I’ve spent five years replacing crappy builder-grade junk here.) In most of the rooms, the finish is still Pretty Darned Good, as good as it was when it was applied. By the main back door and into the living room, there are noticeable wear paths… after more than four years of kids, big dogs and Nwingland winters. They’re noticeable only in the sheen - viewed from an angle, you can tell the coating is worn and dulled. Nothing more. No wood damage or failure anywhere.
> 
> We’ll refinish it in the next year or two with far better material, and I won’t think about it every again, nor will whoever owns it for the remainder of the next decade or so. Hardwood, well-laid and properly finished, is nearly indestructible. Laminate is only that durable for 1/32 of an inch, and in the dry.

:shrug: Our laminate still looks great after 3 years. We also have dogs, a gravel driveway and severe winters that come with living 1/4 mile from the continental divide. 11,200 feet. Not the continental divide in New Mexico. 😃

We abuse the heck out of it. Still looks great. Though if you ask, I can pick out the patterns. If the time comes to replace it, I will. I have refinished wood floors before. Don’t want to do that again.

Anywho, what ever floats your boat. I’m sure that 3/4 inch cherry wood looks very nice. I’ll bet it’s pretty darn expensive too.

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