The Flooring Expert

Q: What is Pergo®?

A: For those just beginning their search for flooring, the name “Pergo®” is very popular, but not everyone knows precisely what Pergo® is. The easiest way to describe Pergo® is from Steve Simonson's article “Pergo® vs. the World” which is described as:

Pergo® flooring is a brand of a new type of flooring, known as laminate, which has the look of real hardwood with the easy maintenance of vinyl. It’s available in wood plank, limestone block, marble, and granite tile. While relatively new to the United States, Pergo® flooring has been a mainstay in Europe for almost 20 years.

Steve's article was written back in the 90s, so calling Pergo® a new flooring type is somewhat outdated, but the important message is that Pergo® is a manufacturer of laminate flooring. Nowadays many flooring manufacturers make their own laminates and laminate itself has caught on in the US as an affordable way to get a great looking wood floor.

Much like other laminates, Pergo® is constructed in 3 specific layers. The first layer is a decorative laminate top. This top is, roughly speaking, a piece of paper with a picture to look like the floor of choice, then it is laminated to the remainder of the board using a pressure based method. The middle of the board is a medium-density or high-density fiberboard core. The final layer is a laminated backing which balances out the plank. With how laminate is created, it causes it to be very stable, allowing for floating installations virtually anywhere in a home.

Q: I have removed my existing ceramic tile. How smooth does the floor have to be to install a laminate wood floor? Does all the thinset have to be removed, because I have some areas that are slightly uneven. Also when taking up the tile with a chipping hammer I did have some of the concrete floor chip up. Does this need to be patched? If so what do you recommend? Thank you

A: When removing any existing floor, especially tile or glued down floors, it is recommended to make your subfloor as flat as possible. When it comes to a subfloor, there are three things your subfloor should be: clean, flat and dry.

This being said, it will be a task to remove all of the thinset, but in the end it will be much better for your new laminate. Now should you chip into the concrete don't worry. You will want to use a self leveling compound. These are easy to get from any local home store. When mixing the compound make sure not to add too much water to this mix, as it can be a common problem where too much water is added and the compound won't cure properly.

Give the self leveler plenty of time to cure and follow all instructions. This can also be used in areas where your subfloor may be uneven to help make the floor easy to install on. Afterward, take your time to install your new floor and enjoy having a beautiful new laminate floor.

Q: I am doing a 16x16 foot room with laminate. I will be putting floor-to-ceiling bookcases on 3 of the 4 walls, and an entertainment center on the 4th wall.

Tom D.

A: Any time you are installing any floating floor, such as the laminate in this case, its it important to keep in mind that very heavy or large pieces of furniture, such as floor to ceiling book cases, cabinets, or entertainment centers built into the floors or walls, should not go on top of the flooring.

The short answer to this is, build your book cases first, then install your floor once your ready. The reason behind this is that the bookcases (or similarly heavy furniture) can cause the floor to have too much weight rest on one edge, and thusly will tilt or lift the floor. I have seen an issue where this occurred after installing a floating bamboo floor from Springwood in a remodeled kitchen. The cabinets were installed over the top of the floor, causing the floor to lift.

Good luck with your project!

Q: Can you put a laminate floor over carpet?

Abohanna

A: This is a pretty common question. The answer is "no," but lets get into a deeper explanation of why. Although laminate is installed using the floating method, which allows the floor to be installed over the top of a subfloor without anchoring to the subfloor, carpet is not a suitable substrate. I have frequently had the question of "will carpet padding work as underlayment?" with customers who have called in to our call center here at iFLOOR. This is again an answer of "no." Due to how carpet and carpet padding are made, they are too soft to work as a suitable underlayment for floating floors. Simply put, they are not dense enough to fit floating installation specs.

End result, to install a beautiful new laminate floor into your home, you will need to remove the carpet, carpet padding and tack strip in order to get a clean subfloor, then you can install your underlayment (I'm a big fan of 3mm cork) and then install your laminate.

As a side note, there are a few hard surfaces you can install over using floating installations. Pre-existing hardwood floors, tile, vinyl and linoleum all can act as suitable substrates as long as you use a good underlayment (Sound 6 or cork being the preference here). In the case of tile, its suggested to level out the grout lines with the tile itself as best you can to ensure your floor will lie nice and flat and reduce possibility of issue.

Q: We just installed Pergo laminate flooring in our dining area - it looks great!! My question is - we have a 55 gallon aquarium that weighs roughly 650 lbs. when full of water - can we move our tank into the dining area safely? Will the weight hurt the floor?

Jessica

A: When it comes to any floating floor, such as your Pergo®, it is not advised to put anything that is especially heavy on one portion of your floor, such as book cases, cabinets, or aquariums. This being said, this can depend heavily on the underlayment you use as well. Dense underlayments, such as cork, can support weight better than the typical foam underlayment.

There are folks who will put heavy objects, such as pool tables, in a rec room over floating cork or laminate and have success with it. Being an aquarium keeper myself, I would be curious to know what type of tank you have and what type of base you used for it. A longer rectangular tank would spread the weight over a larger area and perhaps be more suitable. Although I would advise putting your aquarium elsewhere since this is a floating floor.

In the end, another thing to keep in mind is wood and water do NOT mix. So should a spill occur, whether when cleaning your tank, changing water changing items in the tank, etc., you run a big risk or ruining the laminate unless many precautions are taken. I personally lay down towels around my tank before doing anything that could involve spills and my tank sits over stone tiling.

To summarize: I would generally not suggest placing something heavy, such as your aquarium, over a floating floor. Wood and water do not mix; however, this is your floor and your home so you can do anything you like – just be prepared for consequences.

Q: We recently installed a Tap-N-Loc floor and love it! How is it cared for? May I use a damp mop on it. Is there any special care for it?

Thanks.
Diane D.

A: Diane I would first like to say I am rather happy that you love your new floor!

In regards to cleaning your floor I would not use a damp mop. For laminate (or any hardwood floor), I would suggest using a microfiber mop with BonaKemi's (also called Bona) cleaning products. You will want to sweep the floor to remove debris (such as pet hair) then lightly mist a small area and mop with the microfiber mop. Repeat the misting and mopping to clean your floor. You will want to keep regular maintenance as this will vastly increase the life span of your floor. Now for smaller areas, such as a mark from pet nails, you can use a lightly dampened cloth to clean the small area, but for normal maintenance I would suggest using one of the great cleaners from BonaKemi because this stuff can work wonders.

