- It is important to acclimate Pergo flooring to the room condition for 48 hours before you install it. The laminate flooring will expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes. You do not want to bring the flooring in from another room with a drastically different temperature such as a cold storage room, and then install it. Bring the boxes of Pergo into the room in which they will be laid, open them, and allow them to sit for a couple days.
- To ensure a successful project, it is important to get off to the right start when laying your Pergo flooring. First, determine from which direction light comes in from windows or glass doors and plan to lay the floor so the planks run parallel to the light. Start in a square (90 degree corner) of the room. This is crucial because any amount that you stray from a straight square corner in the first row will grow progressively worse with each succeeding row you lay. Lay your first row of planks with a 1/8 inch gap from the wall to account for expansion.
- Staggering the Pergo planks in each row as you lay the floor is important to distribute stresses and loads on the floor among the many joints. It is the same logic behind the way a mason builds a block wall, they do not stack each block on top of each other with the edges aligned because staggering them makes for a much stronger wall. Your first row will start with a full plank. When you go back to the starting point and begin the second row, start with a plank cut to 2/3 the length of a full plank. Upon returning to the starting point for a third row, cut a plank to 1/3 the length of a full plank and begin with that. You can then start the fourth row with a full plank and continue the full-2/3-1/3 pattern for the remainder of the rows.
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