Well, its long over due but my Pergo flooring project is finally over. If I could do it all over again, would I ? Actually yeah, I would. I learned a lot during the construction and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Here are some pics of the finished results. If you want to take a look at my first few days at tackling this project as well as tips and tricks and other information, check out the bottom of this page.

   
Bedroom 1  

Before
After
Bedroom 2  

Before
After
   
First few days on the construction site
Day 0

I should have taken some pictures of my living room and dining area before I ripped out all the carpet but I was a bit too eager.

I did take some pics of the bare floor after all the carpeting was removed. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that it looks better bare than with the carpet.
Day 1

Since the sub-floor was a concrete slab, I had to put a sheet of vapor barrier first. Then, I started putting down the 1st three rows of planks.

Unfortunately, this is as far as I got on the 1st day. The pace was much slower than I expected.
Day 2 Unfortunately, I was in no mood to take pictures on the 2nd day. I had come close to finishing up the living room but ran into some problems. My entrance way and part of the living room had 45 degree angles. Had the hardest time figuring out how to clamp these planks together.
Day 3 After a lot of sawing, I finally finished the living room and the entrance way with all the 45 degree angles. What a pain in the butt.
Day 4

After spending $ 70 on renting installation straps, I decided it would be better if I just purchase them. I got a set of 6 straps from FloorShop.com for $ 180.

Instead of spending an entire weekend, I decided to work on the dining area little bit everyday. Since the area was pretty much a square, the installation went very fast. Of course, by this time, I learned lots of tricks also.
Day 4+

What was suppose to take 1 weekend dragged out to several days. This is the last time I believe those home improvement shows. :)

The idea of repeating this work in the hallway and 2 bedrooms is a daunting task but I honestly think those will be easier. I decided to take a break from finishing the rest of my place. At least to have some time to enjoy my work.

 

Additional information

Why laminated floor ?

There are two reasons why I decided to install laminated flooring. First, the existing carpet in my place was absolutely horrendous. Second, I always preferred hardwood floor over carpet. Since I couldn't afford real hardwood floor (due to my over-priced condo), I decided on laminated floors.

Research

There are several places you can get information regarding flooring in general.

Pergo.com
FloorShop.com

Brands

Obviously, Pergo is the most famous brand but there are about a dozen other manufacturers of laminated floors. It seems like many people prefer Wilsonart or Formica over Pergo. My main concern was that if I needed additional supplies during my installation, I wanted to be able to get it locally. Unfortunately, the only brand I could get locally was Pergo.

Purchase

I regularly buy merchandise over the net but didn't think I could get a good deal for laminated flooring. My main concern was shipping. These flooring planks are not light and I thought the extra shipping charge would not make it worth while.

Well, I was wrong. Even with the shipping charge (and in my case, state tax), I saved quite a bit. Plus, they deliver to your door. I highly recommend FloorShop.com. I had the supplies delivered within a week of placing the order.

I paid $2.50 per square feet. Lowest price I found locally was $3.50 at HomeDepot.

Tools

You'll need some basic tools for Pergo installation. In addition to the standard tools, I recommend purchasing a tape measure with metric measurements

Also, if you expect the installation will take several days, you may want to invest on some ratchet straps. You can rent then from HomeDepot for $30 a day but it can add up quickly.

Installation

So, this was the biggest decision. As much as I liked doing projects myself, the size of this project was a bit overwhelming. But, if you read some of the news groups, you'll see many complaints about professional installations. I personally think that there are installers out there who don't know what they are doing.

From my perspective, I can live with a not-so-perfect installation if I do it myself. But I would be royally !$@%^# if I paid someone to do it and it turns out to be a bad installation. So, I decided to tackle the job myself.

Tips

Here are some tips I learned during the installation.

  • In order to remove any gaps between plank (especially where several planks meet), you have to really tighten the ratchet straps. Unfortunately, this can sometimes buckle the planks. To avoid this, place a box of pergo flooring parallel to the straps. The weight of the box will keep the planks on the floor and prevent it from buckling.
  • The installation video instructs you to tap the planks together length wise and only use straps to tighten planks along the sides. I noticed this can lead to gaps at the ends of the planks. I used the ratchet straps to tighten both sides of the planks. Just remember to tighten the straps gradually on all sides.
  • Not all ratchet straps are made the same. The set of ratchet straps I purchased from FloorShop.com worked fine. However, I noticed that the straps are not as strong as the ones from Pergo. I broke a few straps during installation. No big deal, just tie the straps together and continue.