SO weird - I was in a floor store this past weekend talking to a guy about hardwood floors (will be replacing my carpet with it) and he was explaining all the differences. One he mentioned, and really stressed, was that everyone hates the beveled edges. I didn't even know that they did beveled edges, and I did not like the look of them in the store. If that is my only option when I get my floor, I might have to pass on hardwood. Not sure that helps you, but maybe it helps to know that you have a lot of company out there. :-(

Its definitely the lighting angle - it just seems like a severe reflection and I would think that in manufacturing they would accommodate for that. Why is my floor the the only floor where I have ever seen such "striping"?

Finish is Mirage Nanolinx HD Semi-gloss. The problem is that not that much furniture goes in this room. Its the dining room, just table, chairs, and one sideboard, no rug.

You could have the floor refinished with a matt finish, this is the least destructive of your options other than putting the furniture back and seeing how it looks, your contractor could simply mesh the floor with sanding mesh on a buffing machine and seal the floor with a matt finish.

The other more extreme measure which I hasten to add I would think long and hard about before doing, is stripping the floor and sanding the floor until the micro bevel is removed, this should be a last resort measure if you really cannot live with the bevel, this would allow you to have a satin/ semi-gloss finish. You will also need to check the wear layer of your new floor prior to the works as it will reduce the number of sands the floor will have left.

Hi, Jill. I've been shopping for engineered wood and Mirage is a final contender. I noticed the same thing on one sample that I bought home! When I look at the bevel on the long edges, they appear to be a solid light color, like the finish had collected along the bevels or something. I was concerned about what it would look like with an entire floor of those solid light-colored bevel "stripes." The sample has the same Nanolinx finish, but with a "cashmere" finish that is less glossy. I agree that it is somewhat odd, and it only occurs on the long edges, not at the ends. Do your planks lay parallel to the wall with the windows, or are they perpendicular?

I don't see "sonora" as a color on their website ... ?

i personally dont see anything wrong with the floor, it can be bothersome with the lighting, but i think once furniture is moved in you will notice it less and less.

Did you get a sample like a 3x3' panel before you had it installed?

its pretty classic bevel prefinish flooring, it looks good over all.

just a heads up though, if you do refinish it or get someone to add another coat of finish to it, it will void the warranty, and while the warranty only covers so much, its a stupid idea to purposely do something to the floor that would void it.

All the Mirage samples I looked at were about 15 x 18 inches so where does one find 3 x 3 ft. panels to view before purchase? According to Mirage's own buyers guide, "Sample size plays a pivotal role in the final decision—making. Be sure to get large enough samples. A sample that is too small won’t give you a good idea of how the floor is going to look once it’s installed across a whole room." You can order samples directly from them, but they are only 7 1/2 inches long!

well a 3x3 was just a guess, im glad you saw a sample board, the size is irrelevant in this case.

do you remember if the sample showed the same lines?

were you home while they installed the floor?

like i said before, the floor looks fine its something that you will notice less and less as time goes by

Jill, I'm curious ... have you determined that this is no longer an issue to be concerned about? When I put the sample of light colored wood on the floor in various lighting, I don't notice any reflection off of the microbevel, though it is just a small sample of a few boards and the finish is cashmere rather than semi-gloss. I'm wondering if the layout makes a difference ... do your planks lay parallel to the wall with the windows, or are they perpendicular? How wide are the planks that you used?

All beveled floors look like this.

Ah the issue of bevels. The floor is fine. There is nothing *wrong with the floor itself. White Line Syndrome is only seen with "site finished hardwoods" and is a different beast all together.

This is reflection and deflection of a light on an angled, glossy surface. That's it. That's the only issue here. Not to say it isn't bothersome...it obviously is. But it is not a failure of the floor, the finish or the installation. In essence you have "back lit" the bevels. Plenty of light striking the LONG edge of the plank = the long edges appear to have white lines on them.

There would have been only one way to stop this from happening: run the planks in the same direction as the natural light source. That's about the only option that would decrease the look of the *highlighted bevels. It won't eliminate it...but it would only be the "short" edges that would be highlighted - not the long edges.

And yes...the bevels have created this optical illusion. The colour of the floor is also creating the illusion as well. And the gloss level is causing the big reflection. A satin finish would not have this level of reflection.

When you add everything together, you get the optical illusion of white stripes appearing at certain times of the day. This is not a failure of the floor nor the installation. It is a "failure" of the home. The house itself is creating this illusion.

I'm sorry but Mirage will not help you - as it is not a failure of their product. I hope that installing furniture, area rugs and other distractions will help you ignore the reflections the house is causing.

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses. The flooring dealer and the Mirage rep came to my house on Friday, took pictures, and filed a claim with Mirage. They both agreed that the reflection on the bevel seemed more exaggerated than what they consider "normal" and since "Sonora" is a new color in their maple lineup, they want to determine if there is a manufacturing issue with the stain or finish on the micro-bevel edge. Worse-case scenario is Mirage says its fine, and the dealer (the owner himself) said he would work with me to see if there is a way they can address it.

I did have a sample board that was larger than usual - it was about 24X18. I have many pictures of the sample board in my exact room, with the planks running in the exact same direction as they are now, and time stamped at the same time of day. There is no evidence of such exaggerated lines as I have in the final installation. I did order the exact sku from this sample board (see pic below).

For those who mentioned location of windows and light source, there is no good solution there. There are large windows both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the planks - so regardless of what direction they were installed, this would have occurred. One window faces south-east and the other faces south-west, so throughout the day the sun travels from length of plank to width of plank.

Now, time for me to claim ignorance... I really was clueless that there was even such a thing as a micro-bevel edge on a floor. If I saw it listed, I didn't make anything of it, and assumed it was related to installation. Not one store that I went to to did anyone mention to me that micro-beveled floors are different than what I had (and I showed them pictures), or that it was even a "thing", nor did anyone consult me regarding the lighting impact on the appearance of a new floor in my home. I must have been to 12 different flooring dealers. I also viewed hundreds of inspirational pictures online on the Mirage website and other manufacturers (Kahrs, Armstrong, Mohawk, Shaw, etc), and I never noticed any micro-bevel lines in any picture that I looked it. So while it may have been ignorance on my part, I don't know how I was supposed to guess that this would have been the outcome. And it would certainly seem that the manufacturers are doing their best to hide it in their room scene photos.

Below is the stock photo for Mirage Maple Sonora. The 2nd picture below is of the sample boards I had with no evidence of a reflective bevel. The larger sample with the carpet piece below it is the exact floor I ordered (same sku#). The long plank at the back is a scrap of my old floor which was removed.

Living Rooms · More Info

Engineered on concrete is not your only option. Here in central Texas, I install solid 1/2" glued over concrete all the time.
Glad Mirage took care of you.

Please let us know the outcome with Mirage.