January 9, 2004

3:59 PM

'Nother flooring question: Nurri and I want to Ardex the floors in our new place, for that clinical-industrial-minimalist look. Does anybody have any advice as to whether it's better to rip up the extant Pergo flooring and apply the Ardex to whatever substrate may be hanging out under there, or simply slap it on over the Pergo?
posted by adamgreenfield to (8 comments total)

since no-one seems to be answering, here's my uninformed opinion, based on reading the product spec sheet. it needs to be laid on a stable surface. any moving joints have to be carried up through the floor. afaik pergo "floats" - so it's free to move. so you have three options:

1 - put expansion joint separator thingies (don't know the correct term) in your concrete floor above every join of your pergo floor.

2 - bolt down your pergo floor to whatever is undeneath and fill joints as described in the specs. you then run the risk of the pergo flooring buckling (cracks again). especially as you're covering it with a water based sheet of gook.

3 - putt up the pergo flooring.

so it has to be 3, i think.

besides which, you could perhaps sell the old flooring :o)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:38 PM on January 9, 2004

s/putt/pull/
posted by andrew cooke at 5:39 PM on January 9, 2004

yeah, reading the specs on that floor compound, it sounds like it needs a really good seal, and pergo floors sound worse than subfloors.

I love concrete floors in modern spaces, are you going to stain them a color or leave them natural grey?
posted by mathowie at 9:59 PM on January 9, 2004

grey and nothing but! mmmmm...

thanks!
posted by adamgreenfield at 12:40 AM on January 10, 2004

While the Ardex site crashed my browser, Andrews comments are on the mark.

What is the existing Pergo laid upon? If it's a wood frame floor, you will not likely have a sub-floor rigid enough for the topping no matter what you do with the Pergo. If you have a slab-on-grade though, rip up the Pergo and go nuts.
posted by Dick Paris at 4:55 AM on January 10, 2004

I've never used Ardex, but from reading your link it looks like it is only for use on concrete floors:

ARDEX K-500 is a self-leveling, no troweling cementitious topping for resurfacing and leveling indoor concrete, such a warehouse floors, utility areas, hallways, etc.

Considering the description and the lack of installation instructions for anything but concrete subfloors, I'm almost sure it will end up cracking if you use it on the Pergo or "whatever substrate may be hanging out under there" if it isn't a poured concrete floor.
posted by Sirius at 5:04 AM on January 10, 2004

Thanks, this is very useful. Since the building itself is a 1961 slice of I.M. Pei poured concrete groovyness, I have a good feeling that there's a slab under the Pergo, however many layers of accretion down. So I think we're good to go.

Again, thatnk you so much for the advice. I'll post pictures on v-2 when we get it all done.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:24 AM on January 10, 2004

(don't forget to consult with Ardex).

Like tends to behave with like.

That's all.
posted by vers at 7:10 PM on January 10, 2004