Hardwood floors or Pergo?

Question

Hardwood floors or Pergo? Please illuminate the benefits and drawbacks of both. I know hardwood is nicer and more expensive but very expensive to maintain as well. Pergo is not as classy but is cheaper, with less maintenence. What do you all say?

Answer 1

Pergo is a dud. If you get a scratch in it there isnt much you can do. With hardwood, if it all goes to hell you can just sand it and refinish it. Hardwood isnt expensive to maintain either, they are about the same. Go with hardwood.

Answer 2

One of the six houses we have had in the last 10 years, house #5, had pergo in the kitchen, adjacent family room and laundry room. I hated it! It was incredibly noisy and slippery, as well as tacky looking and easily scratched.

Not only the look is different than wood but the feel underfoot is different, pergo is brittle, it has little "give". Wood is a much kinder surface to stand on for long periods of time; such as in a kitchen doing prep work and cooking.

I do not believe pergo is any easier to take care of than wood, in fact it may be more difficult because you really have to guard against standing water. I was nervous about scrubbing the pergo too, afraid I would rub the laminate right off.

Also, the dog's nails clicked louder on the pergo than on the wood floors we had in other houses.

Our current house has ceramic tile (and some marble) which is much worse than pergo or wood, on older knee joints and backs. Tile is also the most maintenance of the three because of the dirt that gets trapped in the grout lines.

(I am so talented I even chipped the ceramic tile, when I knocked a heavy cookie jar off the counter. Wood would have possibly dented, pergo would been gouged and would have had to have been replaced.)

I think regardless of the money, Wood is the way to go.

Answer 3

Providing on the room you intend to apply either product, is a concern. I would not apply either in a bathroom , kitchen or entry way. Any moisture will create lifting & buckling. Example; perhaps the water supply line on your refrigerator ice maker develops a leak. It will wick under either floor and hardly noticable, untill its to late.In the bathroom, it is impossible to contain every drop of water in the shower or tub. Wet shoes,snow in the entry way, the results being the same as above. Both are slippery when wet, one more reason not to apply in a bathroom.
Elevation may be a concern, for pergo is 3/8" in depth. Hardwood is 3/4" in depth. Will your exterior / interior doors absorb the height increase? Without creating a major expense by elevating door jambs / cutting door bottoms etc.
Pergo being a veneer product. This is a one time finish floor. It can't be sanded and refinished. Allthough the reducers applied for transitions are only 0 to 3/8"
Hardwood may be refinished many times over. Virtiaually a life time floor, properly cared for. Here again the transition reducer, per say into vinyl is 0" to 3/4" This creates a possible stumbling point.
Apply either in a livingroom / diningroom / bedroom. You will enjoy for years. Happy New Year

Answer 4

I don't know much about it but my parents got Pergo in one room and was planning on doing the rest of the house in it as well. They ended up redoing the Purgo floor and going with all hardwoods. The floors are beautiful and they are a lot happier with the real thing.

Answer 5

Hardwood is the way to go..Pergo can get moisture underneath it and curl up....it's cheaper...but there's a reason for that! You get what you pay for.....They say you can't tell the difference but you can. The prior owner of my house put pergo in the kitchen and I put hardwood in my office....and the difference in class is profound...go with hardwood....!!!

Answer 6

Simply for me it is the look. If you want the look of hardwood floor its just best to get it. Don't settle for Pergo just because it's cheaper. I did settle for Pergo and was not happy with it. It is not the look of wood. It looks like paneling on your floor. Get the real thing.

Answer 7

Hello Mark,

My husband & I have been installing the floating floors in different homes that we managed for my brother and we found that it was so easy to maintain with 2 dogs and ourselves using them frequently. The expense of the floating floor will pay back in multitudes with the amount of
wear and tear that they will take and very easy maintence.

Natural hard wood floors are beautiful and with the right treatment and care they also could be beneficial. I cannot answer as to how they would hold up to a lot of wear and tear.

Good Luck on your endevor!

Suggestion: The swiffer wet mops are not advisable for use with pets as the solution is poisonous to them.

Answer 8

Hardwood is well worth the investment.