Impressive Floors in Mississauga and Barrie

This is the heart of the line, and it is real wood: a genuine White Oak wear layer over a multilayer engineered core. Engineered construction holds its shape far better than solid wood across the seasons, which is why it can go over concrete and in spots a solid floor cannot. White Oak is the species most people want right now for good reason, a cooler, browner tone than red oak, an open grain that hides small dents, and it takes stain predictably from pale to deep.

The engineered range comes in several White Oak collections, and the difference between them is the look and the finish rather than the quality. The collections Squarefoot Flooring carries are Contempa, Huron, Paramount and Tremblant.

• Contempa. White Oak engineered, the broadest colour choice in the Impressive hardwood line.
• Huron. White Oak engineered, a tighter, focused palette.
• Paramount. White Oak engineered, a wide selection across tones.
• Tremblant. White Oak engineered, its own distinct set of finishes.

Impressive builds its engineered White Oak with a 2mm wire brushed veneer over a multilayer core, in a 3/4 inch board at 7 1/2 inches wide, in random lengths, installed nail down or glue down. Wire brushed means the softer grain has been brushed out to leave a subtle texture that reads as character underfoot and hides day to day wear better than a flat smooth finish. A 2mm veneer is a real, sandable wear layer, which means the floor can be refinished rather than only replaced. The engineered line carries a 25 year residential and 3 year commercial warranty. We confirm the exact spec for your chosen collection off the current product before you order.

Decision: for a dry, above grade or over concrete floor where you want real wood made in Canada that you can refinish down the road, the Impressive engineered collections are the line. Compare them in the engineered hardwood category.

Where a floor has to take water, laminate and wood are the wrong tools and rigid core vinyl is the right one. Impressive builds its vinyl plank on an rigid-core core that does not absorb water, stays stable over concrete, and goes below grade. Every plank is 7 inches wide by 60 inches long with a wood look EIR embossed surface, four sides painted and micro bevelled, and a drop lock click. Squarefoot Flooring carries three of the collections, and they come at three genuine thicknesses, which is a real choice, not a marketing tier.

• Elegant, 7.5mm. A 6mm rigid-core core with a 1.5mm IXPE attached pad, and the toughest wear layer of the three at 20 mil. A thicker plank sits on a firmer footing, bridges an uneven subfloor better, and feels more solid underfoot, and the 20 mil wear layer stands up to the heaviest household traffic. It carries an STC-73 and IIC-72 sound rating, which is the kind of number a condo board asks for. The choice for a main floor, a busy home, or a basement where you want the most substantial floor.
• Eterna, 6.5mm. A 5mm rigid-core core with a 1.5mm IXPE pad and a 12 mil wear layer, also rated STC-73 and IIC-72. A strong all round rigid plank for most rooms.
• Essex, 5.5mm. A 4mm rigid-core core with a 1.5mm EVA pad and a 12 mil wear layer. The slimmest of the three, useful where floor height is tight, matching an existing floor level or working under a door you cannot cut.

The wear layer is the number that decides how a vinyl floor ages, so it is worth understanding: 20 mil on the Elegant is built for heavy traffic and commercial use, while the 12 mil on the Eterna and Essex is a solid residential wear layer. All three have the attached pad built in, so there is no separate underlay to buy for the sound and cushioning.

Decision: waterproof and going in a basement, kitchen or laundry, the Impressive vinyl is the material. Heavy traffic or a condo with a sound spec, the Elegant 7.5mm with its 20 mil wear layer. Tight height clearance, the Essex 5.5mm. See the wider range in vinyl plank.

Impressive makes laminate in two forms, both 12mm and both rated AC5, which is the top of the standard traffic scale and built for heavy residential and light commercial use. The difference between them is water, and it decides which room each one belongs in.

Sahara is the regular laminate: a 12mm AC5 board, 7 inches wide by 60 inches long, with a painted micro bevel and a waxed EIR wood look surface. At 12mm and AC5 it gives a solid step and a hard wearing wood look at a cost below engineered hardwood, which suits a living room, a bedroom or a hallway. Like any regular laminate it has a fibreboard core, so it is not for wet rooms.

