Can You Use Pergo in a Bathroom?

Water Resistance

• Pergo claims that its flooring is resistant to water, meaning you may install it in a bathroom or other areas of the house where water may regularly fall on the floor without worrying that the moisture will warp the flooring. Pergo sections lock together, and should stop water from flowing between the flooring’s seams and making its way past the flooring and onto the substrate.

Planning

• Pergo offers a project planner tool on its website that helps you plan in advance for your flooring installation. The tool helps estimate how much flooring you need to cover a space, and it also makes suggestions of the type of Pergo you should use for different types of rooms. According to Pergo, you must perform some extra installation measures when you lay Pergo in high-moisture rooms, such as bathrooms or kitchens, to avoid problems with your Pergo flooring in the future. If your bathroom has a floor drain or a sump pump, Pergo strongly advises against installing its flooring in the bathroom since any standing water in the room may cause damage.

Sealant

• When you install Pergo flooring, just like hardwood flooring, you must leave a gap between the flooring and any walls or other obstacles underneath which you cannot lay the flooring. This gap allows the Pergo to expand and contract freely without becoming damaged. In rooms where water falls on the floor on a consistent basis, such as bathrooms, Pergo recommends using its proprietary sealant to keep water from penetrating into the expansion gap between the flooring and wall. Apply the sealant to the substrate that sits under the Pergo, keeping the water from being absorbed into the substrate.

Substrate Saturation

• Most substrate materials, such as plywood, are porous, meaning when they come into contact with water they draw some of the water in. In rooms where water contacts the floor regularly, like the bathroom or a laundry room, the water soaking into the substrate regularly can weaken the adhesive’s hold between the Pergo and the substrate. The Pergo flooring then may bow or ripple without the adhesive’s hold.