Also, here's a link to our floor care guide which has great tips on maintaining your floor.

• Floor Care Guide

Q: Thanks for all the informative articles on laminate flooring. I still have one question before purchasing. Perhaps you can help. I want to put new flooring down in my utility room and kitchen. I have read the info about water in utility room and I am taking that into consideration. My question is-
Is there a laminate that WILL NOT show scratch marks from dog's toe nails? I am considering laminate or vinyl.

Thank you.

A: I'm glad you like Steve's educational articles such as Brand Wars II: A Laminate Showdown.

When it comes to putting a floor in an area where you are more likely to encounter water, such as bathrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms (I've had my washer flood a few times sadly); the mind set of wood and water do NOT mix is good to keep in mind. Now several people have had past with various floors in these areas including 3/4” solid hardwood floors which I tend to cringe at the thought of installing in a high potential moisture area.

Your major question has to do with pets, namely dog toe nails. Unfortunately with wood flooring, even super tough floors like AC5 rated laminates, no floor is impervious to damage. That being said, if you keep your dog's nails trimmed this will significantly help in reducing scratches.

In your case, when combining dogs and water, I would honestly suggest using a vinyl product or a higher rated laminate such as Westhollow's Vise-Loc series. Using cheaper laminates would not be advised.

Congoleum makes a very nice, very easy to install wood looking vinyl in their forum plank and regal plank collections. This way you can still get the great look of wood, but the durability and benefits of a vinyl. This is actually one of Steve's top picks for DIY friendly products and from the time I have had to look over the Congoleum planks myself, it looks great!

Keep in mind, nothing will be impervious to traffic from our furry friends, but with a few precautions such as trimming nails we can vastly improve the longevity of a floor. Our purchasing specialist, Ryan W., related the story of his own floor and pet experience. Ryan has Westhollow's South American Walnut installed in his home with his dog Jin. Jin is an 85 lbs. Dog who loves playing. Ryan mentioned that he has had this floor for 2 years without a single mark on it. He mentioned occasionally when Jin “gets a bit crazy” he'll leave white marks on the floor, but these are from his nails and not damage to the floor. A simple wipe with a lightly dampened cloth and they are gone.

Here is a picture Ryan took of his floor, you'll notice a few of the white marks left by Jin's nails (and the use of a nice area rug to protect the floor with furniture over the top)

Here's a picture of Ryan's dog Jin. To give you and idea of the type of dog running over his laminate floor.

Ryan and I both agree that if the room has high humidity or there are issues with standing water, such as a leak from a washer, then laminate might not be the best bet. Ryan commented "If the room has normal moisture in the air, 28 to 40 percent, then it should be no issue. You just can't put wet clothes on the floor or leave standing water on it, like I always say: it's a floor not a pool and if you treat it like a floor then you should have little or no issues"

So, as long as you trim your dog's nails and prevent moisture issues like standing water or high humidity, a good laminate can stand the test of time even with medium sized dog like Jin. Now keep in mind, some rather large dogs like Great Danes or St. Bernards might not be as forgiving to a floor and now floor is impervious to damage, but many are rather tough. Good luck!

Q: I’m a professional builder. I’ve installed a number of laminate floors for clients. 5 (?) years ago I used Wilsonart’s Classic line in a couple of rooms in my own home. I’ve been pleased with the results. When I chose the Wilsonart Classic product five or so years ago it was a glue-up product (click-lock was just coming on to the scene). I chose the Wilsonart product after careful consideration of composition, warranty, oxides etc. Price was not a consideration. I was and am more concerned about durability and performance.

Tim O.
Seattle, WA

A: Tim thank you for the excellent question. Furniture like pianos or pool tables where they have concentrated point-loads become a subject of various questions when installing a hard surface floor.

Laminate nowadays is very similar brand to brand in the sense of core density. Also, most locking mechanisms are similar in the concept and application. The key points to focus on for your project would be underlayment, furniture cups and the floor.

Furniture cups are big on ANY wood floor. This will prevent the furniture from making direct contact with your wood floor and provides a buffer which will help to prevent denting and scratching.

In regards to underlayment, you will want to use a dense underlayment, which in this case I would suggest 6mm cork. This will keep your floating floor stable and the natural qualities of cork will prevent it from breaking down some over time.

In regards to the floor there are a few approaches to take. Since this will be a floating floor, you can look at some of the click-together engineered hardwood floors, such as Philharmoniker's line. The advantage to an engineered hardwood is the value it adds to your home along with the beauty of real wood. Should you wish to use a laminate, I would suggest using an AC4 rated floor at the minimum. Personally I would look for a thicker laminate such as the 12mm offered with Westhollow's Vise-Loc line or 10mm laminate like Pergo® Select.

The issue you will run into with laminate is that most of the really well built laminates have a beveled edge. Keep in mind, these bevels are designed to give a more realistic look to the floor. Micro bevels rarely cause issues with cleaning because of how slight they are.

If you want to avoid a bevel, you might want to consider an engineered hardwood over laminate. If the bevel issue is less important than finding a product with the specs to work with your piano, there are several great laminates to look at such as the Westhollow Vise-Loc, Pergo Select, Quickstep Perspective.

I will also mention that I know several customers, even in the commercial aspect, whom have had great experiences with cork flooring for similar applications, which could easily fit the project you have here as well if your not dead set on the wood plank appearance.

To sum everything up: get a dense underlayment (6mm cork is preferred), a good floor, and furniture cups. If you want a floating floor, look into engineered hardwood, an AC4 or AC5 rated laminate or cork.

Q: Does the padding for floating floor have to lay on floor for 48 hrs before u can lay the laminate floors?

Margie

A: For floating floors there is no need to let the underlayment sit before installing the floor. However, it is important to know that after a floor is installed (and make sure to acclimate it before installing it) your floor will go through a secondary acclimation process as it adjusts to the area it has been installed in. So, you may want to let your newly installed floor sit for that 2 day period before placing furniture over it.

