A summary of the official INSTALLATION GUIDE PERGO — LMP (Version 07.2026). Where this page conflicts with the full guide, the full guide takes precedence. Local regulations and standards must be followed where they are stricter.

Our warranty requires the floor to be installed according to this guide — damage caused by incorrect installation is not covered.

1. Check the room is suitable first

Pergo floors are designed for indoor use. AquaSafe technology allows installation in humid areas, but the floor must not be installed in areas with a built-in floor drain, saunas, showers, pool areas, or spaces that are excessively humid or excessively dry.

A floating installation must remain floating. Never fix, block or permanently load the floor — do not install kitchen units, built-in closets, heavy stoves or other fixed objects on top of a laid floor. Install those first, then lay the floor up to them.

2. Prepare the subfloor

The subfloor must be solid, self-supporting, stable, structurally sound, flat, clean and permanently dry. Remove soft or damp-porous floor coverings such as carpet and needle felt. Impervious coverings such as non-foamed vinyl or linoleum do not have to be removed.

Flatness — not the same thing as level

A subfloor that slopes as a whole can still be laid on. A Pergo floor floats: it rests on the subfloor without being fixed to it, so an overall slope is not a problem — and the official guide sets no requirement for level at all.

What does matter is flatness: dips and humps over short distances. Those make panels bridge, stop the locks from closing fully, cause noise underfoot, and can open joints later.

How to measure — lay a long straight edge on the floor and look at the gap underneath.

Over 2 m, the gap must be no more than 3 mm
Over 20 cm, no more than 1 mm

Beyond that, sand the surface down or use a smoothing compound before laying.

A note on these figures. The Pergo guide allows 4 mm over 2 m. The 3 mm is BRT Intertech's own, stricter limit — a subfloor that passes ours always passes Pergo's too. The 1 mm over 20 cm comes straight from the guide.

Subfloor moisture — for unheated subfloors, which is the normal case in Thailand:

Cement: below 2.5 CM% / 75% RH
Anhydrite (calcium sulphate): below 0.5 CM% / 75% RH
Wood based: below 10 %MC (moisture content, measured with a pin-type meter)

With underfloor heating the limits tighten to 1.5 CM% / 65% RH for cement, and the heating must be started at least two weeks before laying.

All work that affects room humidity, such as plastering, must be completed and dried out beforehand. Keep records of your measurements.

Always use a Pergo underlay, including a vapour barrier on mineral subfloors.

3. Acclimatisation and room conditions

Acclimatise the unopened boxes on a flat surface in the room of installation, or one with equivalent conditions.

48 hours before, throughout installation, and until 24 hours after the room must be kept within the conditions below
Room temperature during acclimatisation and installation: 15–25 °C
Relative humidity: 30–85% for storage, installation and use

If the regional climate falls outside the 30–85% range, the guide strongly advises stabilising the environment first.

Check the product before laying — codes and appearance matching the order, no damage, and colour and gloss inspected in good light. An installed panel is an accepted panel.

4. Planning and expansion gaps

Lay the underlay in the same direction as the length of the panels and tape adjacent pieces to maintain the vapour barrier.

Divide the room width by the panel width to work out the number of full rows, then plan so that:

the first and last row are at least 5 cm wide
the first and last panel of each row are longer than 20 cm
end joints in adjacent rows are never in line — keep them at least 30 cm apart

Unpack panels from several boxes and mix them to avoid identical patterns or shades ending up next to each other.

Expansion gap — 1 mm per metre of floor width, minimum 8 mm. In high relative humidity regions such as Thailand the guide states the clearance should certainly be 10 mm. Gaps are mandatory around the entire perimeter and around every fixed object — pillars, doorframes and pipes. Use spacers to hold the gap throughout the installation.

The base of the doorframe must not create a fixed point on the floor.

Maximum continuous installation size is 13 × 13 m. Beyond that an intermediate T-profile is required, with the expansion gap respected on both sides of the profile.

An intermediate T-profile is mandatory in every doorway, as well as in irregularly shaped rooms (L, U or T shaped) and where underfloor heating or cooling zones differ. The exception listed in the guide names specific countries and does not include Thailand.

5. Laying the floor and joining the panels

Install rows #2 and #3 first, away from the wall, since walls are hardly ever perfectly straight — then cut row #1 to follow the shape of the wall. Install panels alternately in rows #2 and #3 so that every panel is locked on both the short and the long side before the next one goes in. Never lock only the short side.

For the row against the wall (row #1), saw off the click profile on the wall side and cut the panel to follow the wall.

Uniclic click system (Perstorp)

Method A (angle–angle) is the preferred way. Rotate the short side of the panel to be installed into the short side of the already installed panel using the angle principle. Then raise the new panel to an angle of 20–30°, sliding the fingers of both hands under the raised length edge close to the short end joint, grip the panel and pull it towards you. The panels click together.

Method B — use a Uniclic tapping block to gradually tap the panels into each other without lifting.

Where a tapping block cannot be used, such as the last panel in a row against the wall, use a pulling iron and a hammer.

Tip from the guide — lay some weight on the newly installed row to stop it unlocking while you continue.

Perfect Fold click system (Odense and Visby)

The Uniclic methods above can be used, and there is an easier one.

Method C (fold down) is the easiest way to connect Perfect Fold panels.

Lift the connecting panel up at an angle of 20–30°.
Push it into the long side groove and slide it gently towards the previously installed panel until the panel ends meet — do not collide or overlap the panels.
With your fingers underneath both panels, lift the short connection of the already installed panel and push the panel firmly down to the floor. Perfect Fold locks the end joint.
Push the connected panels down to the ground.
Always check every joint before continuing.

Note — the angle is 20–30° for every method, not 45°. The 45° angle in the guide applies only to herringbone installation.

6. Cutting panels

Whether the decor side faces up or down depends on the saw and blade being used. The guide recommends testing on an offcut first to find which gives the cleanest edge.

Required tools — ruler, pencil, hammer, saw, square, dust mask, safety gloves and goggles, string or chalk line, tapping block, pull bar and spacers.

7. Finishing

Remove all spacers once installation is complete.

Attach skirtings to the wall, never to the floor — fixing through the planks stops the floor moving.

Do not fill the expansion gaps, except with Foamstrip covered with Pergo Aqua Sealant. In wet areas use Foamstrip and Pergo Aqua Sealant around the entire perimeter, profiles and pipe covers.

Fit T-profiles in doorways and at transitions to other floor types.

8. Keep these after installation

At least one box label
Your purchase receipt
A photo of all the codes on the underside of one panel
Spare panels — the guide highly recommends keeping some for replacements, as the range or shade may no longer be available later

9. Looking after the floor

Maintain a relative humidity of 30–85% in the room
Remove spills immediately
Fit felt pads under furniture and use soft castors (type W according to EN 12529) or a suitable protective mat
Never drag items across the floor — always lift them
Open joints may appear when room humidity swings rapidly or widely, which is normal behaviour for a floating floor

Pergo Installation Guide