Flood on Pergo Floor

[ThisGuy5280]

In my living room I had a fir floor that was really old. I had it covered with Pergo Outlast and I love it. Due to water pipe replacement work I had to run all of the faucets for 30 minutes. I didn't realize that the bar sink drain (upper right area behind chair - not that that really matters here) was closed. and I had a small flood in that area. I grabbed a shop vac and sucked up 5 gallons or so. It's all dry and looks great.
But when I checked the basement I see that there is water on the floor and a wet area in the drywall ceiling.
Do I need to open that up and get any water out?
Do I need to worry about the Pergo?
The Pergo is waterproof (whatever that means), and I assume it means it, itself, won't be damaged by water.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

So sorry, you had that happen. That bites!

There's no such thing as a waterproof floor. I don't care what the marketing says, it just isn't so. They are extremely water resistant and can tolerate moisture to a certain degree, but having 5 gallons of water on the floor is not considered a normal spill or even covered under the warranty. In fact, if you read the product warranty it specifically excludes flooding from the warranty.

"6. These limited warranties do not apply to moisture damage caused by events beyond everyday household spills, including but not limited to, flooding, standing water, leaking pipes, mechanical failures or appliance leaks."

In many cases what "waterproof" actually refers to in the fine print is that if you have a spill (a glass of water for example), it will not penetrate through the locking system for up to a certain number of hours. If the floor was truly "waterproof", the warranties on these products wouldn't immediately exclude slab moisture and they wouldn't require you to completely seal the perimeter or do moisture testing. There would be no need to do that.

"A moisture test must be performed to determine if excessive moisture exists in the subfloor."

- If it's waterproof, why would you need to do a moisture test???

"The entire perimeter of the installation must be sealed with 100% silicone sealant. All expansion spaces must be filled with 3/8” compressible PE foam backer rod and covered with 100% silicone sealant. Apply 100% silicone sealant to all moldings at the point of contact with the flooring surface. Apply silicone sealant at all connections to doorframes or any other fixed objects."

-- Was any of this done? If no, then you have not "installed properly in accordance with Pergo Installation instructions. Again, now warranty.
For further reading...

"The flooring must be maintained in accordance with Pergo care and maintenance 2020_06_OP_WARPERGO Outlast+ Limited Lifetime Residential Warranty instructions. Damage resulting from excessively wet maintenance or from using detergents, abrasive cleaners, soaps, waxes or polishes is not covered by this limited warranty.

-- If it's waterproof, why would "excessively wet maintenance" be a problem?

You need 3 things to grow mold or bacteria...1). water (check), 2). a food source (dirt, adhesive residual, or anything organic that bacteria can consume), and dark (check). Since you for sure have two of the three, I would say you have a more than 50% chance of growing mold, or mildew in the closed space.

I do wish you all the best with it and hope that you can resolve it without much disruption and expense. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to give you an honest answer. The warranty document for your floor is attached if you want to see where I was quoting from. Also, this is not a Pergo thing, this is an industry wide thing. It's all of them.

 

[C.J.]

I would open the floor up and let it dry out cus you know there’s moisture between the Pergo and the subfloor. That moisture will be absorbed by the Pergo and it will expand. If you’re careful you can save the planks and possibly reuse them.

There is a plastic clip in the butt joint that likes to break if you don’t take the floor apart properly. When you unclick the floor you unclick the long joints first then slide the butt joints to get the planks separated.

 

[ThisGuy5280]

Thanks, both of you. This is a mess for sure. At this point it looks fine, but I know it's not. I will start by removing sheetrock below it (basement ceiling and seeing how that looks. Then I will get the flooring installer back to tackle the top of the floor. I guess it won't get any better on its own. This is really a bummer. Thanks again.

 

[highup]

One other thing that could give you some hope, is that when opening up the floor, you'll be able to see where the water stopped. If the water had a good exit area a long the wall, it might not have gone very far under the floor. I guess you'll find out.

 

[ThisGuy5280]

Thanks, highup. I drilled some holes in the drywall below and there was no water. The drill bit was dry. I think I'll drill some more holes to let some air in and then seal them up in a few days. At this point the planks are fine and I won't worry about it. I panicked a little at first, though.

 

[C.J.]

Hopefully it wasn’t that much water and everything works out for the best. If nothing at least you’ll know what’s going on and why things look the way they look the next time you have your floor replaced. Pergo is a decent product so you might be alright.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Thanks, highup. I drilled some holes in the drywall below and there was no water. The drill bit was dry. I think I'll drill some more holes to let some air in and then seal them up in a few days. At this point the planks are fine and I won't worry about it. I panicked a little at first, though.

That’s great news! Sounds like you might be in good shape!

All the best with it.