Common areas of a strata complex are part of the first impression for residents and visitors. When it comes time to replace flooring in the common area, many residents will be invested in the decision because they are passionate about creating a great first impression for their building. Getting all these passionate residents to agree on a new carpet for the common area can often be challenging.

Why do strata complexes experience challenges picking new flooring?

1. Design is subjective. While Mrs. Smith in Unit 306 may love leopard print patterned carpet, others in the building may not. Each person added to the decision making process brings a new set of interior design ideas to accommodate.
2. There are an overwhelming number of commercial carpet choices. There are thousands of styles and patterns, each with many different colour choices. It is challenging for one person to pick from all these samples, let alone a whole group of people.

Don’t endure multiple strata meetings and get into arguments over shades of blue and carpet fibres. Here are a few simple tips we recommend to make the process of picking commercial carpet easier:

1. Only have a small group responsible for picking the carpet. Designate one or two people as the carpet selection committee. They will work with the salesperson to find a carpet that fits your building’s needs and works with the colour scheme.
2. Narrow down the options before you show them to the whole strata. Pick a few favourite carpet samples and leave the rest in the showroom. Limiting the options makes it easy for the strata to vote. After a quick “majority rules” vote, the carpet will be picked.
3. Ensure all decision makers have the same knowledge about carpet. Not all carpets are created equally. Colour and patterns are only two of many important factors to consider. Invite your salesperson to spend 5-10 minutes at your meeting educating all decision makers on factors to consider when picking commercial carpet. Once everyone has the same knowledge about carpet, they will be more confident when making their decision.
4. Get the full picture with the big samples. Commercial carpet sample books often have tiny swatches – think 1 inch by 1 inch. Your salesperson can order larger samples to help you better visualize what the carpet will look like in your common area. Manufacturers such as Patcraft have tools on their website to show what your carpet will look like in a larger space and using different carpet tile installation methods.
   
5. Consider using a designer. If interior design isn’t your forté or the strata is planning a renovation with many components (carpet, tiles, paint etc), a designer will help with the decision making process. The designer will provide great advice on interior design trends and put together visual representations of the components of the design. A visual representation is helpful for working around any language barriers you may have.

While there’s no guarantee of pleasing everyone when making a decision with a large group of people, following these steps will help you come to a fair decision, quickly and easily.

If renovation plans are part of your new years resolutions, it’s a wise decision to consider how the renovation will affect the resale value of your home. Instead of guessing if hardwood floors will increase resale value, the Appraisal Institute of Canada has the answers for you. The institute surveys its members to find out what renovations had the highest impact.

The institute has three basic guidelines that apply for anyone embarking on a renovation:

• Amount of money spent isn’t everything. The changes you make must be in line with current trends to appeal to the majority of buyers.
• Beware of passing fads. If you aren’t planning to sell your home right away, passing fads will make your home look dated when it is time to sell.
• Avoid projects that will dramatically set your house apart from others in the neighbourhood. Renovations on homes that are already above the average value of the homes in the neighbourhood will return less on the investment.

1. Hardwood floor installation – Wherever you install it, you can expect to have 50% to 75% of your investment recovered in the resale price.

2. Kitchen flooring – Upgrades to the kitchen usually result in 75% to 100% of the investment recovered. We recommend tile or engineered wood as the best return on investment for this room.

3. Bathroom flooring – Bathroom upgrades have 75% to 100% of their investment recovered. Tile is the best choice for the bathroom. However, if that’s not in your budget and you have a 1970’s vinyl that needs to go, even replacing it with a modern looking luxury vinyl tile will bring the space into the current decade.

4. Unfinished basement flooring – Finishing off an unfinished basement brings a 50-75% recovery of investment. We recommend a warm and cozy carpet to transform an unfinished basement into a liveable space.

Want to know how other renovation projects will increase the resale value of your home? A full list can be found here.

For our winter season wine tasting, we choose to focus on local wines recommended by our team and readers. We picked wines that were $25 or under, perfect for Christmas gifts or to bring to a party.

The contenders:

Mt Lehman Winery – Platinum Reserve Merlot 2011

One of our owners, James Alisch tried this wine from this local Abbotsford winery and knew from the first taste it was a contender for the MIRA Floors team wine tasting. Supporting local business and trying a wine the winery boasts as “probably unlike any other [Merlot] you have tried before” is a win-win. This Merlot spent 14 months aging in a combination of new and used French Oak. It has bright fruit flavours, a burst of acidity with bing cherry flavours with a hint of licorice.

