We owned a condo and replaced the wall-to-wall and vinyl with Pergo throughout (except for tile in the bath.)

It was beautiful and having continuity in the flooring made the whole place have better flow and seem more spacious.

Our DD was our tenant before she got married and purchased her own home last year. She & SIL plan to replace all their current flooring with Pergo. She loved that it was so easy to maintain and was easy on her legs and back.

I had tile in a previous kitchen and would not choose it again - too hard on legs and feet if you spend a lot of time standing and working in the kitchen. Depending on where you live, it can also be a very "cold" surface, too.

IMHO, Real wood is the most beautiful, but if I had a busy kitchen with little ones, or if the cost of purchasing & upkeep of wood were not in my budget, I would go Pergo.

I had Pergo in my previous kitchen for ten years, and it held up beautifully. I had two big dogs and two boys and no problems at all!!

I've had pergo brand faux vermont maple wood laminate flooring throughout my studio apartment (except for the bathroom) for over a year now. I installed it myself and it seems to be holding up very well. I'm a horribly clumsy person and all my spills and dropping of various items and dragging of things across the floor doesn't seem to have affected it much, if at all. I would highly recommend it.

I have the Pergo tile look in sandstone in my kitchen. (I think it has been discontinued) It has been down for 4 years and still looks like it did the day I installed it.
Easiest floor ever to keep clean.

A word of caution ...
Out neighbors installed a Pergo (or something similar?) floor in their FR/kitchen. A few years later they had a water leak which ruined some of the kitchen flooring. Since they could no longer buy the same flooring, they were forced to replace the kitchen with tile. You may want to buy extra, just in case. FYI, their labrador loved to run down the hall and the floor held up beautifully, no scratches!

i'd be cautious about installing in a kitchen. it cannot be refinished and if you have any issues down the road with water splatters or leaks you're out of business. i had it installed in my husband's office in their small kitchen area. it's peeling up where water has dripped down the front of the sink.

i'm SO peeved i chose that. i feel badly for making what turned out to be a very poor choice for dh and his partner.

We had Pergo in our kitchen for 15 years with no issues. My kids and animals grew up with the flooring. It was amazing how much it looked like real wood. Any floor covering will be problematic if you have leaks.

I have dark Aloc and would not do again. Mine is on the southwest side and the sunlight makes the seam conspicous, the dishwasher had a problem and it buckles a bit, it does peirce if anything is dropped and in the light, Everything shows. Wish I'd gon with a hard floor and bought a nice gel mat!

Pergo scratches extremely easily. We installed it in our playroom in our old house. While it was easy to clean up, the slightest bit of dirt under a push toy or piece of furniture would leave a scratch on the floor if the item was moved. Some scratches were more like gashes. We have wood in our current house and have no such problems w/ scratches and gashes.

We put Pergo in the kitchen of our last house. Agree, it was the easiest floor to keep clean. Since it is so smooth nothing can stick to it, no grooves etc to collect any dirt/grime. Just a breeze to clean.

However, I did drop something (can't remember what) and chipped it. As far as it's resistance to water... we went on vacation for 2 weeks, came home to a slow water leak from the bathroom upstairs through the kitchen ceiling, had a huge puddle of water sitting on the floor, it was all buckled, but after a week, it dried and you would have never known it even happened. The floor was perfect again... other than the chip.

I would take Pergo over tile in a heartbeat.

I had tile in my kitchen. When I redid my kitchen I used Pergo American Cottage from Lowes. I picked that particular brand, because it had the color and look that I wanted. DH and I installed it.

So far, so good. I HATED my tile because of its hardness and I never felt the grout was clean. I love how my pergo floor never looks dirty and is a breeze to clean. My mom had it in her kitchen for about 10 years and she loved it. She just put it in her new kitchen and it looks great. Although, the brand is Wilsonart, I think.

I wanted the look of wood, without the maintenance, scratches. I know a lot of people here love their wood floor. Maybe it depends on the finish you get.

Search for pictures of my kitchen if you're interested.

Anyway, good luck with your decision. Everyone seems to have different preferences, so get what YOU want.

Barb

Are you asking about the brand Pergo or are you asking about laminate in general. Pergo is sometimes used to refer to laminate flooring in general.

We went through this hard decision last year. We ended up choosing a laminate: Bruce Parkk Ave Makore. It always receives compliments and most don't believe that it is a laminate floor. It is wonderful to keep clean (and cheap since I use a water/vinegar/alcohol solution that is sprayed on). We have had it down for just over 6 months and so far so good. We have 4 kids (no dogs) and this is a very active household.

I read so many complaints about tile (not about how it looks, but about how it feels and the back ache it causes).

I have laminate, though it is Alloc brand, not pergo, and I'm very happy with it. It is a tile look alike, and SO nice to walk on and impervious to an 85 lb lab's vertical antics. There is always the argument about water, but with the Alloc, if some water falls on the floor, it just beads up and does no damage, even if I dont see it for a long time. If I were to have a pipe break or other significant water damage that got under the floor, well, the only thing that could stand up to that is tile, and I knew I did NOT want that.

Regarding the scratches, all I can say is mine did scratch very easily-- it actually developed a patina, at which point it was lest annoying. My neighbor had the same situation... apparently these reviewers did too http://www.epinions.com/Pergo_Laminate_Flooring/display_~reviews Almost all of the "cons" refer to scratches.

In any case, I'd get a plank and test it... it did not scratch when direct pressure was applied.. more from things coming into contact with the floor and rubbing small pieces of gritty substances (e.g. sand, dirt, etc) into them. If you are diligent about removing your shoes when you come into the house, you might not have this problem.

It's not easy to see scratches in the Pergo, there may be some of the surface, but they are in the clear coat only. It is very durable.

I would not put in Kitchen or Bath because the joins swells up if you have a water accident not cleaned up. My pet water dish leaked water before. It is true the damage shrink a bit after months (sometimes recover better than other) but I can always tell where water has leaked before.

I guess to clarify, the scratches are in the surface and you can only see them when the light hits in a certain way.. we aren't talking about huge gashes. It did bother me, though.

I have laminate in my kitchen (it's by Wilsonart, called Hawaiian Bamboo)installed a year ago, and so far it's holding up very well and looks beautiful (easy maintanence,too). As for scratches, I have two fussy, long-nailed cats who scratch at the floor when they pretend not to like their food, and they have not left any marks at all.

Gel mats are an option for hard floors. Some other floors to consider, marmoleum, cork or bamboo?

You can also get vinyl "oak" planks that are easy on the feet and water won't hurt. I have Amtico planks and I think they look more like wood then most laminates do, they fooled my picky brother.

I've had mine for almost 5 years without one nick or tear.

I have had the Pergo "Preferred" line in my kitchen and living room for 11 years. I have one small dent from a knife being dropped straight down. I have a scratch from a piece of gravel getting stuck on my vacuum cleaner wheel. There is no fading near a large sliding window.

I have a cat, a dog, and a very active 11 year old. I love the way the floor looks, feels, and cleans. I would definitely get it again.

Also, a few weeks after install I noticed about 6 planks had a color flaw. A representative came out that week and he said that was unacceptable and my floor was redone, not just the bad planks, the entire floor!