Enjoy your new floor and good luck with your install!

Q: We are looking at putting hardwood floor / laminate in our home. Just wondered what you would recommend for a high traffic area, plus we have 2 kids and a dog. We need something durable. Our home has white wash oak trim throughout, was wondering also if this would be a wise choice for flooring being it is a lighter color.

Thanks!
Tami S.

A: When looking for a durable floor laminate is a great choice. As we discussed about Ryan W.'s dog Jin and his floor. A good AC4 or AC5 rated laminate with proper care taken will stand up great to the traffic of kids and a dog.

The key here is keep your dog's nails trimmed and ensure you used a good underlayment along with purchasing a good floor. You can also look into several engineered hardwood floors, such as Bellefloor or Philharmoniker, but if you want to ensure greater durability go with a laminate.

Try taking a look at Westhollow's Vise-Loc products, Pergo Select, or Quick Step's Perspective for a few great laminates that should fit your project. I would personally suggest using a 3mm cork underlayment below the floor to give it a great feel, reduce sound, and to have an underlayment which is naturally better at handling higher traffic.

Q: How do I bring the Pergo flooring back to a shine. My wife took care of them and she passed away 5 years ago. The cleaning lady mops them, but is there polish or something that can safely be used?

Carl O.

A: I'd first like to send my condolences. To help keep your floors clean and keep a good shine I would suggest using the cleaners made by Bona (BonaKemi). This stuff really is great when it comes to cleaning any wood floor. Just lightly spray areas of the floor and mop with a microfiber mop, and repeat until you've cleaned the entire floor.

One thing I will mention, avoid any polishes or products with wax as this will actually dull the appearance of the floor and can become a real pain to remove.

For some other great tips on taking care of your floors visit our Floor Care Guide.

Q: I have read all the great articles on your site comparing solid and engineered wood floors and laminates. Great articles. I have read the recommendations / reviews of the hardwoods and laminates that you have created. Again - great stuff.

Thanks - Kevin

A: There are several approaches you can take at this point. I understand why your builder suggests avoiding a wood floor, but you can use a wood floor with active dogs. There are a few things you can do to increase the lifespan of a wood floor and drastically decreases the likeliness of scratching from your dogs.

To begin, you will want to find a good floor. Typically this is achieved with a AC4 or AC5 rated laminate such as Pergo Select, Westhollow, Wilsonart Red Label, and Quickstep Perspective. AC4 and AC5 rated laminate is where you begin to run into laminates that can take light commercial traffic, meaning they are tough. You can also look into the route of an engineered hardwood floor. Based on the weight of your dogs, I would suggest getting a wood that is at least as hard as white oak. Anything softer, like American Cherry or Black Walnut, will be too soft and is likely to dent.

Scratches will occur over time no matter the wood floor you choose, even the toughest laminates will get some scratching. When scratching occurs, it usually causes a white colored streak ad the finish is scratched. Over time these will blend in a bit and not be white streaks across your floor.

With your dogs, I suggest keeping their nails trimmed. This will drastically reduce the potential for scratching from your dogs. Beyond keeping your dogs' nails trimmed, if you keep up proper maintenance and cleaning you will increase the lifespan of your floor and keep your floor looking great.

As I always suggest with any floating floor, get a good underlayment. With active dogs, I'd suggest my underlayment of choice: cork. Due to cork's density, cork can stand the test of time far better than other underlayments – plus it feels great under your feet. You can also use Sound 6 Barrier Acoustical Underlayment to get the best sound out of your floor. Laminate will have a “hollow” or “clicky”sound when walked over, but this is reduced by underlayment, so the better the underlayment, the better the sound. Sound 6 is designed specifically to reduce sound and give a more solid wood floor sound.

In regards to the repetition with laminate, if you intend to put the same floor throughout your home you could run into this issue, which is why an engineered hardwood could be a route to consider. One thing you can do to reduce this, is to pull planks of the floor from 5 – 6 boxes at a time when laying a floor. This will help to randomize the appearance. Another approach you can take is to use a different floor in each area, which will give each room its own look along with helping to hide repetition.

For your kitchen, tile can be great as it can take a lot of abuse without getting scratched. Also, tile is great when it comes to moisture worries. However, you can keep with a wood floor, as it seems your own Pergo has stood the test of time.

When it comes to cost, laminate and engineered hardwood can save a great deal of money when compared to solid hardwood floors, and engineered wood floors add great value to your home. A few things I suggest, look into financing and find a floor you love. Don't buy a floor just because the price is good, find one that fits your project and the look you want. Financing is common these days and can be a great way to make the cost of a new floor easier to handle, which is part of the reason why iFLOOR.com offers financing, to help our customers get the floor they want.

I hope this helps you make decisions on your new floor and when you do get everything done, send us some pictures!

Q: I am remodeling the garage into a family room. The laminate that has the backing on it already, does it still require the moisture barrier first? The concrete floor surface is above ground level.

Danni

A: The backing on laminate floors is not designed to prevent moisture vapor from entering your floor. In short – yes, you must have a vapor barrier when installing over concrete.

The backing boards added to laminate are built for stability and not to suppress moisture. Now if you are referring to a pre-attached underlayment then you will only need the moisture barrier to install. Underlayments which come pre-attached to some laminates are built only to cushion the floor and act as a sound suppressor.

To sum up – any time you are installing a floating floor over concrete (even at ground level) you MUST use a moisture barrier and underlayment or you will void your floor's warrant and most likely end up needing to replace the floor again within a a few years if not months.

Q: After the laminate flooring is installed, I plan to move the large (8' tall) bookcases that are currently in a small hard-wood-floored bedroom to the newly floored room. These bookcases will line at least one wall, possibly two facing walls, and then be filled with books. I decided to go with laminate flooring because I was concerned that they would not be particularly stable on the current floor covering (carpeting). They are now and will be pretty heavy. Is there a problem with that, particularly since that will keep the laminate from using its "breathing space" near the wall? Is there anything special I should do?

