[Blueface]

Kelly,
I recently helped my son complete an upstairs project that involved three continuous rooms and a hallway in between.

In addition to all that has been said, screw Pergo. Go with Armstrong or any other. I had an awful fight with Pergo, which I won, due to water damage they wre trying to exclude. At the time I got mine, they had an amazing all risk water coverage. They later changed it as it cost them plenty in losses and they spent six months trying to apply a new warranty when all along I had my old one attached to my documents of purchase. Luckily, it was backed by Home Depot on the warranty also, so although Pergo never honored my claim, I threatened a suit to implead Home Depot and their legal department agreed they owed me and reimbursed all my money for the floors.

Now, that said, installation.
The hardest thing to do and what takes the most time is figuring out how it will look when said and done.
Do you want to go one way with the planks or the other?
Once you decide which way, and you measure out how the planks will end up (so you don't end up with a tiny cut on one side, you need to drop a plum line and use that as your guide. From that plum line, measure out and drop another line where you need to start the first full plank near a corner of the room, preferrably the furthest point first, working your way out of the room.

Get the kits for hammering them in and shims. Worth their weight in gold. Shims will help secure the floor from moving when you bang it in, which you will need to do on the short side of the plank.

Once you get going, cuts with the right tools are a breeze and the laying down process goes quite easily. Just spend the time initially figuring out how it will all end up. Connect as many planks temporarily to lay out on the floor if needed to get a better perspective.

His is all done now and next to do and last piece is the stairs. It came out really nice. Whole different process there but also not hard to do. Overall, not a difficult project at all as projects go.

For spacing of planks, we used the 1/3 method. Second plank goes in one third from where first started. Third plank goes at 2/3 thirds of first plank, 1/3 of second and so on to stagger them.

Last thing, Armstrong now comes with the foam backing already attached to the panels. My Pergo involved laying down the foam seperately. Also, if doing it on a second floor, no moisture barrier needed but in doing it on a first floor, with no basement (like a typical Florida home), you will need to first lay down a moisture barrier (plastic), then the foam, then the floor (unless like Armstrong where the foam is on it).

If you need any further help, let me know.
Good luck.