Installing a hardwood or stone floor has perhaps been on your agenda for a while to improve the interior design of your business. No doubt price has stopped you, though, including the realities of excessive maintenance on real wood and stone floor surfaces.
Armstrong has long been a great source for creating vinyl floors that mimic the look of these materials. Experts still can’t tell the difference between these faux floors and the real thing.
Out of many collections Armstrong provides with this aesthetic, their Parallel collection (within the Natural Creations Luxury Flooring line) has become a true favorite.
Two wear layers exist in the Parallel collection: Parallel 20 and Parallel 12. The latter means a 12-inch wear layer.
Take a look at features you should know about in this collection and what buyers say on our site, Floor City.
Use for Light Commercial Applications
The main goal of Parallel 12 floors is to use it in commercial spaces that receive less floor traffic.
Your own business may be smaller and doesn’t receive the robust customer activity as a large retail store would. If so, there wouldn’t be any reason to pay extra for the Parallel 20 collection, unless you think you’ll receive more foot traffic later.
With Parallel 12, you’re still getting a beautiful floor with the look of wood or stone. You’ll also be able to get a great price and enjoy multiple performance features, no matter where you place your floor.
Fifteen different products are available in both Parallel collections. These encompass the look of the above materials.
To fully understand the numbers on these floors, you should look at 12 inches scientifically as 12 mil. This is the formal way to designate thickness level. Even so, 12-inches tells you everything you need to know about how durable this floor is.
Of course, the thicker the floor, the better it holds up over time. You can still expect the Parallel 12 floor to stay durable under light usage. Keep in mind this applies to use in a home as well as for light commercial applications.
Reviewers on our site often remark on these qualities, including noting the great customer service they received. A good example is a reviewer from early 2018 who said simply: “Attention to the customer.” This was for the La Crescenta Parallel 12 floor.
Others mention the heavy-duty nature of this flooring and our dependable attention to expert service.
The Look of Stone
Bringing a stone floor to your business adds unique character to your brand. While you might think it only works in more rustic environs, stone looks outstanding in a variety of business spaces.
Stone can work well in restaurants, or localized retail stores. Six different stone styles are available in Parallel 12, including oyster, clay, moss, henna, blizzard, and buff.
These stone textures and colors start with the lighter oyster color and move all the way to the darker henna. It’s possible to get other color variations as well so you can successfully match your interior design.
Many reviewers on our site love the embossed visuals in the vinyl tile and plank editions of Parallel floors. This technology helps bring the realism of stone to life. Even up close, you’ll be convinced it’s the real deal.
The Look of Wood
Just like the stone products above, you’ll be able to get embossed visuals of hardwood.
Nine different products exist with the look of wood, including grove, mill, argent, patina, brown, sequoia, barn, honey, and russet.
These golden colors represent numerous wood species that go together well in most commercial or residential environments. As you likely know, wooden floors can be used in any type of room. With faux wood, you won’t have a quarter of the maintenance involved here as you would if buying a real hardwood floor.
Reviewers continually point out the beauty of these floors and the rare ability to get a good deal at the same time.
To add to the durability, the wood and stone products both have UV-cured polyurethane coating for less maintenance than you’d find in other floors. The wood options have a matte or semi-matte surface so the natural wood finish truly looks real.
Finding the Proper Size
Two different sizes are available in the Parallel collection to help you fit your floor into any shaped room.
We’ve noticed customers often choose the 6” x 48” size because it fits most rooms. Plus, it’s the most plentiful in Armstrong’s inventory. A 12” x 24” size is an alternative if specific spaces in your business are shaped somewhat differently.
Eleven products are available in the former size, and five in the latter. Even with just two sizes, you may need some help figuring out what works. Talk with our team, and we’ll help you make the right choice.
Also, leave us a review to help other customers know which size works best for particular business situations.
Ease of Installation
We continue to see reviews mentioning how easy Parallel 12 floors are to install. This works through a full spread process using an adhesive.
Armstrong provides a patented adhesive product you can buy through our site at a lower price. You’ll be able to work with this successfully if you have basic knowledge of flooring tools.
Not everyone has the experience in installing a floor, though. For you, it might mean a first-time experience.
You can do an install yourself if you carefully follow directions. What’s most important is you need to clean your subfloor before installation begins. Any kind of dirt, oil, or other debris could affect the adhesive drying correctly without proper cleanup beforehand.
If you don’t feel confident you can do this yourself, don’t hesitate to hire a professional installer. We’re available to help guide you to make the best possible decision.
Those of you with overly busy lives and little experience may find it just as rewarding hiring a professional. Customers frequently tell us these installers get the job done in half a day.
