Mercier: A Legacy Of Technical Innovations
Mercier has been thinking outside the box, and creating innovations that become industry standards since its inception. In fact the business was born out of a need to solve a household problem, which means this was a problem everyone faced. So, let's take a look at what the problem was, and how Mercier addressed the original issue and continued that legacy to the present day.
Mercier Wood Flooring was founded by a cabinet maker, named Marcel Mercier. He was passionate about his craft and was known for his love of wood, its natural character and warmth and its ability to endure the test of time. As a cabinet maker, Mr. Mercier was used to using finishes on his cabinets that did not need to be redone every couple of years. So, when it came to the wooden floors of his home, which he and Mrs. Mercier loved, this was not the case.
Hardwood floors traditionally were finished by an oil finish that would have to be reapplied every couple of years. The process of refinishing oiled floors, literally involves clearing out all the furniture from the floor, sanding the flooring down to raw, which created a lot of dust and mess, and finally recoat the whole flooring surface with a new oil finish, only to have to repeat the whole process all over again in a few years. Not to mention that the strong odours from the oil lingers for weeks, impacting the health and well-being of the occupants.
This was a problem that every household in Canada with wooden floors faced. So Mrs. Mercier had a challenge for Mr. Mercier: put the same permanent finish you put on your cabinets on our floors. And so Mr. Mercier set out to use the tools and knowledge he had at his disposal to attack this issue, and using a wringer washing machine, he created the very first prefinished hardwood flooring in Canada.
His innovation gave birth to an entire business that has spanned three generations now, and the spirit of innovation and problem solving has been retained as the core of the business, moving from father to two siblings, to their respective sons.
Through the last 45 years Mercier has gained and retained a rock solid reputation for delivering technical innovations that become total industry game changers and become adopted by competitors. Not only that, but the finishing process at Mercier was perfected to such a high level of expertise that many renowned manufacturers of hardwood flooring products turned to Mercier to finish their products for them.
Here is just a small list of what they have done to change the industry as a whole:
1- The first to include aluminum oxide in their finishes
2- First to add plant-based oil in their finishes,
3- First to combine exceptional durability with wood’s original character
4- Creation of layered coatings of stain
5- Creating an entire collection by leveraging the power of the tannins of natural wood’s character - Element collection
6- Creating a finish that celebrates the natural beauty of the wood in its unfinished format, while providing all the protection of finished flooring with the Naked Collection.
Mercier and Sustainability
Mercier isn’t just a pioneer in technical advancements. In fact, the company’s respect for the natural resource they are working with is evident in their long-term vision to reduce their ecological footprint for generations to come. Trees are not just there as a building material. Trees are the lungs of the planet and are absolutely vital to the future of life on the planet. This respect for the planet and life on it, is the motivation behind the implementation of the most advanced environment policies and sophisticated production methods to maximize the 5 Rs of sustainability: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle.
In practice this has mean the implementation of the following in the manufacturing process at Mercier Wood Floors:
1- Controlled wood supply - through purchasing wood only from environmentally responsible suppliers in North America. These suppliers are sustainably managed and adhere to rigorous traceability standards.
2- Sustainable production processes - which has led to the lowest amount of waste in the industry at 2%. The closest competitors have a waste factor of 5%. What is more, Mercier reuses and repurposes the waste that is created in the plant, such as burning the unusable tree barks and off cuts as a source of heat for the manufacturing plants. Mercier uses 100% of the material that is brought in as full tree trunks, leaving no waste behind.
3- Greenguard Gold Certification - confirming that Mercier’s finishes are free of thousands of chemical substances that are harmful to human health, such as VOCs and other pollutants. The respect for life and the environment is not limited to the outdoors, but also human health and indoor air quality, which has a great impact on the quality of life of both Mercier workers and also the homeowners who spend the most amount of time with their product.
4- LEED certification compatibility - using Mercier Wood Floors in your projects can earn you points towards a LEED certification for your project.
Mercier’s Manufacturing and Vertical Integration
Well, after perfecting the finishing process, they embarked on a project to effectively secure and streamline their manufacturing and materials pipelines. Being vertically integrated for over 20 years now, their sawmill in Drummondville, Quebec, provides the raw lumber materials that are used in the making of their solid and engineered hardwood floors. This facility also houses the kilns used for drying the hardwood and core materials used in the production of solid and engineered hardwood floors. The meticulously manufactured solid and engineered blank boards are then transported to the finishing plant in Montmagny, Quebec, where they are finished with a client’s chosen colour and finish and then shipped to the retailer that took the order. The fact that the entire production from tree trunk to the final boards that you install in your home are done in the Mercier facility with over 300 quality control checkpoints, allows for consistency of quality for all the products that they produce. It also allows them to know if any batch of products experienced out of the ordinary production processes in case there is an issue on site. Every board produced by Mercier has identification marks that allows the mill to know exactly how and when the board was processed from the arrival of the tree trunk to the time of shipment. This allows for greater quality control measures on all of their products, giving the end user peace of mind about the product they are purchasing.
What sets Mercier apart however, isn’t just the production process itself. Mercier has also been at the cutting edge of research and development with their Mercier Generations+ and Generations Intact 2500 finishes. Mercier’s original Generations finish had been the leading finish for years when it came to clarity, durability, and environmental benefits such as zero VOCs and being made with plant based oils. With 1000 revolutions on the TABER test, this finish has been the one to beat in the industry year after year, measuring about 30% more resistant to wear and tear compared to the competition.
