Modern laminate flooring in a Maple Ridge, BC home

3 ways to choose laminate flooring

There's an almost unlimited number of colors, patterns, styles, and designs for laminate flooring. While that?s exciting, it?s also a bit overwhelming, so we wanted to help!

#1: Understand your style and needs


Explore as many design pages as possible and look around at other homes.

Anything jumps out at you, such as glossy wood look laminate floors, a colorful retro style kitchen, or a granite counter in the bathroom?

#2 Decide on a laminate shape


Laminate can be cut in strips or planks that mimic wood, or squares that look like tiles. You can also use planks, or tile, to mimic stone.

#3 Choose the perfect laminate flooring texture


Textures are big this year. They add depth, dimension, and visual interest to a floor. The choices are:

?Wire-brushed. This is a process where wood is gently abraded with a wire brush. It gives the floor a slightly weathered look and is great for rustic styles.

?Hand-scraped. Back in the day, wood was often soaked first to soften it up and then rubbed by hand. Now it's done mostly by machine. It gives the floor a slightly worn feeling, an atmosphere of warmth and interest, almost as if the floor has some story to tell.

?Weathered and distressed. These terms speak for themselves. The floors look worn with some scratches and dents. The weathered barn door looks is trending this year and, while you could get it with any of the textures, it would be especially so with distressed.

?Finishes: Do you want a matte, gloss or high-gloss floors?

Focus on getting the best product possible by going to a local store like ours. It?s a myth that the big boxes have more inventory because they are controlled by corporate and their vendors, by selling only the products that sell. If you want something different, you won?t find it there.

For more information about laminate flooring or any of our other products, come into the Diverse Flooring showroom in Maple Ridge, BC, serving Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Walnut Grove, Langley North. We offer free in-home measuring.