What Is Pergo?

• Pergo is the name of a company in Sweden that makes laminate flooring products. The name "Pergo" has become a common term for laminate wood flooring. Laminate wood flooring is made by taking fiberboard material and laminating a veneer of hardwood on the top. It usually comes in prefinished sheets that are four feet long by eight or twelve inches wide.
  
  

What Is Hardwood?

• Hardwood flooring is a solid piece of wood. It can range in thickness from half an inch to an inch, but is typically about three quarters of an inch thick. It comes in individual boards that can range from two to eight feet long and one to four inches wide and it can be prefinished or unfinished.
  
  

Moisture

• Moisture is more damaging to hardwood than to Pergo.water droplet image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
  
  Hardwood floors are susceptible to moisture and high humidity. Because of this they should not be laid directly on a concrete floor and are not advised for basements. Moisture can cause the wood to expand, contract and even warp.
  
  Pergo, on the other hand, is very stable due to the manufacturing process. Moisture does not have the same impact on Pergo as wood, so you can lay it directly on concrete, thus making it ideal for basements.
  
  

Cost

• Pergo is cheaper, but hardwood can increase your home's resale value.3d dollar sign image by lixai from Fotolia.com
  
  In 2010 Pergo flooring cost about $2 to $3 per square foot while hardwood flooring costs between $3 and $6 a square foot. Installation of Pergo is much faster because it comes in sheets rather than individual boards and is usually just glued down rather than nailed. The overall cost for Pergo is less than hardwood, but hardwood can be well worth the investment as it can actually raise the value of your home because it is considered a high-end product.
  
  

Durability

• Hardwood is much more sensitive to scratches. Pergo is impervious to stains and dents and will not fade. If a hardwood floor becomes scratched and dented it can be refinished several times over its lifetime. Pergo, because the wood veneer is very thin, cannot be refinished as you would sand through the exterior. Because of this, the lifetime of Pergo is about 15 to 20 years while hardwood can last well over 50 years.
  
  If you are only going to be in a home for a few years then Pergo may be the way to go, but if you plan on staying for several years, or if resale value is important to you, then hardwood might be the better option.