What is EIR (Embossed in Register) Flooring?

There are so many flooring options available today that it can be difficult to choose the perfect flooring for your home or business. Technological advances have made it possible to have a floor with the beautiful look and feel of natural wood – but better. REALFEEL Flooring enhances your style, but is easy to care for, long-lasting and safe for your family and pets.

Knowing a little bit more about the various types of flooring, how they are manufactured and each type’s strengths and weaknesses should be helpful when making a decision. After all, if you decide to change the color of a room, repainting is fairly easy. However, replacing cheaply made, disappointing flooring is expensive and a major hassle.

All Vinyl Flooring is Not Alike

Vinyl flooring is a general term that can be used for everything from cheap, poorly constructed sheet vinyl flooring to REALFEEL, Stone Barn’s technologically advanced top-of-the-line luxury vinyl flooring.

If you ever shopped for diamond jewelry or an engagement ring, you know that all one carat diamonds are not alike. One diamond might have defects that dramatically lower its value while another is perfect and far more desirable. It’s the same with vinyl flooring – quality matters. Our REALFEEL Flooring is the highest quality, like a perfect diamond.

The Difference Between Vinyl Flooring and Engineered Hardwood

Both engineered hardwood and vinyl flooring are laid as “planks” using a tongue and groove system.

Engineered hardwood has a series of base layers topped by a very thin slice of natural hardwood and a protective coating.

Luxury vinyl flooring also has a series of base layers. However, the top layer is a photo of natural wood or stone covered by a protective coating. Today’s digital photography technology makes good vinyl flooring look very much like natural wood. Best of all, these floors are super easy to take care of and they remain beautiful for many years.

How flooring is manufactured determines how durable it will be. Heat and pressure are used to bond the layers together. Vinyl floors are rated according to how much heat and pressure was used, from AC1 to AC5.

AC1 flooring is the cheapest and least durable.
For most home use, AC2 or AC3 are best, having both durability and a beautiful finish.
AC5 flooring is the most durable, typically used in commercial, high traffic areas. The finish tends to be a little rougher.

Embossing Adds Texture to Flooring

Embossing can be added during the heating process. A metal plate containing a pattern is pressed into the surface layer, creating ridges similar to the ridges in stone or wood. Texture is added to the flat photo layer that may or may not match the grain of the photo of the real wood or stone.

There are four categories of embossed vinyl flooring: small, middle, large and Embossed in Register – the top grade.

1. Small: An even, uniform, small pattern used to mimic fine grain woods
2. Middle: A larger, deeper and wider pattern
3. Large: The largest and deepest pattern, resembling larger grain woods

Small, medium and large patterns DO NOT match the grain of the underlying image. It looks better than perfectly smooth vinyl, but doesn’t seem natural since the pattern doesn’t match the grain of the photo layer.

4. Embossed In Register (EIR): REALFEEL EIR flooring is the the highest quality flooring – the Hope Diamond of luxury vinyl. The texture perfectly lines up with and matches the wood portrayed in the image layer.

The Benefits of REALFEEL Flooring

The embossing matches the visual layer – looks and feel right, like real wood
Very easy to maintain – damp mopping is usually all that’s needed
Safe for family and pets – manufactured without any dangerous chemicals
100% waterproof
Slip-resistant, unlike perfectly smooth flooring
Resilient – comfortable to walk on
Pet-friendly
Long-lasting – Warrantied for wear
Quick, easy installation by professional installers

Stone Barn’s REALFEEL Flooring uses the most advanced Embossed in Register technology. EIR flooring has the look and feel of real wood with all of the benefits and easy care of the best vinyl flooring. REALFEEL flooring is truly the best of both worlds – combining the gorgeous appeal of high end hardwood flooring with all of the benefits of a top quality floor.