So what are you guys impressions of Pergo (insert Airplane line)? There's something beautiful about the sound of a real floor, but I have a parking garage issue (cold open air area up under my floor), and more importantly a poor student issue to take into account. Have you seen it done well? Does a plastic floor seem odd to you guys? I've heard numerous people refer to them as 'beautiful', so I assume we can discuss plastic laminate flooring in that way now. 'Beautiful'. Pergo? Or not to Pergo? C'est la question! Vive la difference! Well, I'm out of French cliches, so answer up...
are you installing it yourself? if so, pergo. if not, wood floors. either way, there's a lot involved and either way, depending on how much floor you have to cover, it ain't cheap.
We have Wilson Art over our old original wood floors. When we initially moved in, we looked at the wood floors and there were all sorts of problems - giant holes cut out and replaced with plywood, giant stains, etc. We originally had carpet for whatever reason (easy and cheap most likely), but decided to go with laminate floors because re-doing the original floors would have meant we had to move out of our house for over a month and that was out of the question. So, we went for laminates. The Wilson Art is the best stuff out there. Bottom line: laminates are tougher than real wood, they don't scuff or dent like hardwoods and they require almost zero maintenance compared to real wood. Real wood needs extra special care to protect it from stains, dings and scuff marks. Plus, it needs to be buffed or treated ever few years. However, laminates can't ever look as good as real wood. They are nice and most people never know the difference, but anyone who knows wood knows the difference. Also, if any water spills on laminates and gets into a seam, it buckles and it is impossible to replace unlike wood that can be sanded, buffed and re-laquered. Finally, laminates are actually more money if you are re-doing your old wood floors. We found that they were appx. 10 to 20 percent more than re-furbishing our original floors. But, there is no comparison between putting in real wood vs. laminates. Real wood floors are almost twice as much to put in from scratch. Ultimately, if you want tough, durable, good-looking floors, laminates are great. If you don't mind the extra maintenance and really want that beautiful look of real wood, go with the real stuff.
Thanks for your help guys! (except for you fadeaway ) I think your bottom line, Jeff, is the bottom line. I'll have to point this stuff out to my Mrs. She and I were both blown away by a friend's floor a few mos ago (she kept saying Pergo in that deprecating way, and we were like 'oh, Pergo, sure' as if we knew the whole spiel... hey we're down!). A chance trip to Home Depot a few weeks ago was illuminating... but neither of us really knew that this stuff is pretty dang common. The durability and install costs are big decision factors. I doubt I'm going to skateboard in my own condo (I dented many a floor in Charleston), but it seems easy to dent real wood, now that memory serves. My luck, I'd dent the floor 15 times the day after the install! Can I ask if you have a light or dark floor? I've been told that the basic breakdown is 'light floors give away the seams, and dark floors can show streaks after cleaning'... have you had either issue? We're strongly leaning towards light floors I suppose.
Pergo in the kitchen, maybe, but you can't beat hardwood floors for your den/living room and bedrooms. Ain't nuthin like it. It may be more of a hassle, but it's worth it in the long run.
Laminates will look newer longer, but when they both are new, real wood will look better, and when the both look "old," real wood will look better. There's nothing uglier than a jacked up laminate. Laminates feel funny to me too, but that's a personal preferance....heck, they're probably easier on your feet, but they just feel.....fake....to me. Still, I'd rather have a laminate than carpet any old day......though I think I'd prefer some type of tile to the laminate. here's how consumer reports rates (in order from best to worst) some laminates if that's the route you want: PLASTIC-LAMINATE FLOORING Formica Butterscotch Oak Pergo Select Concord Oak PS 5280 Armstrong Princeton Oak Natural Mannington Natural Oak Pergo Original Oak Planked PO 2080 Wilsonart Classic Harvest Oak Congoleum Evermore Tarkett Realife Buckeye Oak Natural
My wife and I are having laminates installed in our new home...I love the feel of them on my feet! While they might not be hardwoods, they still look great.
We have about the lightest wood floors you can get. They are a very blonde maple color. They don't give away the seems any more than real wood does. The main thing with real wood is that there tends to be a lot of laquer on them. These have much more of a satin finish, not the sheen you see on heavily laquered real wood floors. Oh, and on a side note, they sound just as good as the real wood floors do. I've been really impressed with the quality of resonance of the laminates. Of course, mine are sitting on top of real wood so that helps, but they aren't like tile when it comes to sound reflection. For a musician, that makes them terrific. For someone who likes to listen to music, I assume it would be a good thing too.
wood, all through the house Heb, very light stain, extremely easy to clean and love the sound and feel it gives the house, but suppose it suits an old house.
There are some good altenatives to laminate flooring, that are durable and won't conduct the cold temperatures as much as a tile floor would from the garage below you. Forbo makes true linoleum floors, which are completely different from vinyl flooring (that stuff that was in your mom's kitchen). True linoleum is made from wood pulp and binders... no vinyl. It has a pretty hard surface and looks good if you get the right color. There are also some cool rubber floors from Johnsonite that are a good choice. Personally I like the round knobby textures the most, since it was used in one of my favorite houses of all time (Pierre Chareau's Glass House). Sorry to break out the pictures, but I didn't think anyone would believe me that one of the greatest buildings in the world has a rubber floor.... in the living room. I always favor stuff that isn't trying to be something else. Pergo always seems a little weird to me since it looks like wood (almost) and feels like a bouncy vinyl floor. When you step on it, it is so resilient that it doesn't make a noise. I prefer my wood floors to creak a little bit. Unfortunately, I haven't priced either one of these floors in a while, so I can't give you any info on that.