Regal is the waterproof laminate, and it exists precisely to solve what the regular laminate cannot. It is also 12mm AC5, comes in both a 7 inch and a wider 9 inch board, and is rated waterproof to 72 hours of ponding water, which means a spill or an overflow that sits for a day does not wreck the floor. That lets it go in a kitchen or a busier household while keeping the laminate look and the easy click install.

Decision: dry living space and you want a laminate, Sahara. A kitchen or a moisture prone room that still wants the laminate look, Regal, with its 72 hour waterproof rating. Genuinely wet rooms and basements, step to the Impressive vinyl instead. Compare the categories in regular laminate and water resistant laminate.

• Dry living space, real wood you can refinish. The engineered White Oak collections, made in Canada.
• Dry living space, wood look at a lower cost. Sahara regular laminate, 12mm AC5.
• Kitchen or moisture prone room, laminate look. Regal waterproof laminate, 12mm AC5, 72 hour rating.
• Basement, laundry, anywhere genuinely wet, over concrete. The Elegant, Eterna or Essex vinyl plank, chosen on thickness and wear layer.

And where none of these fit, we say so. For solid hardwood you refinish many times over decades, that is a different floor for a different budget. Laminate and vinyl are wear surfaces. When the wear layer goes you replace the floor, you do not refinish it, and the engineered wood can be refinished only as far as its 2mm veneer allows.

Every floor in the Impressive range punishes a bad install. A floating vinyl or laminate needs an expansion gap around the perimeter or it buckles when the seasons turn. Engineered wood over concrete needs the slab moisture tested first, or the floor pays for it later. A subfloor that is not flat shows through every one of them. None of that is the board's fault, and all of it is set by whoever lays it.

Squarefoot Flooring supplies and installs Impressive Floors with our own people, full time employees who do residential and commercial work. Before the first board goes down, our crew flattens and preps the subfloor, moisture tests any concrete slab, sets the expansion gap the product needs, and nails, glues or floats the floor by the method that collection calls for. The engineered line installs nail down or glue down, the vinyl and laminate float on their click systems, and each is a different job done right. We are not booking a subcontractor and hoping the details come out right.

We supply and install Impressive Floors from our Mississauga showroom across Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Brampton, Port Credit, Erin Mills, Streetsville, Meadowvale and Cooksville, and from our Barrie showroom across Barrie, Innisfil, Angus, Orillia, Collingwood, Midland and Simcoe County. Installation across the Greater Toronto Area books about two weeks out. Barrie and cottage country jobs from May through September fill eight to twelve weeks ahead, so a summer floor is best booked in spring.

See how a hardwood installation, vinyl installation and laminate installation run with us, and look at the flooring underlayments a job may need. All handled in house.

The Impressive collections run across wood tones, from the pale to the deep, and the engineered line is a natural White Oak base that takes a range of finishes. Whatever the collection, take a sample home and set it in the actual room, under the light that room gets, at the hour you are usually in it. A White Oak that reads warm under showroom lighting can read grey against a north facing window, and the only way to know is to see it in place.

If you are matching or extending an existing Impressive floor, bring a spare board or a clear photo of the box label with the collection name and SKU on it. That identifies the exact colour and product line far more reliably than a name alone, since colours and batches update over time.

The Impressive engineered hardwood, vinyl plank and laminate collections are on display at both Squarefoot Flooring showrooms, which are where you see them, choose them and book the install. Bring your room measurements, your subfloor type, and whether each room is above or below grade, and we will match the material to the space.

Mississauga. 700 Dundas St E, Unit 3-4, L4Y 3Y5. Call 905-277-2227. Monday to Friday 9 to 6, Saturday 10 to 5, closed Sunday.

Barrie. 112 Saunders Rd, Units 1-4, L4N 9A8. Call 705-726-2272. Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9 to 6, Tuesday and Thursday 9 to 5, Saturday 10 to 5, closed Sunday.

Bring a floor plan and leave with a spec you can trust and a crew that answers to us. Book a showroom visit, or call and we will tell you which Impressive floor suits each room, including when it is not an Impressive floor at all.