Melinda

A: With such large bookcases, I would suggest putting the book cases in place before installing your new laminate. With how floating floors work, putting such heavy objects on one side of the floor near a wall will tilt the floor a bit and is bad for the stability of the floor. In the case of pianos, they don't line an entire wall so you can make that work, but with 8' tall book cases across an entire wall I would heavily suggest installing the floor after putting in the book cases.

Follow-up Q: I'm glad I asked! I haven't removed the carpet yet, and thus am not sure of the look of the underfloor. But when we move out some day, we'll take the bookcases with us. The resulting holes along the edge of the walls will not be pretty. But, assuming we do put the bookcases in over the subfloor, then put in the laminate flooring up to the bookcases (with expansion room), would we be looking at some transition element, like a baby threshold, alongside the bookcases?

But maybe laminate flooring is not the solution. Do you have any other recommendations? I can use a saw, hammer, level, straightedge, and lever, and didn't figure laminate flooring required gobs of strength, just patience.

A: If you have a wood subfloor, I would look into a floor you can nail down (3/4" solid being your best bet). Solid floors that are directly anchored to a floor will have no issue with your book cases. The other major benefit to a solid hardwood is it adds great value to your home. Laminate will add some value, but in the end it is laminate. (The good ones are durable as all get out though!) You can also look at an engineered hardwood floor, but make sure to use a harder wood with minimum hardness of white oak. (Avoid American Cherry, Black walnut and similar soft woods as they will dent under the book cases). Westhollow and Woodstock make some excellent solid and engineered hardwood floors (for this project I would suggest a pre-finished floor as the finish for these two companies is rather tough).

When it comes to transitions if you use a floating floor I would suggest using end caps/square nose. These will give the floor a smooth looking end to the floor and can go up against the book cases.

In regards to the platform-like approach for your book cases. You could build an area of flooring just for the cases, then put in t-molds to cover the gap between that and the remainder of the floor, but honestly I would look into a nail-down application for this project, as floating floors aren't designed to handle large furniture as effectively.

Q: We installed laminate flooring over old vinyl flooring in our kitchen and have run into a problem when trying to install the transition pieces (laminated wood transitions, no pre-drilled holes) between the laminate flooring in the kitchen to the carpet in the living room and reducers in front of the doorways. As our house is on a concrete slab the nails we bought bend when nailed in to the transition pieces. Our local hardware store suggested construction glue along the bottom tongue part of the transition piece - however that part does not sit low enough in the gap between laminate flooring and carpet to touch the bottom of the vinyl to allow to be glued down to anything. Can you glue or nail the transition strips to the laminate flooring or do you need to stay in the gap between flooring and carpet? We just want the easiest way to attain secure transition pieces without ugly nail heads showing. PLEASE help us!

Jamie H.

A: The first thing I would suggest is to check if your trim is one that is meant to be used in a track system. Most laminate trims nowadays are made so that you nail or glue (also called liquid nail) the track in place and then snap in trim into the track. Its somewhat common to get a track based trim without knowing you need the track as well when the tracks aren't included with the trim (few manufacturers include tracking with their trims).

This being said, you could glue the trim to the floor, but keep in mind these trims are meant to cover necessary expansion gaps and gluing something in place can effect this (although I don't think you would run into any issues as long as you keep your home well regulated throughout the year).

Make sure the glue you are using has a moisture seal built into it (most construction glues referred to as liquid nail will). Should the trim use a track, just pick up a track, glue it to your vinyl (you may need to rough the vinyl up slightly to help the glue form a good bond, then snap the trim in.

I would avoid nails in this case because of the concrete subfloor.

Q: We are looking to replace most of our carpet downstairs with laminate. While doing research I saw the Congoleum forum plank product. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to be a better choice when you have 2 kids and a dog.

Tony

A: Congoleum makes great products especially when considering kids and pets, but like the sales rep mentioned, you can not do stairs with the Congoleum (Kudos to the sales person for setting your expectations on this). The reason why is because Congoleum does not have a nosing built for stairs like other hard surface floors. The Congoleum Forum Plank product is a thinner vinyl plank with a self-adhesive backing.

There may be a way to use the Congoleum to make your own nosing over some plywood, but I wouldn't suggest it.

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the better laminates can take some serious abuse (such as we mentioned in the case with Ryan W.'s dog Jin and his South American Walnut floor). I would suggest going with a laminate in this case so you can keep the stairs matching to your floor. Just ensure you find a floor that has coordinating nosings built for it it. Again, stick to AC4 and AC5 laminates like Westhollow, Pergo Select, Quick Step's Perspective and similar products.

I would also suggest looking into a good underlayment to get a better feel under foot and remove some of the hollow sound when you walk on laminate. Look into using Cork or Sound 6 for a more solid sounding floor.

Follow-Up: Tony and I have had quite the conversation through email in regards to his flooring project. From everything to which laminates to look at, to the best locking mechanisms in laminate (Quick Step's Uni-clic is arguably the best on the market). We even discussed his wife's concerns about dust collecting in the bevels.

We also got into a bit of talk on Tony's process of talking to various floor companies to get quotes for his floor with installation. Tony mentioned:

We are getting several bids. One from a local Carpet One, one from Empire Today, and some form independent contractors.

I've read many mixed posts about Empire. Some say they are great and others say they do bad work and are overpriced. I don't want to cut corners on the quality of the product chosen, but $10,000 seemed high to me.

After finding out Tony was near one of our great installers in the Dallas area (Tony is in Arlington, TX), I shot him over a quick quote which included 3mm cork underlayment, Quick Step's Perspective (the more expensive of the two lines we've been discussing) and the best install package we have, our Premium Install which came out to $7500 (that's almost $3000 less than Empire!) After that Tony had this to say:

I kinda figured they were a bit overpriced, or at least I was hoping so.I was kinda surprised at a few things tho. He recommended NOT doing the stairs. He said this type of floor doesn't work well on stairs. That's fine by me, stairs are expensive anyway. Also, he didn't apply much pressure when were done, meaning he didn't repeatedly push to close the deal right then. BTW, we haven't received any other quotes yet. The Carpet One guy doesn't seem that motivated to make a 10k sale... go figure.

I mentioned there is some argument to the application of floating floors on stairs, but if done properly there should be no issues. I personally prefer solid treads when I can get them, which means no laminate. Tony is looking into carpet for his stairs as an alternative and a 160sf section of his home. His wife is looking at Frieze, which is very popular.

