Woops! Sorry guys, I thought I was on another forum. Just ignore me.

LOL, Betty. I'll be interested in hearing what you learn as I am also planning to go with Pergo. I already know I'll be pleased with it tho. I hope to do it after first of the year. (My oldest son has had laminate for years and he loves it).

hugs, Karen

I have laminate thru out my home. I worked p/t at an interiors store so carefully thought it thru before we built. We sold alot of laminate there. Mine is Uniclick, color is Select Cherry & it is almost the exact color of the most popular shade of hardwood.....which I can't remember without enough coffee yet this morning. It is very easy to keep clean. I use the Swiffer Wet jet thing on high traffic areas & the kitchen. I sometimes miss the real hardwood but nobody but me knows it is laminate. They always are giving me compliments on my hardwood floors but they aren't hardwood.....just laminate. If I ever changed to different flooring (been here 5 yrs.) I would include carpet I think in the great room as the ceiling is 22 ft in there & we need noise reduction. I would lay my oriental rug on top. I have double sided rug pads. Laminate is nosier than hardwood probably also so you might want to consider that too. Shaw does makes a better padding now that is suppose to help with the noise factor. Check around & ask for info with a flooring company & that should help make your decision easier. Good luck! Bonnie I included the link to my album if you wanna peek at the laminate floor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bonnie's

When we boought this house we pulled out all of the carpet and put down laminate in the MB abd LR. DH laid 12"X12" tile in the DR and den. I love both the laminate and the tile, but the laminate is easier to care for. Sweep and wipe up the spots with a damp paper towel or mop, depending on the spill.

I have extreme allergies and can't handle the dust from carpet. It is a pain when it comes to cleanliness, anyway.
(I have 1 DH, 1 teenage boy, and 3 DGSons who are in and out just about every day!)

We found the best deal on our laminate at Sam's Club. I liked the light oak look, so we went with that.

DH said he would put laminate up against hardwood flooring anyday. The cost is less than 1/3 of the hardwood, and it is VERY user friendly, both in installation and maintenance.

He had no experience doing anything like this so he went to Lowe's and bought a book on all types of flooring and it was a breeze. I'm very proud of the flooring and him!

Betty

I just put it in the basement..so I have to withold judgement. It does have a funny sound when you walk on it though, like a hollow sound... I have oak throughout the rest of the house, and I love that!

I really wanted to get rid of the wall to wall through the living room and family room. We installed it when we first moved in (18 years ago) over parquet wood flooring. I absolutely hate parquet. It reminds me of every cheap apartment I lived in in my twenties. My hubby and I ripped out the carpet..(absolutely disgusting what happens to underlay), and installed laminate.
I'm lucky that my hubby did pretty well in shop, and he cut and fit the lengths with some skill. We bought it at Costco at 99 cents a square foot. After a year with it, I'm very happy. I scoot up the dust with a swiffer, and a hand held vac.
What amazes me is that all that dust was just being "absorbed" (yuck) by the wall to wall, because who really gets that vacuum tight to the perimeter of a room?
Be careful of houseplants and leaky pots. Water will stain wood, but that's fixable...laminate however, cannot take moisture.

My 2 penneth worth :0)

We had to replace our Pergo floor after our house got flooded (plumbing problem). The water "wicked" underneath the foam backing and the floor started buckling and could not be saved. Our house was built on a cement slab (we live in Calif, most houses are built like that because of earthquakes). We replaced the floor with laminate slats that were glued directly on the cement. Really like the look and maintainence is next to nothing.

DD & family had worst looking feet a couple of months after installing wood floors because of kids allergies. DD was worst, she hates wearing shoes indoors, everyone leaves their shoes at the front door, just inside. They now have slippers to put on as the wood was sucking all the moisture out of their feet! I've never seen anyone else discuss this problem but it was serious. DD had large cracks running across heel & they had been bleeding. Dr. didn't know what was wrong. I've worked with wood & it drys you out just like cement does, maybe not as fast. I got them heavy duty cream & slippers & they all healed up after couple of weeks. I think it came from Home Depot, they put it in themselves & looks great.

I have Bruce high gloss light oak floors in my LR and kitchen. Very high traffic, I cook A LOT and the floor is virtually maintenance free, except for occasional mopping. It was installed in 2001 and is as beautiful as it ever was.