I started a Pergo installation yesterday. After getting started, I can not get the floor to snap lock together. The only way it is going together is to use a block of wood and hammer it in place.  Very labor intensive. I have about 1500 sq.ft. to do and one of the reasons for selecting pergo was the ease of installation. This is not easy.

Is there some trick to getting it to lock down into place?

It has been in the same room for about 8 months with the boxes stacked about 10 high. It seems there is a slight bow to each plank length wise. Could this be the problem?

Any help or hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Your results may vary, but here's what works for me:

Kneel with your knees resting on the installed piece, groove to your front and tongue to your back (the board's tongue, that is :cool:).  

You'll be facing away from the previously installed rows, toward the uninstalled part of the room.  

Hold the new plank horizontally with its tongue toward you, groove away from you.  Remember you are oriented with your feet to the tongue side of the installed plank and looking down on the installed groove side on the floor.  

Unless you're starting a new row, there will be an installed plank just to your right (you're working from the room's left to its right, but you're facing the opposite way since you're kneeling on the already installed floor).  

First, angle the new plank upward on your left, downward on your right, to insert the tongue into the groove on the plank just to your right (in the new row).  

Apply steady on the new plank to push its tongue into the groove.  Orient its short end so that it's in as close to the correct position as possible.  There will be a gap of about 1/8" from the long side of the new plank to the long side of the plank you're kneeling on.  

Let the new plank come down to the floor so that the left side is no longer up in the air, all the while applying pressure toward the short side joint you've just created.  

Set the tongue of the new plank into position in the long side groove of the plank you're kneeling on.  There will still be a widening gap as you look further toward the right, but the short side should still be tight.  

Lift the outer long edge of the new plank, and the plank to its right, up, so that they are a couple inches off the floor.  

Now use the plastic tapping block from a laminate install kit (I'm using Pergo's kit) and a rubber mallet to gently tap the long edge of the new plank, starting from the left and working toward the right.  As the long joint gets tighter, the plank will lie flatter on the floor.  

When the plank is flat, tap with the block and mallet to tighten the short joint, and then the long joint again.

Hope that helps!