This year, Mercier took this legendary finish a step further with the introduction of the Mercier Generations+ finish, which still measure at 1000 revolutions on the TABER test, but now is 10 times more resistant to small surface imperfections, leaving your floors looking fresh for much longer, and allowing the finish to be easier to clean, reducing the adherence of dirt, smudges and residue, minimizing the requirement for cleaning. This is achieved through innovative use of high performance densified biopolymers to make the surface more resistant to small scratches and imperfections.
Since the Mercier Generations+ finish is the base for Generations Intact 2500, all the benefits of this finish are now also found in the commercially rated finish that is available to the homeowners as well. In addition to all the benefits of the Mercier Generations+, Generations Intact 2500 boasts 2500 cycles on the TABER test, anti-perforation properties, superior flexibility under impact, water repelling properties, superior stain resistance, and non-yellowing properties.
Both of the finishes from Mercier are naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic, VOC free, contain plant-based oil and Greenguard Gold certified. Mercier Generations+ finish has a residential warranty of 35 years and a light commercial warranty of 5 years, while the Generations Intact 2500 has a residential warranty of 50 years and commercial warranty of 10 years / 3 with direct outdoor access.
Mercier and Design
All of this technical prowess however, would mean nothing if Mercier did not create the colours that designers and homeowners would gravitate to. The truth is research and development at Mercier isn’t just limited to the technical aspect of producing the best floors. Mercier also has a knack for being ahead of the trends in hardwood flooring and interior design and always providing the best colours, and textures, sometimes a year or two ahead of the trend.
Introduction of collections such as Element, Naked, Atmosphere, and even a collection like the Source collection proves this point.
The Element Collection was the first of its kind in the market and sought to maximize the natural tannins of the wood through an oxidation process instead of staining the product. The result is an earthy, highly varied floor that ages gracefully with the exposure to oxygen in your space. Since this product is not stained, the colours of the wood come from exposure to the elements and it is the natural process that the wood would have taken in nature with exposure to heat and humidity, had it not been protected with a finish on top. Although this collection may not be suitable to those who want a more uniform floor, for those who appreciate the natural beauty of wood and the mastery and artistry of mother nature, can find no other stain or colour like it.
The Naked Collection was another innovation from Mercier ahead of the Scandinavian trend that was all the craze in the mid to late 2010s. Mercier figured out how to let the natural beauty of the hardwood species shine through while retaining the unfinished look. They have achieved this through the use of a water clear sealant that will not allow for the penetration of the finish into the wood grain, avoiding the “wet” look that natural hardwood usually has compared to the unfinished version. With its superior sun protection, and a non-yellowing finish in the Generations+ finish, these floors retain their natural beauty for many years to come. The Naked collection is available in Yellow Birch, Red Oak, White Oak, White Ash, Hard Maple and Hickory.
The next innovation was the introduction of tinted sealants in the Atmosphere collection. This collection, comprised of Red Oak, White Oak, White Ash, Hard Maple, and Hickory also features the sealant from the Naked collection but this time the sealant is tinted. This is akin to putting a light filter on top of the wood, which gives it the colour that is perceived but does not allow for the penetration of the stain into the flesh and specially the grain of the wood, allowing for a softer grain pattern especially in the Red Oak and White Oak species. This means that the clients who like the character of the Oak hardwood floors, but don’t like to see the grain patterns as pronounced, can now choose the Oak family without having to compromise the aesthetic they want to achieve with their interior design.
But the innovations in design are not always technical. The introduction of the Source Collection in 2023 is one of these examples. Mercier introduced the Source collection with 3 cool brown tones, in varying shades, 2 years before Pantone named Mocha Mousse as the colour of the year in 2025. Mercier Wood Floors has had that ability to accurately forecast trends for many years now. This was also the case with the introduction of Naked Collection as well. They dare to push the boundaries of interior design and go to market with options that will become the trend in future years, before they become widely known in North America, proving that Mercier isn’t just a technical powerhouse, but also a trend setter in the design aspect of the flooring world.
Even the Design+ Collection, which is comprised of the same 16 colours on Red Oak and Hard Maple, contains some of the most trendy colours or updated and sophisticated versions of the tried and true stains on both species. In this collection, which features some of the more traditional looks on Red Oak and Hard Maple, you can choose what sheen level you would want on your floors. You can choose Satin, Matte, or Matte Brushed on Red Oak and Satin and Matte on Hard Maple floors.
If all of these advantages don’t set Mercier apart, this last point definitely will. With Mercier, you get as close to a custom floor as you can get. A Mercier client has the ability to choose their species, technology, stain colour, the width and thickness of the planks, and even in some collections the sheen level of the flooring you would like to purchase. Mercier will then produce the floors exactly to your specifications for your specific project. This means that when you receive your hardwood floors from Mercier Wood Floors, they are in the optimal condition to be installed, having left the factory floor, usually only days before installation. Also, since the material is being produced for you, it can usually be adjusted to be received really close to the installation date, eliminating the trouble of having to store the material on the job site, which also minimizes any possible warranty issues later on, arising from improper storage prior to installation.
So, if you are in the market for quality hardwood flooring products, then you must take a look at the product lines from Mercier Wood Flooring. You can explore their collection online in the products section of our website, or you can visit the showroom so we can show you the full range of options available to you from Mercier Wood Floors.
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