Whether you call them white-washed, limed or “pickled”, white hardwood floors are beautiful. The growing popularity of Scandinavian design kick-started the design community’s love affair with white-washed floors.

If you’re not familiar with Scandinavian design, think white walls, light coloured wood floors and minimalist interiors. Choosing light interior finishes is a utilitarian decision for these northern countries. The long cold winters and few hours of sunlight need white walls and floors to brighten up the space. While Vancouver may not have Scandinavia’s snow and never-ending nights, a bright interior adds cheer to a long streak of Vancouver grey rainy days.

The white-washed look allows the natural beauty of the wood grain to shine through the finish. It’s softer and more natural looking compared to painted white floors. Here are a few of our favourite white-washed hardwood floors.

Newbury Locking Oak colour Arctic – $

The light-wire brushing adds a touch of texture to this classic 5″ wide oak hardwood.

Shaw Castlewood Oak colour Tower – $$
Castlewood Oak has a lightly-whitewashed surface that preserves the natural charm of white oak. Its knots, mineral streaks and natural splits add a touch of rustic character to these 7.5″ wide boards.

Vintage Hardwood Maple North Solid Sawn Etched Iceland – $$
The subtle grain pattern of the maple keeps these white floors simple. We love the low-gloss oil finish and variety of widths. (3″, 4.5″ and 5″)

Kahrs Oak Bloc White – $$$

The Oak Bloc is perfect for creating beautiful patterned wood floors. Its three sizes (12″x12″ 24″x12″ and 36″x12″) can be mixed and matched to create a unique pattern. The light wire-brushing and white oil finish add to a touch of simplicity to balance busy patterns.

Karelia Ash Story Shiny White – $$$
Go for an authentic Nordic look direct from the experts at Finnish company, Karelia Hardwood. Similar to oak, ash hardwoods have a strong grain. The shiny lacquer finish mimics the look of painted floors without losing the beautiful wood grain.

Just like white shoes or a white sofa, white hardwood floors can be tough to keep clean. Following basic hardwood maintenance rules like taking shoes off indoors, using walk-off mats and cleaning often will help to keep your floors white.

Carpet installation in the Knight street building finished yesterday. Thank you for your patience and allowing us in your space.

Installation in the 1483 King Edward building will continue from Tuesday to Friday next week (June 23-26).

MIRA Floors is the proud winner of the Innovative Business Practices award from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Mainland BC. The BBB Torch Awards are held annually to acknowledge excellence in the BC business community and honour companies that maintain a healthy, honest marketplace. This year the winners were announced on June 11, 2015 at a gala at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

The Innovative Business Practices award is presented to an accredited business for their ability to break conventional business models and have a positive impact on their industry. MIRA Floors was nominated for their mobile flooring showrooms that allow customers to cut down on repetitive visits to flooring showrooms. Award recipients are selected by an independent committee after an in-depth application process.

“We are honoured to receive the BBB’s Innovative Business Practices award,” says Kevin Bergstresser, owner of MIRA Floors. “For a service-focused business like ours, the mobile showroom is the key to delivering above industry-standard service. Customers can spend so much time taking samples between their home and the showroom when picking flooring. Implementing the mobile showroom allows customers to save time and select flooring in the comfort of their own home. We’re grateful to receive recognition from the BBB for this business practice we’ve worked so hard to develop.”

MIRA Floors & Interiors has been a BBB a accredited business since inception in 2002. This is the second BBB award MIRA Floors has received. In 2013 MIRA Floors was the Marketplace Excellence Award winner – medium business category.

The five Torch Award categories this year included Marketplace Excellence, Community Excellence, Green Award, Innovative Business Practices and People’s Pick. Visit the BBB website for a full list of the Torch Award winners.

An update for the 1483 King Edward Building.
Carpet has been removed on floors 3,4 & 5. Carpet installation on these floors will be from June 22-26.
The installation for the 4078 Knight Street building will continue as planned.
Notices will be going up around the building today or tomorrow.

The safety of laminate flooring has come under fire in recent months with the 60 minutes story on Lumber Liquidators and Lowe’s pulling Chinese laminate over formaldehyde concerns. At a recent home builder’s trade show we were still fielding questions of how to talk about California Air Resource Board (CARB) compliance with customers. Everyone just wants to know their floors are safe for their families. Here are a few  frequently asked questions about CARB compliant flooring.

What are California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulations?

The California Air Resource Board requires all composite wood products (e.g. particleboard, medium density fibreboard and hardwood plywood) for sale in California to be certified as complying with California’s formaldehyde emission standards. For flooring manufacturers, this means their laminate and engineered hardwood flooring has to be manufactured with certified composite wood products. Composite wood producers are required to have their products tested by a third-party certifier. Flooring manufacturers must label their laminate and engineered hardwood flooring boxes to indicate they were made using CARB compliant composite wood products. CARB regulations only apply in California. In Canada, there are no similar rules to regulate formaldehyde emissions from wood products.

What flooring does CARB regulations apply to?

CARB regulations apply to laminate and engineered hardwood since these products are made with composite wood products. They do NOT apply to solid hardwood and vinyl flooring.

What is formaldehyde?

Formaldehyde is a colourless, strong-smelling chemical often used to make home building products. In everyday life, we are exposed to formaldehyde through tobacco smoke, cars, fires and even some glues and cleaning products.

How can I tell if my flooring is CARB compliant?

The CARB indoor air-quality standards were implemented in two parts. The second phase implemented in 2012 lowered the formaldehyde limit to a more stringent 0.05 parts per million. We recommend checking that laminate and engineered hardwood meet this second phase of CARB standards, known as CARB 2.

In the wake of the alleged issues with Lumber Liquidators laminate, flooring manufacturers are being more transparent about their supply chains and CARB certifications. The recent news has taught the flooring marketplace the value of asking more questions. Does the flooring manufacturer produce their own products or buy from others? If they buy from other suppliers, what do they do to ensure the products meet air-quality standards? Do they sell CARB compliant products to all customers or just those in California? Do they do additional testing? Do they go above and beyond CARB compliance by submitting their products for additional certification from independent third-parties?

Two flooring manufacturers that are exceeding expectations in their commitment to safe, sustainable products are Shaw Floors and Armstrong. Read the Shaw Floors laminate and hardwood certifications statement and the Armstrong’s eco-friendly laminate page for more information.