My Kudos to Tony as he has been doing some great research, using Laminate Brand Wars II by our very own Steve as a guide and then finding various other consumer reports on laminate to help narrow down his search. Also, polling various floor companies to get an idea of what a professional install would cost versus installing it himself.

I do encourage anyone who is working on their own flooring project to take time to research products and information that will help make your new floor last and install without issues, and of course, don't be afraid to ask questions of experts like yours truly.

Q: We have a Mannington m-lock 8mm Canterbury oak floor installed 2-1/2 years ago in Venice, FL (not by you). The panels are raising at the seams (not buckling) randomly across the floor. Underlayment is a plastic-backed foam on concrete slab. I lifted a section, and there is no evidence of water under the floor. We have maintained the floor using composite floor cleaner per instructions. It appears the proper space is provided at the wall edges. What can cause failure at the seams in this fashion? Could it be expansion pressure? Mfg defect? The home builder, installer and manufacturer are all claiming no-fault. Our upgrade cost above carpet was $14.00 per square foot, and we feel we should have a durable floor at $150 to $200 per square yard. Any info you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Sanford Y.

A: A majority of the time when issue like this occur it is due to some moisture issue. I spoke with Tad A., Director of iFLOOR.com's Installation Program, and my good friend Gene D. who both mentioned that this is a common occurrence when too much liquid cleaner is being used without using a dry towel or dry mop afterward to make sure no liquid is left standing.

This is only one reason though, as other causes could be a pet leaving their mark, so to speak, or excessive moisture in the air within the home.

On some follow-up I got a great bit of information from San about his subfloor and the install along with some pictures. He also mentioned:

"We have the "tubes-in-the-walls" pest control from Home Team Pest Defense. Over the past 2-1/2 years they have injected approximately 24 gallons of nasty pest control chemicals into the walls of our house. The construction configuration is concrete block walls on a slab, with furring strips and dry wall. With the baseboard/quarter-round installation and a gap for the flooring, the chemicals can very easily migrate beneath the floor. My guess is that one or more of the chemicals is attacking the laminate where the fumigants seep up through the seams.

This could be the case, which would relate back to a moisture issue.

The best suggestion is to either 1) hire a licensed inspector to come out and examine the floor to determine the cause (iFLOOR.com uses a 3rd party service to help our customers) or 2) get a long pin tester and test the moisture at the seams of the floor since there was a good deal of testing done with the sub floor.

Here you will see the underlayment and moisture barrier installed. Neither of which appear to have moisture issues happening below the floor.

Here are a couple of pictures where you can see the problem Sanford is describing.

Q: Dear Steve,

Sincerely,
Marilee B.

A: Steve has been real busy since his return from his trip to Europe getting everyone ready for the great new stuff we'll have coming in along with the great information he learned over there, so I decided to tackle this question as it is a growing concern with folks looking into a new floor.

Formaldehyde outgassing is normally only a problem with bamboo floors, especially strand woven bamboo floors, because of the glues used to make these products.

For those unfamiliar with outgassing, this is what occurs to products containing glue where over time they will slowly release low amounts of vapor as the glue continually cures in the product. This is similar to why you need a moisture barrier for concrete, the concrete will continually out gas water vapor over time (since concrete is a moisture based product).

Outgassing, also called offgassing, is most commonly associated with bamboo floors because the adhesives used to make bamboo flooring contain some formaldehyde. Although this is in minimal amounts with the higher quality products, such as Westhollow and Panda Bamboo. Keep in mind, its not like these products have a continual stream of poisonous fumes coming from them, but rather very minimal amounts, which becomes far less with higher quality products. Despite these amounts, people with certain allergies or sensitivities can have issues with these types of floors. These emissions are monitored and graded, so when you see an E0 or E1 product, your looking at a product with minimal emissions, meaning these are best if you have chemical sensitivity like Marilee.

With laminate you should not encounter these problems; however, if you want a truly eco-friendly product look into a floating cork. Cork is a great hypoallergenic product and since many of the cork floors are made in a floating click-together format you will be able to install it virtually anywhere.

Now if thickness is a major concern, you will want to look into a laminate. There are glue down versions of cork, but you might not want to risk it with your chemical sensitivity (although the good mastic adhesives out there don't use formaldehyde.) Adhesives such as Bostik's Best which are urethane based or DriTac which is a water based adhesive made to work best with cork tile would be your best bet in this case. Many adhesives also have an anti-microbial additive and moisture sealant to prevent mold, mildew, and other allergenic nightmares from occurring between your subfloor and flooring.

Another note on glue down cork is to look into using contact cement. Gene D. has always told me whenever he lays down cork tile, he will always use a contact cement over urethane and water based flooring adhesives. A good contact cement to use would be Fastbond 30 or Fastbond 40 (the only difference is solvent vs water base). When using a contact cement, make sure your subfloor is clean, then apply (usually rolled on) 2 coats to the subfloor and 1 coat to the cork and follow instructions and everything will turn out great.

If you allow the proper cure time and were to ventilate your home well during the installation (although you would most likely need to stay in a hotel or such during the install time to be safe) this would be a very good route to go.

So to sum up, formaldehyde in flooring is usually only found in bamboo flooring. Laminate will work in this case, but a great eco-friendly and hypoallergenic option would be cork. If the thickness of the floor is a big issue, you will want to use a glue down cork with a mastic adhesive such as Bostik's or DriTac, or look into laminate.

Q: I am flooring on the second floor over wood and different types of tiles (some at different heights by the way). One of my rooms also has a gradual 1 and 1/2 inch slope (which is quite noticeable). I was told to put down flooring in the same way that the floor slopes. Is that correct or will I possibly have a problem. I do not want my new floor to crack or not look right. Do I need any other underlayment besides the cork? I appreciate any other feedback you may give me that I haven't touched upon. Thank you,
Jeff

A: Jeff and I have spoken a bit on this and based on his information, the slope he mentions occurs over about 6ft of flooring in one room of the home.

