Check with the manufacturer's web site. You can get by without a vapor
barrier if the test says there's no moisture present, but why not put it
down anyway. It's cheap. 6 or 10 mil polyethylene. You don't have to
buy the stuff sold by the flooring manufacturer. Same with the foam layer.

Pergo has a spec on flatness: 1/4" over 6 feet IIRC. I used a long,
straight metal ell and swept it around on the floor. Floor leveler
(plaster) can be used in some cases.

Be sure to purchase the installation kit. It has a solid block you use
to set the joints with. And spacers for setting the floor 1/4" from the
walls.


HomeDecoy wrote:
Just bought a house. In the downstairs/basement, there is a room that
we've expanded to become an office. We want to put in laminate
floors. They are the snap together type that you can buy from Home
Depot. (The only place nearby with them, we live up north in Canada!)
Currently there is a low-pile carpet on there that's been there for
at least 20 years now, and is REALLY glued to the floor. A woman
working at Home Depot told us that we HAD to remove the carpet before
putting down this flooring. We will be renting a machine called/made by
Eddy (?) to pull up the carpet and then lay the flooring. She says if
we don't remove the carpet and put down the (proper) foam underneath,
that the flooring will eventually come apart.

It seems to make sense and I'd hate to have it come apart, but I was
just hoping to verify that this is true information and not just a ploy
to get us to rent a machine and buy the more expensive foam.
Can anyone tell me if this is indeed the best way to go?
Thanks