I’m wondering what happens when you get a minor flood – like the sink overflows, or someone drops a big pitcher of water, or suchlike.
Wet footprints and the like aren’t a problem, I admit. But I saw a Pergo floor in a kitchen once, and all I could think of was the time the hose came loose on our dishwasher. Not a problem with our non-Pergo floor but…
Laminate is pressed wood, with a printed image layer bonded on, usually embossed with a wood-grain or stone surface, and in all but the cheapest brands, a plastic wear layer that’s very tough. The surface of most laminate is about as waterproof as anything can get - I’d bet that a puddle not reaching any seams could stay there almost indefinitely without causing damage.
But once water gets through the seam seals to the pressed-wood base, it will cause swelling, delamination and cascading damage.
Spills aren’t a problem. Wet footprints aren’t a problem. Dog mess isn’t a problem. But if you let any significant amount of liquid sit in seams very long, it’s going to penetrate. New, good-quality stuff might tolerate a few hours. Stuff that’s flexed its joints or maybe has a compromised seal, an hour. Stuff that’s started to buckle and separate… minutes. And any water that gets around the edges and under is going to get absorbed and cause swelling, joint pop, buckling, and the start of slow breakdown of the whole floor from that point as a spreading web of seams is less and less water tight.
Mop it up quick and keep it from the edges, and it’s of little consequence. Come home to find a toilet or dishwasher caused a minor flood a few hours ago, and you’re probably screwed.
Laminate can tolerate getting wet. It can’t tolerate getting penetrated by water at the seams, edges and in any cracks or dings.
Half-answer, half-question for those who know: what about the middle, engineered wood? From shopping several years ago, it seemed to be significantly cheaper than wood plank (but not as cheap as laminate, generally), and supposedly has some advantages regarding installation and dealing with moisture.
… is alot like problems with almost anything you can think of: Ignorant People/Users/Customers. To start with, there are a plethora of different types and grades of laminate flooring available - everything from cheap Chinese crap with gawd-knows-what toxic chemical residue left behind to high-end micro-beveled heavy-duty beautifully reproduced AC3/4/5 quality U.S.-made material with 25-year guarantees that will easily outlast that in a residential environment. Then there’s the people who stupidly install it where moisture is a problem or lackadaisically fail to clean up their spills, then blame it on the flooring.
Nothing wrong with laminate. As always, knowledge is power.
There have been threads on this in the past. I’ve used Pergo and other nonwood products. Also have regular access to a lake home, so I’m aware of the issues.
Not a big fan of Pergo due to the potential susceptibility to water (such as a dishwasher leak), the relatively high profile re: cabinets and thresholds, and the seams. Re: the seams - a piece of Pergo is approximately 6" x 3’. Most styles will appear the width of 3 tongue-in-groove floorboards. However, the seams across all 3 of those “boards” every 3’ IMO causes it to look much more unrealistic.
We most recently went with a luxury vinyl plank, and are very pleased. The plank design results in more realistic seams than Pergo, and it has a grain that feels good in bare feet. Very durable, extremely low maintenance. I think it would be the optimal application for a vacation home. Just my opinion.
We’ve had Pergo flooring in our house now for probably 5 or 6 years after years of having carpet and I would absolutely do it again.
IMO, it would ONLY warp if you left water standing on it for a long period of time. Spritzing it down to mop (which is what I do) won’t do any damage…at least none that I’ve seen.
We ONLY have it in the living room, entry and hallway…not in the kitchen (which is tiled) though.
And the knowledge that laminate is basically a fast, cheap alternative to nearly every other option, with more downside than almost anything except wool carpeting, and doesn’t really fool anyone except from a distance or in a photo, is absolute power.
It’s the cathedral ceiling/chef’s-kitchen-look of flooring. Looks great in listing photos and seems like more of an asset than it really is… but the buyer doesn’t figure it out until it’s too late.
IMHO, it’s better than laminate, but you can’t refinish it, which is one of the great things about a real wood floor. I have a friend who’s house was built in the 1700s, and her wood floors are original (and they’re amazing). This is not atypical. Wood can be forever.
