Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Wood Laminate Over Parquet

I just purchased a home that is about 20 years old. There is a large foyer (probably at least 7' x 7' and it has parquet floors which I really do not like. I would like to put down Pergo wood laminate in a nice light color (the parquet is REALLY dark). Do I need to remove the parquet and if so, how do I go about doing that, or can I just put the laminate right over the parquet. Oh, the house is on a slab.

Thanks!

TJ:

Some of the older parquets can removed in a breeze as I've been able to tear out that kind of square footage in less than 10 minutes on ocassion. Then you have your total nightmare that may take almost a day. It all depends on the adhesive used.

Try pulling up some pieces, as you can always replace the areas with plywood. A 7' X7' area is darned small for a floating laminate and will move back and forth just by walking in and out the door.

I'm sure Fred has some thoughts and another concern is the finished height to carpet. Typically an end cap would be used in that area but they're made for a 5/16" rise. That would make the laminate over parquet 5/8" off the subfloor. Chances are good it will eventually break apart unless a shim is used under the end cap.

I vote for a gluedown engineered floor here with parquet removal. I guess I'm a wood bigot too...hehe;)

Thanks! I kind of figured the parquet would need to come up - I think it will probably be easy (the floor "crunches" when you walk in it which leads me to believe it's fairly loose already). One more question - So, you don't think I can use the snap together type flooring? The glue down kind intimidates me a bit. Would the snap together be ok for a couple of years? My goal is to actually have tile installed but I need a quick fix since I can't afford tile right now. And I measured the room this time - it's actually 10.5' long by 8' wide.

I think I would shop hard for the tile you want now. The area is small and there are inexpensive tiles out there that will challange the better laminate glueless prices. I'll bet the laminate cost is at least 50% of the cost of tile. An entry is the "second area" of "most concern" for a laminate in my opinion. The problem here is abrasion from grit and sand carried in though a doorway which almost always causes the grinding of the first step inside the door to be in the same place. Thus you get premature wear in a 12" square area if a welcome mat is not used. This response is question specific. JMHO