Tile Patterned Laminate and Cleaning

Q: I’m looking to do some remodeling in my bathroom. It currently has a tile floor and my pets fur and general mucky muck gets trapped in the grooves when I try to sweep it up. The only way to get it clean is to hand scrub it. Blech! I was looking at laminate flooring in either a tile or wood finish. I’m afraid the wood finish may be hard to match to the rest of the wood floors in our house and I was wondering if the laminate flooring that looks like tile has the same grout-ish grooves in it or is it a flat surface? Does it pull off the look well or come off too fakey?
Thank you for your time!
Erin (who thinks cleaning is dumb)
A: The tile patterned laminates are actually fairly good at pulling off the tile look. Unlike actual tile, there is not a large difference in height for grout lines, but instead a light bit of texturing used to help accent to appearance and feel.
Depending on who makes the tile pattern, some are done very well, others not so much. Honestly in these cases I would suggest taking plenty of time to shop around, view samples and find the pattern which looks best to you.
To minimize hassle when cleaning, make sure you don’t leave standing water on the laminate, as this can cause a world of problems, but past that basic vacuuming and sweeping with the occasional cleaning using a laminate specific cleaner should keep your floor tip top with minimal work.