How to Install Pergo Flooring — Need to learn about how to install a Pergo floor? This guide covers the basic essentials on how to install Pergo laminate flooring. You’ll learn about some essential “need to know” concepts, planning your installation, making good joints, and installing the laminate planks.
How to Install Pergo Flooring Yourself, The Essentials You Need to Know
We’ll guide you through how to install pergo flooring including what you need to know to get the job done yourself. We’ll address planning, essential considerations, laying out the floor, making joints, and getting the installation started and continuing from the beginning to the end —everything you need to know.
Overview: Install Pergo Floor
Pergo corporation was the first company to introduce a floating floor system that looks like wood. The floor is called a floating floor because it is not attached to the floor in anyway. Instead, the planks click together using a tongue and groove system and the completed floor is free to expand and contract with the seasons. There are some essential facts to consider about how to install a Pergo floor.
Pergo Essentials
Essentials on how to install pergo laminate flooring.
- Maintain a 1/4-inch expansion gap between the Pergo planks and vertical surfaces such as walls, pipes and transition strips.
- Place the Pergo flooring in the room where it will be installed 48 to 96 hours before installing it to allow it to acclimatize. Maintain an even temperature and humidity during acclimatization and installation.
- Use a 6-mil plastic moisture barrier under Pergo, if installing over concrete. Do not use the moisture barrier over wood flooring.
- Excessive moisture in the subfloor will void the Pergo warranty. Check for excessive moisture before purchasing.
Installation Planning and Preparation
- Plan your rows of planks to begin and end with pieces that are 12 inches or more in length.
- Wherever a plank’s tongue side will be against a wall, remove the tongue with a saw. A table saw works best for this, but circular saws and jig saws work well also.
- Remove shoe or quarter-round molding before starting installation of your laminate floor. Install new moldings after installation to cover the expansion gap.
- Undercut door jambs and door casings to fit the Pergo planks under them, rather than try to cut around them.
Installation: How to Install Pergo Flooring
Lay the plastic vapor barrier if is required, then lay the foam underlayment on top of that. Lay plastic and underlayment as you lay rows of planks to prevent creases and seams. Overlap the vapor barrier seams by 8 inches and seal them with plastic packing tape.
Install the plank rows in pairs or in a step fashion. Lay the planks out on the floor for several rows at once. Use the waste cut-off end of the last plank in the first row for the first plank of the second row. Always try to use the waste piece of the last plank of each row for the first plank of the second row, but try not to use pieces shorter than 12 inches. Maintain a 12 inch separation of joints from one row to the next.
Join planks by holding a plank at a 45 degree angle and insert the tongue into the groove of the plank on the floor. Lower the plank to the floor and it should then click into place. Use the tapping block on the groove end of the plank to tap the tongue end into the groove of the previous plank. A few light taps brings the joint together. Don’t overdo it or the plank ends will mushroom slightly and make the joints obvious.
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Place the first plank on the floor in a corner and use installation spacers to maintain the gap between the plank and walls. Next, place the spacers against the walls, and the planks against the spacer.
Place a spacer against the end wall and fit the tongue of the first plank in row two, into the groove of the first plank for row one.
Place the second plank’s tongue into the groove at the end of the first plank. Lift the opposite end of the second plank and push the tongue into the groove on the end of the first plank. Lower the second plank and, if necessary, tap the end of the plank using a tapping block to tighten the joint. At walls, it will be necessary to use the pull-bar to pull the joints into place, rather than the tapping block.
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References for How to Install Pergo Flooring
- Photos by EndBradley at Flicker.com
- How To: Install Pergo Flooring, https://na.pergo.com/how-to/install-flooring-installation
