Laminate Floors that look and Feel like Hardwood

Many modern laminates utilize a process called embossing. Often seen on metals with textured surfaces like coins, this process uses a plate with a pattern to squeeze a surface (in this case, the paper used in the design layer) in a way that it reproduces that pattern on the surface. This may be done in two ways. The first and most common is called blind embossing. This imprints a set pattern on a blank paper, and the printed pattern does not exactly match the texture. This creates a realistic feel to the floor, but not comparable to the wood or tile it is attempting to reproduce.

If you are considering a hand-scraped hardwood floor, be sure to consider an embossed-in-register laminate floor as well! Often these products can provide a nearly identical look and feel with the added performance benefits and lower price of laminate flooring.

The second process, somewhat new to flooring, is called registered or in-register embossing. This process actually applies a pattern that directly matches a pattern already printed on the floor to give it a dimensional feel that is nearly indistinguishable from the reproduced surface. This process is more expensive than other methods of embossing, because each plank within a style may have a number of different patterns, so producing a unique texture for dozens of styles could require hundreds of plates or foils. However, if a floor with this technique is within your price range and you want something that looks exactly like the real thing, this may be an excellent option.