After years of research, several in house flooring mill tours as well as working with pretty well every major manufacturer of hardwood flooring over the last 15 years I can answer this question with confidence and I will tell you Mirage every time. Mirage is dedicated to quality without compromise!
Anyone can tell you that a product or the product they sell is the best, however this blog is being written to explain exactly why we at Owen Flooring will all tell you Mirage is the best.
So lets start with what most consumers feel the most important part of a wood floor is
THE FINISH.
Thanks to this cutting edge technology,
Mirage Nanolinx finish is made up of the smallest particles possible, nine times smaller than a hair, each particle moulds perfectly to the shape of the hardwood floor, creating the clearest and most flexible finish in the industry. The Nanolinx finish is also highly resistant to scratches, marks and nicks. Actually the Mirage Nanolinx finish is by far the most resistant I have seen in my eight years installing hardwood flooring, however for those more technical people out
there, Mirage has done their own testing to ensure their finish exceeds the common norm, and is much better and more resistant than all of their competition. In fact Mirage maintains an in house active researchand development department which conducts many thorough tests on all products including the competitions products. As you can see in the chart above the Nanolinx finish is %50 more wear resistant than most other finishes.
Mirage Hardwood is available in three different approaches Solid, Engineered and Lock. All three approaches have their own Reducers, T-mouldings and Stair-nosing made and finished in the same Canadian manufacturing facility as the flooring products themselves to ensure a perfect colour match.
The Solid approach has a very exclusive manufacturing process to ensure the wood stays at the proper moisture level of %7. This level is very important because if the product is milled higher or lower than %7 there is a higher chance of cupping and bowing after the product has been installed in the home. Board widths in the Solid approach are available in 2-1/2, 3-1/4 and 4-1/4 inch thicknesses and can be sanded 3-5 times.
The Engineered approach is real hardwood flooring over a plywood base, keeping it structurally sound to resist against moisture problems associated with wider planked solid hardwood and is my personal favourite. Mirage has one of the largest wear layers in the industry that can also be sanded down 3-5 times. The wear layer from Mirage is Dry Sawn unlike most of the Chinese competition is a Rotary peal. A Dry sawn approach is the absolute best way to create a wear layer because you will get less grain repetition than that of a rotary pealed product giving you the same look as the solid wood approach with the availability to go to a wider board without the risk of cupping and bowing. Mirage Engineered can be glued over concrete as well as radiant heat, or it can be nailed or stapled over wood subfloor. Mirage Engineered is available in various widths 2-9/16, 3-5/16, 5 & 6-1/2 inches. In my opinion the biggest advantage to Mirage Engineered over their competitions engineered is the core they use. The core is a baltic birch marine grade plywood made by
Wisa plywood a company from Finland that is considered the best plywood manufacturer in the World. Wisa plywood does not contain urea-formaldihyde because urea-formaldihyde does not stand up to water whereas Phenol-Formaldehyde which is what is used in the Wisa/Mirage product does stand up to water making it marine grade and superior to the competitions products. We did our own testing at
Owen Flooring on Mirage engineered hardwood vs. The HGTV competition product, we put both in a bucket filled with water for over 24 hrs. The water did not effect the Mirage Engineered product at all the finish was still perfect and the product did not expand while it was wet or contract when it dried. Unlike the HGTV product that would no longer tongue and groove together because it had expanded so much and the water completely destroyed its finish. Although your flooring is highly unlikely to sit in water for 24 hrs. it is nice to have the peace of mind to know that this product is made to stand up to life's challenges.
The Mirage Lock approach is real hardwood boards with a High Density Fiber Core or HDF. This product is designed to be installed using the float method. A float method is great for basement floors or homes that were built on slab, at the same time it can also be installed on wood subfloors making it a great option for any level on your home. This is also your Greenest approach because the HDF is made of recycled saw dust and the production uses the least amount of new wood product. The boards are available in a 4-5/16 inch wide. The lock system is great because it allows you to have a fast, easy and installation with no nails or glue, while still taking advantage of the Mirage quality.
Mirage has one of if not the best Warranties in the industry and they actually stand behind their warranty. The warranty is a Lifetime limited structural warranty, warranting that the wood will not delaminate for life . A 25 year warranty on finish wear through for residential applications as well as 3 year for commercial.
Ok, so now lets talk about Mirage and our environment, Mirage is FSC certified, meaning the product comes from certified producers committed to meeting healthy forestry management standards. Mirage also recycles %100 of the wood waste generated in the manufacture of their floors. All Mirage products are packaged in recyclable cartons made of %100 recycled materials. None of the finishes contain VOCs or Volatile Organic Compound. Top quality Mirage products qualify for LEED. If only all the flooring mills cared this much about the future of not only our industry but the World as a whole.
So above has pretty well summed up why myself and my associates at
Owen Flooring feel Mirage is the absolute best product on the market and if you are still uncertain about what brand to choose, read below as I copied this directly from the
Mirage website.
Mirage stands as a symbol of the quest for balance and a better quality of life. Mirage is synonymous with comfort, beauty, and durability. It epitomizes attention to detail and the desire to create a product in perfect harmony with its environment.
Twenty-three times recognized for outstanding quality*, Mirage is indisputably the # 1 hardwood flooring brand in North America. Retailers and other industry professionals have rated Mirage 1st for quality 23 times in the last decade on surveys conducted by the following magazines:
- Ranked 1st in quality by Floor Focus magazine in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014
- Ranked 1st in quality by Floor Covering Weekly in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013
- Received the Floor Covering News Award of Excellence in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014
- Boa-Franc, manufacturer of Mirage floors has also received the highest honor at the Grands Prix québécois de la qualité awards in 2012. This award is on par with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States.
- Boa-Franc, manufacturer of Mirage floors has also received the prestigious Gold Trophy Award at the 2013 Canada Awards for Excellence
I think in a nutshell by now I have proven my point and I am sure I have left several key aspects of this company out of this blog. So if you think there are any other companies out there that you feel even come close to meeting the standards set by Mirage please contact me because I would love to see it!
