Pergo Prestige Endures Kids And Dogs Beautifully By Alexsandralyn on Jul 01, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Dogs and kids killed my kitchen floor linoleum. Dogs and kids killed my kitchen floor ceramic tile, and I thought ceramic tile would be indestructible, until I tested it out on dogs and kids. So when I walked into Stone Mountain Flooring Outlet to try out ANOTHER flooring material for my kitchen, I said, "I want something that dogs and kids can't destroy. And I'm willing to pay for it."

The salesman took me to the Pergo Prestige display that he had laid out on the floor. He gave me a spiked high heel shoe and said, "Hit that floor as hard as you want to with the heel of that shoe, and I guarantee you that there won't be a scratch left on that floor." Well, I beat the heck out of that floor with that shoe. I pounded on it as though my child had just dropped all of her dinner dishes and silverware again, then I dragged the heel sharply across the flooring as though the dogs had just barely been able to skitter themselves to a stop to beg and fight for the dinner scraps. Not a scratch. And Pergo Prestige was guaranteed not to wear, stain or fade for 30 years.

Once my kitchen floor was properly prepared, it only took me a few hours to install the Pergo Prestige by myself, and the instructions were easy to follow. Pergo is easy to cut with a circular saw and a Workmate workbench. I really love the warm golden tones and rich, dark woodgrain of the Potomac Hickory laminate. I've had this flooring in my kitchen for eight years now, and there's still not a scratch on it, even after my teenage daughter used it briefly for some noisy tap dancing practice. And my dogs tended to avoid the kitchen after I laid the Pergo Prestige down because they couldn't get good purchase without their nails being able to dig into the flooring. My four barbarians for dogs lined themselves up at the edge of the Pergo Prestige just as pretty and well-mannered as could be and begged for the dinner scraps from there. I guess the dogs got tired of doing belly-flopping splits every time they slid into the kitchen.

Pergo Prestige was worth every single penny I paid for it and then some. Clean-up is incredibly easy, even the greasy build-up under the stove needs little more than a wet sponge and some Pine-Sol to help break up the grease. Otherwise, it's recommended that only water be used to clean Pergo Prestige laminate floors. The Potomac Hickory laminate is hard to find because cherry, birch and oak are more popular wood laminate choices, but the Potomac Hickory laminate is available through Home Depot, and it can be viewed and ordered online at their website, www.homedepot.com