First off, I would not install without fixing the slope in your floor. As my friend Gene D. ,who works on commercial contract jobs here for iFLOOR.com, always says "I want my plumping to run downhill, but my floors to be flat."

For leveling, if the subfloor is plywood or OSB you can use any self leveling compound such as Raeco. If you are going to install over finished lumber (such as a pre-existing hardwood floor) you will want to shim the floor up until it is level. To do the leveling, you will want to use chalk lines to line out the area where the slope occurs, then do your leveling work. If you use a self leveler, make sure you give it plenty of time to cure before installing.

Jeff mentioned he was told he could install the floor using 6mm cork underlayment and then running the floor with the slope. Although I wasn't sure whether this meant lengthwise or widthwise for running with the slope, this could be done, but I personally would want the subfloor flat regardless of the type of floor to be installed.

With a floating floor, if the locks are engaged at angles, rather than being flat, you can run into issues where you will see gaps and the mechanisms themselves can go under excessive stress which can ruin them and cause the floor to fail. Jeff did mention he was a bit worried about adding weight to the sloped area of his floor, which is why he wants to avoid leveling the floor, but again I will stress that I would personally advise to level the subfloor before installing a new floor.

In regards to tools, I would suggest looking one of our installation kits. For floating floors this should cover everything you need beyond a good miter or similar table saw to do your cuts.

Q: What is the best method for removing laminate flooring?

Brett B.

A: The “best” method for removing laminate is always which one works easiest for you, but to give you a better answer, this will be based on how old your laminate is.

Newer laminates which use click together locking mechanisms can be lifted and unlocked a row at a time to be removed. This can be difficult and locks could endure some damage, but if you intend to completely remove your old flooring this won't matter.

Older laminates were glued together. In this case they are similar to a floating hardwood floor, where glue in placed in the tongue and groove to anchor the planks together. In these cases you will want to break the flooring up and remove it. First use a skill saw, set for a hair more than the thickness of the plank and cut in 18 inch or so sections then use a wood chisel or similar bar to pry apart or break apart the planks so they can be removed. Again, the method and care here will be based on if you want to salvage the flooring or not. If you're trying to remove only a few boards, cut down the center of those boards with the saw and use your chisel to remove the planks in question.

Q: I would like to purchase the American Duet Vintage Pine Narrow by Armstrong but it doesn’t look like much padding on the underside.

Do I need more underneath the American Duet Vintage Pine Narrow by Armstrong?

A: The Armstrong flooring you're looking at from the Nature's Gallery collection does not include an attached underlayment – so you will need to purchase an underlayment to install this floor and maintain your warranty.

One of the cool features to this collection and the Vintage Pine you are looking at is that it comes in a wide and narrow format. This allows you to buy both widths and intermix them while installing your floor to give the appearance of a random width floor. This is a very popular approach which has been done by Virginia Vintage in a 3/5/7 format with their hand-scrapped engineered floors.

The benefit of not having a pre-attached underlayment is the flexibility to pick any underlayment of your choosing. Many customers will do this to use a more premium underlayment such as Cork or Sound 6, although this does involve spending a little more than with floors having pre-attached underlayments, you will usually get better performance from these floors.

Q: I am planning on using some of the alloc domestic laminate I recently bought from ifloor on the staircase in my house. The sides of my staircase are drywall. I intend to do the treads with the laminate and the risers with MDF or your suggested material. If I use MDF should I use 3/4"? How should I trim the riser and the tread along the drywall sides? Is Liquid Nails Projects a recommended glue?

Robert B.

A: For your stairs, MDF should work fine as a riser. You could also use plywood, which may actually be a safer bet. My guess is you intend to paint your risers since they will not match the Alloc you intend on using. Using a 3/4” thick riser will give you a bit more room to cover up on the tread for your cuts and should give you a bit more area behind the scribe line, so I would use a 3/4” riser if you have the room to allow for it.

In regards to trimming the treads and risers, just ensure you make careful and accurate cuts and install a stringer to cover up the cut edges and you should have no worries. I would suggest painting the stringer to match the risers, this will make the treads really stand out (especially if you are using white paint with a darker toned floor).

Liquid Nails Wood Projects Adhesive should do the trick for this project, although it is always suggested to use a troweled on adhesive when possible as this will give more even coverage and a firm adhesion. With the Liquid Nail, make sure to use a curving or "S" shaped pattern to get the best coverage on your stairs and allow plenty of time to cure.

A few tips with stairs:
Ensure the stairs are clean before installing. This means removing any old paint or drywall mud with a scraper or removing any remnants of carpet or pre-existing floor. Always ensure you rack out each tread before installing to make sure your cuts are accurate. Install the tread first, then the riser for each stair. Once the stairs are complete then install your stringer(s).

Q: I am planning out material needs for a flooring project. I am laying a laminate floor (floating) on the 2nd floor of my house, with a wood sub-floor. I have 3 bedrooms (range in size from 150 to 200 sq ft), a bathroom, and a hallway. All rooms have entry from the hallway. What is recommended for transitioning from bedrooms to hallway? Do I have to use a transition molding, or can I just lay the floor right through the doorways? How about from the bathroom to hallway? My last question is on installing the flooring on my stairs. Each step has a “lip” extending out, should I cut that so each step is nice and square?

Thanks,
Basel

A: For your project, since the entire area is connected to the hallway you can just run the floor directly into the room. Make sure you leave a proper expansion gap along all of the walls. Installing like this will take a bit of extra time, but once complete it looks great. If your decide to use transitions you will want to use t-molds as they are built to cover a transition from surfaces of similar height.

On your stairs you're going to want to cut the lips/nosing off of your stairs before installing laminate over them. This will allow for your stair nose (bull nose) to fit snugly onto the tread area of the stair.

Since this installation will be in the second level of your house, I highly encourage you to use a good sound suppressing underlayment. My staple underlayment for any floating application is cork and the general rule is the thicker the better. A 6mm cork will make your install gold in this case by providing both comfort under foot and great sound suppression.

Q: Hello, I have been reading your articles on different brands of laminate floors. In your articles however I did not see any ratings of Shaw laminate although I did noticed that Ifloor.com does sell this brand. In particular I am interested in the Shaw VersaLock Nob Hill for the Kathy Ireland Home collection. Do you know this brand or have any advice to give me on it?
I have found your articles very helpful. I want to use the laminate floors in my family room. 1 dog and 2 adults.

