worst nightmare, Pergo floors

jmjrgr

My husband installed a Pergo presto flooring about a year a go. Now I can see gaps in between the planks and also the floor doesn't feels level. Sometimes I feel the floor pinching my feet. Everything has change it wasn,t like this when we first installed. I hate walking barefoot and that is one sensation I used to love. Need help, I got mad after we installed because i learned we spend to much money and I could have had hardwood instead. Now the floor looks awful.

mike costello

Some pictures would be helpful but off the top of my head I would say it was either put in on a very un level floor or it has expanded and has no room to move so it started buckling.

Chemist1961

You want to consider your humidity chnages, summer to winter.
If you are seeing gaps it might actually have dried out.

Did your husband seat each tongue and groove joint with the hammer drive plate they call a tapping block that you can buy in their installation kit.

I just installed mine last month, it's Pergo but it's not Presto. You need to seat each plank into the one before it or the tongue does not engage fully in the groove.This creates the interlocking effect.

If you live in a humid area, the boards might be fully expanded in summer and have shrunk as winter set in.....

jmjrgr

Yes he did used the tapping tool that came with the kit. And the hole floor looked perfectly beautiful at first. Ill try to upload some pictures. any advice welcome. Also do you think I should try to contact home depot or try to fix it first. any comment ?

Floorwizard

Most times it is install failure and not product failure.
So check to see if there is still the proper expansion space at the walls.
Also as suggested check to see what your current humidity is in the areas.

fenceman

sounds like you have a subflooring issue. did you float your floor prior to installation? i just install laminate floor about a month ago. subfloor looked level to the eye so we did not float. boards now seperating a bit- have some boards seperating and does not feel level in some areas. i am convinced sub floor not level. over time pressure on uneven floor will cause seperation. i am not sure that there is a fix, other than taking out floor to address subfloor- at this point not a good option.

BataviaJim

What does "floating" the floor mean exactly? Thanks.

Mudd

The pinching of feet is an interesting comment...

That would indicate a floor that has an upward "bow" to it so that when one steps on the spot, the wedge-shaped gap closes and pinches feet.

A floor like that bows from 2 reasons...

First, it could be a lack of an expansion gap on the perimeter; the floor was installed real tight and needed to expand and when it couldn't, it buckled and bowed.

Second, it could be a moisture issue, either from the subfloor or a leak somewhere.

Did you do a "poor man's moisture test" (taping down a big square of plastic and waiting a week to see if moisture builds up) before installing the floor?

Check the full perimeter of the affected area carefully. Big leaks tend to peak joints of planks and are usually obvious. Small leaks are less likely to peak joints and more likely to buckle an entire floor over time.

The weirdest laminate-ruining leak I ever saw was some insulation missing from a coolant line on a fridge. Water would condense on the exposed metal line and drip - like a few drops an hour at most. Not much moisture when you think about it, but after a couple months of this, the whole floor (over 600 sf) had buckled and bowed in a major way, and it had an expansion gap.

If you can't find a leak right away, try looking in rooms that have a common wall with the floor... a leaking shower pan in a bathroom that has a common wall with the laminate area, for example.