We’re building a house right now. I went to a local lumber mill, and they cut me variable width hickory (3.5"-7"), dried and tongue and groved, for $2.50 sf. Pic. We laid them ourselves (bought a floor nailer for $120) and finished them with Rubio Monocoat, which is a hardwax oil. Total cost, about $3 sf. They will last forever. They were more work than the $2.50 sf laminate we put in our last house, but only because of the finishing. And the laminate won’t look good 10 years from now.
I don’t think the engineered hardwood is really much cheaper than solid, if you shop around.
I like the floors, and I love the dog.
She’s a hell of a good dog, that one.
The good stuff is NOT cheap (or inexpensive). You must be a power-challenged flooring pundit.
Re-finishing wood floors is not cheap or easy either. Wood is great if you don’t have to take care of it. It gets expensive and time consuming real quick if your environment is wood un-friendly - pets, kids, high traffic, etc.
We too have a lake house and I put down laminate in the living room and dining room. We used the 99 cents/per square foot stuff from Lowes, based on last year’s recommendation in Consumer Reports, and we’ve been satisfied with it for those rooms. We also spent 50 cents/square foot for a good underlayment, which was half of the cost of the laminate, but I think worth it. It took several months working part-time on it since I had lots of corners and weird angles to work with. I used real oak quarter-round on the edges, and I was careful to include expansion spaces as recommended. I’d recommend a large sliding miter box to help cut it, but other than that it was very easy to work with.
Our kitchen still has some old vinyl, but last week we just had porcelain tile installed in the sunroom and bathroom because of the water issues mentioned. Frankly the installation wasn’t as well done as my laminate - the pleasures of working with what you have for good installers in a small town. It cost about five times what the laminate costs, and based on how well the laminate is wearing I’m not sure it was worth that much. I would certainly consider vinyl planking instead of tiles.
All-in-all, it’s a small lake house that’s not a mansion, so we are trying to be careful with over-improving what the house is worth. We’ve had nothing but good comments on the laminate from our neighbors; they’re jealous of how it looks.
I don’t think this has been answered.
When you install Pergo, you have to seal the edges where the floor meets the walls. I used the Pergo-brand goop for this (also around the hole where the water supply for the icemaker comes up from the basement).
Quarter-round moulding hides the sealant from view.
mmm
Pergo makes goop to seal the edges?
This is the first I’ve heard of this. Neither people with the laminate in their homes nor installation videos I’ve seen mention it. Is this a relatively new addition? Whatever it is, it must be fairly elastic when set, in order to accommodate the expansion/contraction that so much is made of.
It is interesting to note the term “Pergo,” typically thought synonymous with “laminate flooring” is a trademark of the Swedish company that invented it in 1977. The North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) is an ANSI-accredited laminate flooring manufacturer trade association. There are many companies making laminate flooring around the world today.
When you say "Pergo"you are talking about a very small subset of the laminate flooring industry.
This was not done in my installation, and it is not mentioned in Pergo’s installation instructions.
I have heard suggestions for applying silicone sealant at the edges of the flooring, but my understanding was that it was on top of the laminate flooring. I did not apply any sealant when I installed laminate flooring 2 years ago and we love it. The quality of flooring you buy makes the difference, but it’s not recommended for bathrooms because of the susceptibility to water.
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.
We’ve had laminate floors (Mohawk brand) for 6 or 7 years now and it’s perfectly fine. The cats have done everything you can imagine to it, and it’s held up rather nicely.
No, it doesn’t look or sound or smell or feel like wood. No, it doesn’t hold up in wet areas like tile. No, it does not have the permanence of either nor enhance the value of your home in the same way. It also (at least at the time) costs much much less than stone or wood.
I consider laminate to be a competitor to high-end carpet, as far as price, durability, maintenance, and function. In that respect, it does rather well. Compared to hardwood or stone, though, it’s likely to only win on price. I think your satisfaction with laminate will depend on what you compare it to.
I definitely sealed the edges, and I’m 99% certain it was with a Pergo goop. Yes, it is elastic, I imagine it is a silicone product.
I did install my floor around 15 years ago, if that makes a difference.
mmm
