We are closing on a house next week, and need to install new flooring. The house has worn carpet, and the sellers had both dogs and cats in the house. I am extremely allergic to cats, and my son is extremely allergic to dogs. Both of us are allergic to dust, mites, mold, pollen, etc. So the old carpet has to go.
We are thinking about installing a laminate floor, such as Pergo, throughout the house. We would use the snap-together type, and have professionals put it in.
Now my wife is saying that perhaps we should consider laying down some wall-to-wall carpet in some of the rooms, such as in the bedrooms and rec room. She thinks flooring in all of the rooms will make the house “cold.”
My questions are:
Does anybody have any insight on having Pergo put in? We are hearing an approximate price of $3.00/sq ft for the flooring, $0.50/sq ft for the pad, and about $3.00/sq ft for installation. We’d thought about having it done through Home Depot or Lowe’s.
For someone with allergies, how big a difference does flooring vs. wall-to-wall carpet make? How does the equation change if you put down an area rug over the flooring?
From my experience anything that isn’t fabric in your house will keep your sinuses relatively clean.
Fabrics,drapes,rugs,chairs,etc,hold all the dust/dirt that make the nasal passages swell.The only help if you live with fabrics is to wash/clean them as often as possible.Obviously,wall to wall presents a big problem there.
Regular vacuuming is your first line of defense in wall to wall,but how often do you actually clean/wash it? Very little I’d guess, since a once a week shampooing is hardly practical,but bedcover/drapes/curtains/area rugs can be kept fairly clean of the gremlins by weekly cleanings.
That’s the tradeoff for living with less allergens residing in your indoor environment.Keep it clean.Look into washable fabrics and get easy to clean vinyl/ceramic,or in your case pergo for your floors.
Don’t have a clue about pergo costs or applications,but I’d get checkable references from any wouldbe installer.I’m not overly fond of BigBox subcontractors.
Just a warning, echoing your concern in the OP - wood and laminate flooring can make your rooms seem COLD! If you are a person like me who is always cold, or your wife is, she is going to be…unappreciative of the wood flooring unless you use many rugs, or get used to having a jumper on around the house all the time. I know the energy equations say that overall the house is the same warmth, and I know all about the conductive heat transfer of the carpeting…all I know too is that people’s house with wood floors are always cold to me.
And noisy - don’t forget that. You don’t realize how much sound deadening your carpeting provides.
FWIW, I had some pergo installed by Home Depot. Their ordering people screwed up my order like twice and finally delivered my order 3 days before installation at 10PM. ( I forced them to deliver it then because it has to be in the environment it is going to be installed in for 3 days because of moisture.) Home Depot doesn’t do the install they give it to local florring contractors. The guys we had were great that did the install. I would use them again. The Home Depot experience left alot to be desired though…
I have had the Pergo in one room, less used for about a year now and do like it alot. It wears well as long as you keep it clean from grit etc… I do have one mark on it when I dropped a white box that weighed at least 100lbs on it. Very small mark and I think I can get it out with some more elbow grease.