To finish off a downstairs remodel, the question was whether to go with hardwood flooring or Pergo laminate flooring. I needed to know what the main differences were so I could make an informed decision. Our neighborhood home store provided what I thought were the answers. I was told that although hardwood flooring is beautiful, it can be very expensive and has to be refinished over time. Plus, if you drop something and nick the floor, it takes off the finish and you have to refinish it, not to mention the shiny top coat which gets worn away. I was told that Pergo was perfect for a high traffic area since it's made with layers and layers of the laminate and doesn't need refinishing. If you were to scratch it, I was told a wipe and a going over with a dry Swiffer would do the trick.
Well, Pergo it was, and we bought 55 boxes of 5" African Padauk flooring from the Global Passages collection. It was the free-floating type, which meant no nails/nail gun necessary; it was a "click & lock" type of installation. The installation had quite a few snags. You have a kit you can buy to help "bang" these slats into place and it cost a mere extra $50. It was a plastic block and a rod. Many of the planks out of the box were damaged, whether they be at the edges or chipped corners. We kept a few empty boxes for the defective ones. It took us three back breaking days to put down 52 boxes of flooring. It was not an easy job. I have to say, at first glance, I was very happy. It did not have the shine of a poly-coated hardwood floor, but it was pretty.
I ran out and bought all sorts of pads to put under the legs/bottoms of any piece of furniture in the room so as to not scratch the floor. Mind you, this floor comes with a 25-year warranty. The same evening, I noticed what I can only describe as a horrible scratch running across about nine or ten planks. When I tried to take it off, since it wasn't embedded but was a surface scratch resembling the look as if someone ran a rubber surface across the floor, it wouldn't come out. My husband tried to calm me down, telling me to call Pergo in the morning. I called and was told that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do with surface scratches that you can't feel with your nail; that over time, with more usage, they will appear diminished. In essence, Pergo, with a 25-year warranty, was telling me that the more scratched the other areas of the floor become, the less I'll notice this one scratch. I explained that the floor was less than 24 hours old and this was ridiculous, given they offer a 25-year warranty and now I have to live with it? Their answer? Go back to where I bought it and maybe they'll adjust the price. That was not what I wanted. I wanted a floor that would stand up to "high traffic areas," as I was told it would, one of the main reasons I went for Pergo rather than hardwood.
Well, long story short, within a few days time, the floor was COVERED with these type scratches and there is not a thing you can do to take them out. The floor looks fine when the sun isn't shining on it. But as soon as the sun hits the planks, it looks like someone put down wall paneling and walked across it. Not very attractive at all. At least with hardwood, if you have scratches, they can be taken out. These you can do nothing with. And the only way to clean this floor is to use vinegar and water on a cloth since if you wash the floor and the water gets into the cracks of the planks...well, don't ask.
If I had to do it again, I would buy hardwood flooring. Maybe if you're going to use this in a very light traffic area, okay. But the whole downstairs on the main floor of a home? Huge mistake. Think twice before you go the Pergo route.


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