How Much Does Laminated Wooden Flooring Cost in India?

This post is a review of my experience in getting a laminated wooden flooring from Pergo in India. Specifically, I will discuss the vendors, their engagement level, the brands available and the overall experience.

Pergo Wooden Flooring

I write this post on a Saturday morning while waiting for the wooden flooring installation guys from Pergo to turn up. It is 12:53 p.m. They were supposed to commence work at 11:00 a.m. as communicated and agreed upon. But, we will get to that later.

Here is a brief of our requirement for the wooden flooring project:

Space: Bed room

Area: 188 sq. ft

Type of wooden flooring: Laminated either AC3 or AC4.

Brand: We were not fixated on any brand such as Square Foot, Pergo so long we liked the colors.

Vendors:

We met with most prominent brands for wooden flooring India: Mobel, Home Town, Pergo, and Square Foot.

• The level of engagement was mediocre in Mobel and the choices limited.
• Home Town had seven choices, and the level of engagement after a it of prodding was better.
• We saw Square Foot in a tile showroom. The choices in Square Foot were good, but again when you are a tile dealer dealing in wooden flooring, the interest level is only so much.

Of the lot, we liked Pergo and Square Foot and decided to go with Pergo. Their show room is in Koramangla in Bangalore. They are present in several cities across India. Most tile shops also deal with specific brands of wooden flooring.

COSTING: HOW MUCH DOES LAMINATED WOODEN FLOORING COST?

Their AC 3 range started from Rs. 130 per sq.ft and the AC 4 range started from Rs. 150 per sq. ft. I liked one particular color in the AC 3 range, but they did not have a larger plank to show how it looked. There was a lot of difference between the pictures and the real ones in terms of color. So I did not want to take a chance until I saw one and decided to go with the one in AC 4 that we saw and liked. It is the one used for flooring in their Koramangla showroom (Amber Oak).

Installation cost of wooden flooring:

Most vendors typically charge Rs.10 per sq ft. towards installation if the area is less than 200 sq. ft. Pergo told us inclusive of installation, VAT it would be Rs. 150 per sq. ft. You’ll know how the frill cost gets added upon in the next section.

The real cost:

The costing for wooden flooring is not on the per sq.ft basis in reality, but on the number of boxes required for the area. Each plank on display has the area each box it covers written outside. So if the area is such that you will be using only one plank from a box, you will still have to buy the entire box.

They charged Rs. 3,000 towards transportation initially which we found ridiculous. It seemed more like compensating for not having installation charges. It was reduced after multiple conversations. My thought on this is any customer will be willing to accept the charges if it is justified under the right category. If it costs for installation, then please say no and do not classify it as transportation. It was just another marketing gimmick. The installation charges are applicable for the accessories.

11 boxes : 21,166.44

T-Profile, Skirting, Reducer and Beading: Rs. 4863

Total cost including transportation, service charge, installation charges at Rs.122 per sq.ft: Rs.33,819

What is the process of laying a wooden floor?

Many vendors require you to pay 50% before sending a person for measurement. Pergo sent someone to take the measurement before giving an estimate of how much it would cost. We did not have to pay anything. But, before installation, we had to pay 100%. The material was delivered to the site last evening.

Overall experience: good except excessive delay in installation.

Costing: should be more transparent.

Customer engagement: bad

Timeline promised for installation: not met

Time taken to install: they did not show up until 2:30 p.m.

Will update the post on Saturday with pictures after installation. Everyone deserves a second chance, so I’m keeping an open mind about this and hoping it will turn out to be an awesome experience with Pergo. Stay tuned!

Update:

They ran short of material and took one more week to complete. Here are the pictures of the flooring.

Common misconceptions about wooden flooring

There are several misconceptions about the maintenance of wooden flooring which leads to apprehensions.

• It cannot be mopped daily with water. If you do so, the wood will get spoiled or bloated.
• It is not advisable for high traffic areas.
• It is difficult to maintain and can get scratches quite easily.
• It gets warm during summer.

[Updated in 2019]

I can dispel the myths after having used it for three years now.

• The floor is cleaned every alternate day with water and dry mopped every day. I can safely say that it is one of the best rooms in the house as of today. It doesn’t look aged compared to the vitrified tiles with dirty grout marks.
• Maintenance has been a breeze. The dust, if it accumulates, shows off vividly which means it has not been cleaned properly.
• There have been cases of water seepage in some houses either from the bathroom or external areas. If water seeps from underneath and stays for several days, then the floor does bloat up and gets damaged. So you got to be careful about it.  In these cases, the entire flooring had to be changed.
• There are several grades of wooden flooring such as for bedroom and a higher grade for high traffic areas. So if you plan to lay one for your living or dining, then choose a higher grade one.
• The flooring is comfortable to use all through the year and has a definite warmth to it.

You can take a tour of the rest of this bedroom here.