Proper Maintenance and Cleaning
To maintain the beautiful aesthetic quality of your Parallel 12 floor, take some time to learn about proper maintenance.
Thanks to a UV-cured urethane finish on both Parallel floors, you won’t have to worry about doing any polishing or spray buffing. However, you still need to do some basic cleaning to avoid stains from setting in.
All you need to do is sweep, vacuum, or mop to wipe up stains. Try to maintain a recurring cleaning schedule so you keep your floor looking pristine.
Armstrong does offer personally branded cleaning solutions so you’re assured something safe without dangerous chemicals.
Some of our reviewers note how they appreciate this simple maintenance, especially when running a business for long hours. These floors are made for businesspeople like you.
It’s possible to maintain a Parallel 12 floor with polish. Again, you should use an Armstrong-certified polish product. This is intended as a workaround to keep your floor looking clean until you have time to do some maintenance yourself.
Should you realize you have no time to clean, consider using a Roomba for automated cleaning. Just be sure to not have one roaming around where customers could trip over it.
Covering Your Warranties
Once in a while, we’ll receive a review praising the warranties on Parallel floors. Despite generous warranties available from Armstrong, you should still look out for damages not covered.
Warranties are only designed for any manufacturing defects you encounter when receiving your order. Otherwise, any other damage brought on from your own actions isn’t covered.
Case in point: If you don’t bother to clean up stains from your pets, those stains will likely set in to your Parallel floor. The same goes if you spill any liquids and don’t bother to clean for several hours.
Parallel 12 floors only have a five-year warranty because it’s not quite as thick as the Parallel 20 counterpart. Even so, this is still a generous amount of time to take care of any issues the warranty covers from the date of your purchase.
If you have any questions about your warranty, feel free to ask us about it before you make your purchase. Make sure you read everything Armstrong covers, though we guarantee floor quality.
Environmental Protection
There isn’t any question that Armstrong is the most dependable when it comes to using environmentally friendly principles in their manufacturing. They’re certainly not the only ones either. Most top flooring brands adhere to green processes in their flooring products.
With Armstrong, you get a lot more transparency. Just read their sustainability page to see how they work hard to bring ethical environmental practices to their entire brand. They also bring this to their manufacturing centers to help protect the health of their workers.
We’ve seen a few reviews in recent years from customers who appreciate buying a floor without worry of breathing volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Some other flooring brands still have problems emanating VOC’s, which can hurt the health of you and your pets.
Along with Armstrong using recycled materials, you should have 100% peace of mind buying your Parallel 12 floor. You can enjoy a floor made from nature without it containing materials you know could cause widespread harm.
Also take time to read about the company’s LEED v4 certification contributions for further environmental worth. They help today’s green buildings become more resource efficient and healthier places to work in.
Write us a review to let us know how the environmental impact of your Parallel 12 floor changes your business for the better.
Buying Your Parallel 12 Floor Online Rather Than in a Big Box Store
Not everyone knows that if you buy a Parallel floor in a place like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Walmart, you’ll likely pay 20% more than you would online.
It’s never a good idea to shop for flooring in home goods stores, because floors are only one category out of thousands. Finding a true flooring expert in these stores is almost impossible, leading to many of your questions getting “I don’t know” responses.
One major problem with these stores is they only hire employees to make a sale rather than bring in real flooring experts.
To find real flooring expertise, you need to turn to a full-fledged flooring company. Searching for one online can become an overwhelming experience since thousands of them exist nationwide.
Few to any come to matching the prices we offer on flooring at Floor City. You’re also going to find a team of flooring experts who can answer any type of question.
Just take a look at a reviewer from Washington State (where our headquarters is) and their praise for the sales agent they talked to at our store. He mentions that we called him back when giving out an erroneous shipment date by accident. We wanted to make sure the shipping date was what the customer wanted.
It’s just one example of how we take customer service seriously. Through our chat portal, email, or phone, we’re available to answer any type of question you have about Parallel floors. You’ll receive an answer right away rather than waiting several days (or more) for a response.
With our combined team experience, we’ll always give you an answer you can trust to help with your buying decision.
Our knowledge of Armstrong floors runs deep, and we’ll give you information on Parallel floors no one in a home goods store could tell you.
Placing Your Order and Writing a Review
Simply call our order number at (800) 898-9540 to order your Parallel 12 floor today. We have order pickup centers throughout the U.S., meaning you can pick up your floor as far as the U.S. East Coast.
Check out our 3,476 verified site reviews and add your own review on our site. The more you can let us know how you liked your Parallel 12 floor, the more you help other customers make a quicker decision for themselves.