Thanks again,
Shadylou

A: We currently do not carry the Kathy Ireland Home collection, but from our experience Shaw has had a reputation of making good products. Steve added that in the past 6 – 8 months Shaw has encountered some issues with quality, so beware.

With nearly any product, it has been an age old adage that higher price means higher quality. This is not always true as in many cases you begin paying a premium price solely for a name and not the quality such a price would normally mean. There are plenty of floors, laminate especially, where you can find a higher quality product at a cheaper price. This can be because they have not built their name yet, or simply are willing to make less money on their products in order to give their customers a better deal on good product. The opposite case is true as well, where there are some garbage floors out there being sold at high prices solely because they carry a big name or wish to give the illusion of quality based on their price.

As Steve always says “buyer beware!” Do your research before making a purchase and ensure you are getting a good product. I caught up with Ryan W., iFLOOR.com's product guru, to get a bit of his insight on your question. Here is what Ryan had to say:

Some Shaw Product Features:
Do-It-Yourself Friendly
High Traffic
Kid Friendly
Suitable for Above Ground Level, Below Ground Level or On Ground Level
Glueless

Over all Shaw is a good line of laminate and this is an good collection but for the spec type and product value I think there are other better options. This pattern is a basic oak decor and every manufacture has an oak similar to this the the options are endless. The price for this product is higher then some of the new random length bevel products on the market from Pergo, Westhollow and Quick-Step so if I was looking for a floor that could live up to dogs, family but had more bells and whistles plus did not break the bank I might buy another brand that had those newer features. If they buy Shaw they will also have a great floor, for me I wanted the new features so my floor looks like hardwood but also is a good value so I installed Westhollow 12mm South pacific in my home and with my large lab I can say he has not put 1 mark in the floor in the two years its been down.

Here you can see a picture of Ryan's home along with his Lab.

As Ryan mentions, Shaw has many great benefits and you pay a bit more to get them. As Steve and Ryan have both hinted toward, you can get some better quality flooring at better price points (Ryan mentioned his Westhollow floor), but for certain features Shaw could be the way to go. If your primary concern is durability, I would look into lines such as Pergo Select, Quick Step's perspective or Eligna and Westhollow's Vise-Loc series.

To sum up: Shaw has some great features, such as being DIY and Kid friendly, but as of late they have had some quality related issues. If your main concern is durability look into some alternatives as you can find similar appearing floors that are better built for similar or lower prices, but you may sacrifice slightly on the DIY friendly side.

Q: Our home has an old Saltillo tile floor…between the natural variation in the tile and the grout lines the surface is not terribly flat.

Thanks!
Bob Buddecke

A: Saltillo tile adds a level of difficulty to your project since true Saltillo tile is not uniform in dimensions. With the history behind how these tiles are made, every tile has slight variations in height, and dimensions, though some process recently has made them a bit more uniform.

In this case, it is not so much a matter of having thicker laminate as it is a matter of ensuring your get a good underlayment. With tile of any sort, the common suggestion/practice is to grind down the surface some, to get a flat subfloor. From here you will want to install your moisture barrier, then underlayment and flooring. In your case, a dense underlayment will perform better over the grout grooves and variations in the floor. Dense underlayments, such as cork, will prevent more movement in the floor then cheaper foam underlayments.

Having a thicker laminate will, in theory, give you a higher quality floor which can stand the test of time better, but will not directly account for the differences in the subfloor. Your installer's suggestion of finding a thicker floor is valid for durability reasons, but not to account for the subfloor. Any floor 10mm + in thickness should be good, although several manufacturers make very good 8.5mm or thicker floors that perform better than some thicker floors.

It is ok to install laminate over tile, assuming you take in certain precautions. Make sure you get the tile surface as flat and level as possible. Also, make sure you use a moisture barrier to be safe.

My suggestion would be to grind down the tile some, similar to grinding down a concrete subfloor to level it out in higher areas. Then look into a good underlayment, I would suggest 6mm cork. From there, find a floor you love and install it.

Q: I read your "Brand Wars 2 - A Laminate Showdown" article on iFloor.com and had a question two brands I came across at an outlet store. The two brands are: Eastwood and Glorius Flooring. I was able to find a website for Eastwood but not Glorius Flooring. Are these quality laminate floors? Any advice or info is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

A: Without being able to find a website for the Glorius floors, my guess would be that this is a private label name for flooring made by one of the many manufacturers out in China or Europe. I personally am not familiar with either product which makes me question its quality. A couple of tips I can provide to help you out if you are still on your search. Find out where the products are manufactured. Many laminates made in China are cheap with exception to some very specific mills.

Also, look into the thickness of the product and finish used. Thinner laminates tend to be cheaper as a rule of thumb and the finish used will make a world of difference. Also, look to see if there is any lab testing of this product, such as Taber testing.

Some of the best laminates on the market right now are Westhollow Vise-loc, Pergo Select, Quick Step Perspective and Eligna and Wilsonart Red Label.

I have had some follow up from Nick, who mentioned he recently found out that Glorius Flooring is manufactured in China and he has chosen to look into other brands. As Steve always mentions "Buyer beware!"

Q: Can you tell me what the best laminate you sell for the kitchen? Do any of your brands have paraffin wax sealed joints?

Thanks,
Bridgette N.

A: The "best" laminate is part fact part opinion. To avoid the opinion part, I'll suggest a few that have performed well in testing we have done. Pergo Select, Quick Step Eligna and Perspective and Westhollow Vise-loc all performed rather well for durability and moisture resistance. There are a few others whom have performed well, but those tend to be the top tier laminate choices.

As far as paraffin wax sealed joints are concerned I went to Ryan W., iFLOOR.com's VP of Products, to get an in depth answer for you. Ryan mentioned that wax sealing the edges of flooring was done long ago and isn't done much today. I actually got quite the interesting history lesson about the evolution of laminate when it comes to moisture resistance.

