Anybody have this stuff in their house or know anyone that does? Any feedback? What does it do to the value of your house? Anything? Any thoughts are welcome, please. Thanks.
My wife and I have laminate flooring but not Pergo. We have Wilson Art and we love it. We actually got all of it financed and installed by Sears of all places and they did a great job. It looks great and is sturdy as hell. We actually have wood floors under them but they were so screwed up by a previous owner that we were unable to re-do them reasonably so we went with Wilson Art. We have it throughout our downstairs with the exception of the bathroom and the kitchen.
Jeff -- do you have any idea how the cost of what you had done compares to that of Pergo? They have classes at Home Depot on how to install Pergo, so we're thinking about doing that--we might be able to get it done ourselves in the 1000-$1500 range. Actually the only major issue I have right now is how it will affect the value of our house, unless someone tells me the stuff is no good. Thanks for your input.
Pergo will enhance the value of your home if properly installed and maintained. If it gets wet, dry it immediately. Pergo is a brand name, and there are plenty of excellent alternatives such as Wilson Art. Shop around if you plan to have it installed. I don't know how much Sears charges to install the stuff, but I know that for my vinyl siding, they wanted over 14K to do the job at my house. I had a more expensive grade of the same brand of siding installed by a local contractor for less than half of that. Again, I can't speak for their flooring department, but they will rip you off for siding. Bottom line: get more than one estimate...it will be worth your time.
Whoa, that scares me. We have a cat, a dog, and a baby that will all be roaming around the house. The dog in particular is very messy (he's a basset hound, they tend to drool)! Are we talking dry it immediately just as you would want to for your carpet, or is this irreparable damage? Jeff, I just now made the connection thanks to Pole that what you have is the same as Pergo. In my head I was thinking linoleum for some reason by the way you described it.
laminates have a protective coating on top, but they fit together in pieces. Liquid that sits on the pieces can seep through the cracks where they join. From there, it can get underneath and warp them. Just as bad, it can seep into the laminate itself (from around the edges) and bubble the protective coating which makes it look horrible. For the absolute best in durability, longevity, easy of clean-up, good looks, and appreciable value, I'd strongly consider ceramic tile.
I didn't quite answer your question properly. Dry it immediately, just like you would for you carpet. However, if you have a big spill....like say a pitcher of water...it's much more likely that it will seep through the cracks before you can get it all up. On the one hand, if you get a bad carpet stain that you just can't live with, you pretty much have to replace the whole carpet. If you mess up a laminate floor to the extent that you can't live with it, you can usually just replace sections of it. That being said, large non-staining liquid spill will probably fare better on carpet than on a laminate. Staining liquids should be easier to clean on the laminate. ceramic tile beats them both.
Pole -- we currently have tile in the kitchen and front hallway in our house, and I like the idea of getting the rest of it tiled. However, the one concern with that we have is when it gets cold. Wouldn't the tile get a lot colder during the winter? It's harder to stay warm when your floor is freezing. Do you have this problem, and does it bother you? Of course it's only cold a couple of months out of the year, so maybe it's not worth worrying about.
I've never really found that to be an issue, but we do have several area rugs. The good thing about that is that the rugs can be purchased fairly cheaply at places like Marshall's or on Harwin. They're an easy way to spruce up the place, and if they get worn or stained, they're much cheaper to replace. Still though....we have large areas without rugs, and it's never bothered me in the winter. Maybe 'cuz the winters here or so mild.
I can't remember which maker of laminate flooring offers this, but one of them specially treats the underlying part of their product with something that resists moisture (can't think of a better way to say that). It might even be the more expensive Pergo flooring; I believe they make three different kinds. Go to google.com and type in "laminate flooring;" it gives you several makers.
Siding salesmen are just like used car salesmen and mechanics, they'll rip you off in a heart beat. I, personally, have cleaned up more than on siding mess put up by Sears contractors. They over charge, and do poor work, on average. Anyone ever want a fair estimate on a siding job (or other home improvement project) email me. My dad's been in the business for over 20 years. You can't beat the quality for the price. He's not the cheapest (but not far off) in Houston, but for the money, you can't do better.
Tile is great for allergies and looks nice, but has its own issues as well. The grout gets easily stained and also our dogs have chipped it. I think if we went with a darker grout and tile it would limit the former problem. Nonetheless it is quite funny watching my dogs move their legs 1000 miles an hour on it and see them go nowhere on the tile, but it isn't good for grout. Tile is also real nice in warmer climates because it stays cool. What do ya'll think about hardwood floors (not that I am considering it because we will just fix the grout if we need to). Home depot has classes and if you do it yourself it isn't too expensive, I believe it is supposed to be hard work to install nicely. Don't know if the effort involved with Pergo or other laminates are easier or not.