Hester Creek Estate Winery – Character White 2011

We were replacing the commercial carpet in a client’s office and he named the Hester Creek Estate Winery in Oliver as one of his BC favourites. We choose to sample the winery’s Character White, a blend of estate Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pint Blanc and Trebbiano grapes. This wine offers an appealing fruity fragrance with bright flavours of citrus and apple and just a hint of spice on the palate. With this wine, the acidity helps balance the sweetness. It would be great paired with seafood, Asian fare, or grilled poultry (Holiday Hint: Bring it out to enjoy with Turkey!).

The winner?

With half of the office staff preferring red and the other more partial to white, the results are always very close. Leading by just a half a point on our rating scale, the Hester Creek Character White was our victor for this round of wine tasting.

Have a great wine you think we should try for our next office tasting? Let us know in the comments.

When choosing tile, layout is just as important as colour, size, and type. Different tile patterns and layouts can change the look and feel of your room.

1. Straight

Sometimes referred to as grid, this is a the classic tile layout. It works well with any size tile and keeps your space looking simple. Looking to spice up this simple layout? Try using a rectangular tile to create a modern, on trend look.

Images from Daltile

2. Diamond

When tiles are installed in a diamond pattern, they are set at a 45 degree angle. Laying tiles in this pattern creates the illusion of a larger space.

Image from Daltile

View PDF plan for the Diamond layout

3. Brick/Offset/Running Bond

Known by many names, this layout can be used with any size rectangular or square tile. The tiles can be offset by different amount. Try 50/50 offset with square tiles for a traditional brick look. A 30/70 offset with a rectangular tile creates a softer, more contemporary look.

Olympia Tile – Colour and Dimension Series

View PDF plan for brick layout with rectangle tiles

Image from Houzz – Rachel Reider Interiors

View PDF plan for brick layout with square tiles

An offset tile layout with a tile that looks like wood creates a faux-wood floor with the durability of tile.

Image from Daltile

4. Checkerboard

Use different colour square tiles to create a checkerboard pattern. This pattern can be laid straight or diagonal. Using black and white creates a classic vintage feel.

Image from Daltile

5. Windmill

Choose two tiles, a rectangle and a square that is half the size of the rectangle (ie 6×12 and 6×6). Place the rectangles tiles around the square to create a windmill effect. To create this look with smaller tiles, premade mosaics like the one below are a great option to speed up the installation process.

Image from Daltile

View PDF plan for the Windmill layout 

6. Hopscotch

Similar to the windmill, this layout uses a large square tile and a square tile 2 times smaller (ie 12×12 and 6×6). Using two similar coloured tiles like in the photo below, creates a look similar to Modular Versailles but takes less time to install.

Image from Houzz – Sroka Design

View PDF plan for the Hopscotch layout

7. Herringbone

Any size rectangle tile can be used for this pattern. Herringbone floors add interest to your room and work well in both traditional or contemporary design. Use a herringbone mosaic for a backsplash or try it on your floors.

Image from This Old House

View PDF plan for the Herringbone layout

8. Modular Versailles

Whether you’re looking for something traditional or timeless, this unique layout is sure to draw attention to your tile floors. Since it requires several different shaped tiles, it’s best to use a series that was designed for the modular versailles pattern.

Image from Daltile

View PDF plan for the Modular Versailles layout

Looking for even more tile layout inspiration? Check out our Pinterest board for tile patterns

On October 24, 2013 at the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Torch Awards, Mira Floors was selected as winner of the Marketplace Excellence award – medium category. The BBB Torch Awards is one of the highest achievements in the business community, showcasing how good business practices can help to build better communities.

The Marketplace Excellence Award is presented to a BBB accredited business in recognition of its superior commitment to exceptional standards for its customers, stakeholders and community. Award recipients are selected by an independent committee after an in-depth application process.

“We are honoured to receive the BBB’s Marketplace Excellence award,” said Kevin Bergstresser as he accepted the award on behalf of the MIRA Floors team. “We have been members with the BBB since day one and the main reason is the values the BBB stands for – honesty, ethics, and trustworthiness. We have always strived to build a business focused on those values.”

In his speech, he went on to thank the office team who were all present at the event. “This award celebrates our team’s dedication. The current core team is a big reason why we won this award and continue to grow as a business”

Here are a few photos of Kevin accepting the award and the whole team at the award ceremony.

Thank you to Better Business Bureau for choosing MIRA Floors & Interiors as the 2013 winner of the Marketplace Excellence award! We are truly honoured.