After using paraffin wax to seal edges, companies began to paint on oils or something similar to seal the edges of laminate. Ryan mentioned he could distinctly remember seeing boxes of flooring where the sides of the boxes had soaked up some oil, similar to butter soaking into the buckets of popcorn you get at a movie theater - not a pretty sight. After this oil process, manufacturers began adding moisture resistant chemicals directly to the core of laminate during manufacture. This is still done today so nowadays the entire core of laminate is moisture resistant and not just the edges. This is great when cuts are made as the cut edge is just as resistant. Keep in mind no wood flooring is water proof, but they are moisture resistant.

It used to be that the green cored laminate contained moisture resistant additives, but nowadays any color core board can hold these additives, so as Steve always says "Buyer beware" and make sure the laminate you purchase contains these additives and not just that the core is a specific color.

The brands and collections I mentioned all have such additives, so I would look into those as good flooring choices for your kitchen. Also make sure to use a good underlayment.

Q: I just read the article on Laminates that gives stars to each brand. I am looking to purchase Quickstep but when I went to your list by brand I can find which names match the ones on the article. I am interested in the ones the article mentions: "Quick Step Perspective 4 sided bevel," "Quick Step Perspective Bevel Long Plank," or "Quick Step Uniclic Long Plank." Can you tell me which ones under the Quick Step Brand correspond to the ones I mentioned?

Thanks,
Gabby

A: This is actually a fairly common question many of the folks here at iFLOOR.com get. Laminate in general is redesigned rather regularly. The more common cycle for laminate is to redesign about once per year or year and a half. These design changes can be very small, such as changing out a few colors or even renaming colors, but they can be major changes such as dimensions, bevel changes or changing the locking mechanism.

This being said, some of the best performing products from Steve's article Brand Wars II: A Laminate showdown have seen some slight changes, but no worries because many of the best lines are still available.

Quick Step's Perspective series is still one of the best laminates made. Now you can get the 4-sided bevel version, so look into this as a great flooring option.

Perspective 4-sided bevel edge long plank

Quick Step's Uniclic Long Plank was recently renamed to "Eligna" and saw some minor changes, but it is still one of my top laminate suggestions. This product still performs very well and I have had a good deal of feedback from many customers who were very pleased with this collection of flooring.

Quick Step Eligna Uniclic - 8mm

Always keep in mind, laminate does see changes fairly often, so if you purchase a new floor it is usually a good idea to buy and extra box or two just in case you need to replace a plank here and there over its lifetime in your home.

Today's post comes from iFLOOR.com's CEO, Steve. Steve gave a bit of advice from his own experience to a customer who wrote in, and I felt it would be good to advice for anyone in the laminate market to see.

Q: Hi Steve,

Catherine H.

A: Alloc is a nice floor. They have not really improved their underlayment - but 6mm cork underlayment will go along way to reducing that tap tap sound you hear. It won't eliminate it, but it will reduce it.

Engineered wood can have the same problem if it is floated so I would recommend the cork underlayment in that situation as well.

Balta is not in my top 50 list. It did not do well in testing.

I like Wilsonart in laminate as far as quality - but their warranty practices are worthless. Also Armstrong & Westhollow has some nice thick 12mm options that work well for sound reduction a various price points.

But the Alloc can work too which can save you from the search. Do the right thing with underlayment and you are home free. (don't forget you will still need a moisture barrier on the slab, then the cork, then the floor.)

Good luck on your project!

ss

Q: I am in the market for a high quality laminate - I will be laying the laminate in throughout my home, including the kitchen, excluding the bathrooms - as of now, I am looking at going with either Alloc or Quick Step - my main concern is the kitchen - would you please recommend a quality choice that will hold up to a kitchen environment, primarily, occasional spills
thanks,

Chauncey H.

A: My first suggestion before we get to some analysis of the floors themselves is to make sure you use a good underlayment. Since you mentioned you will be flooring your kitchen, I would suggest looking into 6mm cork. The biggest benefit of cork will be the comfort it will provide under your feet. Also, cork is naturally hypoallergenic and water resistant, so you won't have much worry of something happening underneath your floor.

As far as flooring is concerned, Alloc and Quick Step make great products and regardless of which you decide to go with, you should have a great floor. I will warn you that the "best" floor is a matter mostly of opinion, so lets do our best to stick to facts and testing.

We'll start with Alloc. Alloc was a big mover and shaker in the laminate industry a few years ago, but now they have become just a manufacturer of laminate and no longer an innovator. Alloc's best collection is the Original Collection, which scores very well in testing as Steve mentions in his article Brand Wars II: A Laminate Showdown. Alloc's big claim to fame is the metal portion of their locking system. The claim is that the metal lock allows for a stronger hold, but from the experience of most of the folks here at iFLOOR, it makes little difference when compared to the other high quality laminates who do not use metal locking mechanisms.

Quick Step was the first to make the locking mechanisms used on todays laminate and they still remain the best. Quick Step has several great collections which perform equally or better than Alloc's Original in lab testing. The Perspective and Eligna (formerly Uniclic Long Plank) are two of the best laminates of the market.

Between the two Quick Step tends to give the much better bang for your buck as the Perspective which is on average $0.20 per square foot cheaper than the Alloc Original while still providing better lab testing and feedback from customers and professionals.

In the end, make sure to find a floor you love. Both Alloc Original and Quick Step Perspective or Original are great floors, but keep in mind underlayment, installation and maintenance can mean the world in ensuring your floor lasts. My best advice here would be to take time during the installation, ensure your floor's locking mechanisms are firmly engaged and maintain a good cleaning schedule. For your kitchen, make sure that you clean up any spills ASAP to ensure a long lifetime for your floor.

Q: Can I install laminate flooring in my kitchen?

A: The short answer to this would be that you can put any floor anywhere you want, but that doesn't mean you should. Laminate can succeed very well in a kitchen as long as you get a product which is very good at standing up to moisture and you take time to ensure the install is done right. This means making sure the cuts are accurate, locking mechanisms are well engaged and proper underlayment is used.

Another important factor to making a wood floor work in a kitchen is to prevent spills whenever possible and to clean up any spills ASAP. Another trick that can work is using a filler or sealer at potential danger zones (such as near a sink) to give some added moisture protection. Most laminates have a color fill or similar product which will perform well in these cases.