Pergo, a Swedish company, created the first laminate flooring in the late 1970s, and now the name Pergo is so closely linked with laminated flooring that many people confuse the two as one and the same. In fact, however, Pergo is one of many laminate flooring producers now on the market. Nonetheless, the popularity of Pergo flooring persists. Pergo offers easy installation in a wide variety of products in different quality and price points.
Since its invention of laminate flooring in the late 1970s, Pergo has acquired approximately 500 patents and pending patent applications around the world. It has a presence in the North American, European, and Asian laminate flooring markets as well as hardwood products in the US market only. It employs over 650 people in manufacturing facilities in the USA, Canada, and Sweden as well as at distribution and sales centers.
Consumers can find Pergo products throughout North America at home improvement centers and at over 5,000 retailers. Pergo AG was acquired by the Pfleiderer Group in 2007, a German producer of fiberboard, laminate, and particleboard.
The company provides a number of warranties depending on the product installed. They guarantee that the surface will not wear through, the floor will not fade due to sun or electrical light, nor will it stain. It also warrants that its floors will not be damaged by moisture due to damp mopping and everyday spills when these are removed promptly. Finally, it guarantees that the joints of its laminate flooring will remain secure under normal use conditions. Its 30-year warranty on some floors includes all of the above with the exception of damage by moisture due to damp mopping and everyday spills.
Laminate flooring is considered a green product because it uses recycled and waste wood scraps as the core material of its flooring planks. Unlike in solid wood flooring, no old growth or exotic trees are cut down to produce laminate flooring. Alternately, the petroleum-based resins used in production as well as the high-energy demands of the manufacturing process itself make laminate flooring less environmentally friendly. Lastly, laminate floors cannot be refinished as hardwood floors can, so planks that wear out and need to be replaced end up in landfills.
Pergo states that it doesn't use harmful glues or toxic chemicals in the production of its wood although it does acknowledge that its products include melamine resin, a compound made with formaldehyde. Concerns about indoor air quality sometimes convince homeowners to purchase other types of flooring products.