Hardwood or Pergo?

[Yorkiedaze]

Originally Posted by bizzbeth

Hey everyone!

My boyfriend and I are back and forth on this issue so I wanted to open it up to a wider audience. We just bought an older home, pulled up the carpets and WAHLAH!!! damaged, top nailed, hardwood. It is livable for now (as we don't have the money to fix it at the moment) but we are thinking ahead and trying to plan... should we sand and refinish the existing hardwood? Or get some nice Pergo (or another brand, but same idea)?

I've heard that dogs can really damage real hardwood, so there is one point for Pergo... but having hardwood is such an asset to a home, right?

Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated :-)

We had hardwood installed and I wouldn't have anything else. What you do when you have hardwood and don't want it damaged with dog nails or pee is have it coated with basketball floor coating. I sure wouldn't put the Pergo on a nice wood flooring. Pergo is glued down and you could never have the wood flooring later on without a ton of work trying to get the glue off that hardens. Wood flooring increases the value of your home too.

[bizzbeth]

Originally Posted by CouversMom

WOOD FLOORS! I think wood is so much better than Pergo. BTW, how old is your place? We have an old home and it has all the original wood floors. I'm an old house lover, so I love to hear about others homes!

We live in California, and the house was built in the 1950s. It has only had one owner since it was built. We are the second owners. We've replaced the carpeting in the bedrooms, ripped the carpeting out of the bathrooms and put in laminate, redone the entire kitchen (floors, insulation, drywall, counters, cabinets, pipes, sink... EVERYTHING...) and now just have the issue of the hardwood in the living room, dining room and hallway... I think it would be great to refinish it...

For those of you who have done refinishing yourselves, was it horrible?? A professional wants to charge us $1.80 a sq ft and $8 to replace any boards that need it. He will include a stain and a sealant.

Pictures included: Kitchen before and afters and Oliver on the hardwood.

[capt_noonie]

I LOVE old hardwood floors! I didn't know all this about Pergo. I remembered back in the 90s a friend of mine had his room redone in Pergo and said it cost about $1000! I thought that was just the thing to do. Now I know never to do that!

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by bizzbeth

We live in California, and the house was built in the 1950s. It has only had one owner since it was built. We are the second owners. We've replaced the carpeting in the bedrooms, ripped the carpeting out of the bathrooms and put in laminate, redone the entire kitchen (floors, insulation, drywall, counters, cabinets, pipes, sink... EVERYTHING...) and now just have the issue of the hardwood in the living room, dining room and hallway... I think it would be great to refinish it...

For those of you who have done refinishing yourselves, was it horrible?? A professional wants to charge us $1.80 a sq ft and $8 to replace any boards that need it. He will include a stain and a sealant.

Pictures included: Kitchen before and afters and Oliver on the hardwood.

We refinished our wood floors ourselves because at the time there was a building boom in AZ and it was difficult to find any good workers. Also, I wanted a special finish coat on it, and most workers weren't familiar with the product, and you have to carefully follow directions. Knowing what I know now, I would have gladly paid someone to do it, there’s a definite learning curve, and those sanders are expensive to rent, so I don’t think we saved any money. I also think you should go to a hotel while they are doing it. By the way, the price you were quoted sounds good, does he have references, and can you see his work? Good new carpeting cost more than that and doesn’t last as long.

Lol, I thought your "before" kitchen was your "after". Love the first picture, I hope that's your true "after".

[bizzbeth]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

We refinished our wood floors ourselves because at the time there was a building boom in AZ and it was difficult to find any good workers. Also, I wanted a special finish coat on it, and most workers weren't familiar with the product, and you have to carefully follow directions. Knowing what I know now, I would have gladly paid someone to do it, there’s a definite learning curve, and those sanders are expensive to rent, so I don’t think we saved any money. I also think you should go to a hotel while they are doing it. By the way, the price you were quoted sounds good, does he have references, and can you see his work? Good new carpeting cost more than that and doesn’t last as long.

Lol, I thought your "before" kitchen was your "after". Love the first picture, I hope that's your true "after".

Haha yes! That is my after! Hehehehehe just out of order pictures.

Thanks for the advice!!!! He comes with great references!!!! Good to know we should stick with a pro :-)

[concretegurl]

Especially in the Bay people are paying more for distressed hardwood flooring to be installed!


Or putting in hardwood & distressing it!

I just wanted to put it out there saving money not perfecting it can actually add value to your home.

[Roccosmommy]

Another vote for hardwood floors! Pergo can also be badly damaged by any water spillage or puppy accidents...it is a porous pressboard that swells like a sponge if water gets into the cracks. It IS messy to refinish hardwoods, but I would highly recommend you just check into a hotel for a couple of days while the work is being done, then allow at least a day for it to dry and air out. Better yet, plan the work when you'll be away, maybe over a summer vacation. You won't regret the end result.

[Micah my love]

Originally Posted by Roccosmommy

Another vote for hardwood floors! Pergo can also be badly damaged by any water spillage or puppy accidents...it is a porous pressboard that swells like a sponge if water gets into the cracks. It IS messy to refinish hardwoods, but I would highly recommend you just check into a hotel for a couple of days while the work is being done, then allow at least a day for it to dry and air out. Better yet, plan the work when you'll be away, maybe over a summer vacation. You won't regret the end result.

I totally agree

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Especially in the Bay people are paying more for distressed hardwood flooring to be installed!


Or putting in hardwood & distressing it!

I just wanted to put it out there saving money not perfecting it can actually add value to your home.

Seriously, you really have to know what you are doing to properly distress wood, it's not as easy as it might seem. It’s very labor intensive, and it’s not just a job sloppily done. Some perfectionists don't even want the store bought distressed wood because it's often done by machine and each piece looks too similar, so they do hire artisans who know how to chisel and bang it up property. This of course really ups the per square foot cost and like most trends, it could become out of style. Hardwood itself add's value, ask your insurance company, but I'm not sure that different trends add long term real estate value, you have to sell the house while the the item is still trendy. I love the look though.

[concretegurl]

I agree distressed looks nice-for a vacation spot or if the entire home is themed to look "old" but yes fads come and go and again.

It would limit the perspective buyers later.

My first attempt at distressing a piece of furniture resulted in it being fire wood...cosmetic distressing definitely requires an experienced touch.

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Seriously, you really have to know what you are doing to properly distress wood, it's not as easy as it might seem. It’s very labor intensive, and it’s not just a job sloppily done. Some perfectionists don't even want the store bought distressed wood because it's often done by machine and each piece looks too similar, so they do hire artisans who know how to chisel and bang it up property. This of course really ups the per square foot cost and like most trends, it could become out of style. Hardwood itself add's value, ask your insurance company, but I'm not sure that different trends add long term real estate value, you have to sell the house while the the item is still trendy. I love the look though.

[MI Yorkielover]

We had Bruce hardwood floors installed. Looks great. No regrets