Advice on new flooring

[valleygirl]

We are in the process of choosing material for a new floor for our kitchen. Has anyone out there had any experience with glueless laminate flooring (Pergo), the type that looks very much like hardwood? We like the way it looks, but our realtor friend says that
ceramic or Mexican tile is better in the long run. If anyone knows any pros or cons about this laminate flooring, please respond. We want to know if the floor will hold up over the years--we have three young kids who tend to spill drinks, etc.. I appreciate any input.
Thanks,
Valleygirl

 

[LauraMax]

No, don't go with Pergo! IMO it's awful. It looks like the floor in an Express in your local mall. I just recently looked at a house I was thinking of buying & the entire first floor had Pergo. It looked cheap & cheesy. Also it doesn't do well with humidity or if you have a flood--it warps & shrinks.

If you want a laminate, you can get really nice hardwood laminates, which are real wood with a laminate on top. I put that in my second floor & it looks great.

And I agree about ceramic tile as well--it's beautiful & holds up very well, although you have to make sure you keep extras b/c if you drop something the tiles will crack.

 

[Miss Lee]

Hi Valleygirl,

We have Pergo in our kitchen and I hate it. It doesn't look cheesy (actually, it looks very much like a hardwood floor--most people think it is when they see it, and it has never warped even though our water heater leaked all over the kitchen and powder room while we were away on a vacation. It's never been affected by high humidity either, and we've had it for about 10 years).

Here's what I hate about it. They tell you it is virtually indestructable but ours is full of dings and scratches. If you drop anything heavy on your floor it will leave a ding in it and it's not easy to repair. We tried to repair 2 small gouges and you can see the repairs. We broke a ceramic dinner plate, too, and it scratched the floor.

Another negative factor is that it dries with a streaky appearance unless you actually get on your hands and knees to wash AND dry it. Forget about using a Swiffer mop unless you don't mind the streaks.

 

[mrsmel]

Wow, this has not been my experience at all. We have Pergo in our kitchen (installed by the previous home owners) and I love it. I do find it virtually indestructible. Granted, I don't have small children or pets, so that might be the difference.

As for streaks, I find it only gets streaky if I don't Swiffer it with the grain. If I clean with the grain it dries on its own just fine.

I also like the look of it in our house. It looks rich and just like the real hardwood floors in the rest of the first floor. It is a different color than the other rooms.

So now you have 2 to 1 opinions. Did we make things easier for you?

 

[Miss Lee]

Hi mrsmel,

Which Swiffer products do you use on your floor? I think they used to have one especially for laminates but I haven't been able to find it lately. I have always mopped with the grain but it still streaks.

I gouged the floor when I dropped my iron. I do my ironing in the kitchen and I accidentally bumped it one day and it fell off my ironing board. It made a fairly large gouge in the floor. My DH dropped something--a knife maybe--I can't remember, that also but a pretty big ding in it. The plate I dropped left a ton of little scratches in it that I was able to cover using one of those touch up markers for furniture. There's not a lot of undue stress on our floor. It's just DH and me--no kids. We used to have 2 dogs but they really didn't harm it.

I like the look of the Pergo but I don't think I would get it again. We were probably one of the first ones to install it in our area--we got it when it first became available here and there weren't any other laminates on the market. I think there are lots of alternatives now that look better and are more durable than the Pergo.

 

[Gayle]

Hi Valleygirl,

I'm also in the midst of some flooring decisions here as well, including the kitchen. I have some friends who put a good quality laminate floor in their kitchen, dining room, and kids bath seven years ago and it still looks great. They have two kids and two dogs.

Not every laminate flooring manufacturer is equal in quality, so you'll want to do a little homework. I suggest you check out the flooring forum over at This Home Site (aka Garden Web). A search will turn up a lot of posts about laminate and everything else.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/

Also, check out Hosking Hardwood. They have a pretty nice rating system on their site on various laminate products.

http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/

I love the look and wearability of tile (it would hold up to kids), but I've heard that it can be a little hard on the back if you're going to be standing on it for long periods of time, like someone who cooks a lot might.

 

[luvstep]

My friend put pergo in her bedroom. I think it looks really nice. But that's just the looks. In that room, there isnt the wear and tear like a kitchen gets. If it were me, I'd choose the tile for my kitchen. But unfornuatly, I dont have a choice to change my kitchen floor. I'm stuck with what I've got. Yucky laminate (the cheap kind).