[VAC] Re: Pergo

["Terry O'Neill" <woodfloor@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Greg

I am President of a 3 location distributor of wood flooring in Western
Canada and employed in the flooring industry since 1976. Nice to contribute
something to the list that I am qualified to answer. Being a "wood guy" I
have an admitted pro wood bias.

Parquet will work fine as long as it is not exposed to excessive moisture.
You must also use a solvent based adhesive when gluing over a non-porous
surface like existing vinyl. A water based glue can cause the parquet to cup
from moisture in the curing glue trapped between the old vinyl and urethane
coating on the parquet. Some suitable adhesives are Franklin 811 or Bostik
Best which are urethane based.

Laminate flooring (Pergo, Wilsonart etc) is harder to scratch than wood
flooring but wood flooring can be re-coated with urethane every several
years as required. Laminate flooring will also be colder on bare feet than
real wood and floating floors (wood or laminate) tend to have hollow sound
when walked on with shoes. I suspect if an item is dropped on a laminate
floor in winter you are at risk of cracking the surface (especially close to
corners of planks). Of course wood will dent from impact easier than most
laminate floors.

I agree with earlier comments about Formica and Wilsonart having superior
cores to Pergo and this will become evident if large amounts of moisture are
present.


Terry O'Neill
Calgary, Alberta
'60 Overlander
WBCCI 4786
VAC