Floor and wall coverings: parquet

What is parquet and what are its main characteristics and peculiarities? After having spoken to you about porcelain stoneware, in this article we will talk about parquet, clarifying every possible doubt about this elegant and refined covering.

It is certainly difficult to find another type of covering able to express itself with such elegance and good taste as a parquet floor. To fully understand the authenticity and the great timeless classicism of this floor covering, just think that already in medieval times were aligned to compose the flooring, sturdy wooden planks not worked.

Later, planed softwood planks such as pine and spruce were used as flooring.

Over the years, until the 16th century, wooden floors gradually took on great importance and fascination, taking on a modern and modern form step by step. During the 16th century the refined wooden floors were found in the castles and beautiful palaces of the nobility. For this reason parquet flooring is still today associated with the concept of luxury and classy aesthetics.

Floating parquet concept

The term floating parquet refers to wooden floors. A specific feature of this type of covering is the possibility to be laid directly, without the need to carry out any type of sealing or relative treatment of the staves.

Main types of parquet?

What are the main types of parquet? We can mainly distinguish two types of parquet:

• Solid parquet
• Multilayer parquet

The term solid parquet or floor means a continuous layer of wood that must necessarily be glued over the entire surface. Despite the innate beauty of a floor made of solid parquet, however, this covering has a major disadvantage: Solid wood is particularly sensitive to the action of moisture, which can cause major swelling of the floor surface.

Multilayer parquet is a type of floor covering which has been designed and conceived to counteract and resist the action of moisture, thanks to the structure with which it is made. There are mainly two versions of multilayer parquet available on the market: 2-layer and 3-layer multilayer parquet.

The 2-ply multilayer parquet consists of a wear layer of the wood which actually represents the covering. An opposite layer of wood sticks, usually made of fir wood, is then used. 3-layer multilayer parquet is characterised by an additional lower layer.

Due to the presence of differently laid layers, the board takes on great stability, so that changes in the material due to the presence of moisture are reduced.

Prefinished parquet, what is it: advantages and disadvantages

The term pre-finished parquet is synonymous with multilayer parquet. The predefined word is used precisely because the product is already treated in the factory and arrives at the construction site protected by a layer of varnish and oil.

In contrast to solid wood, the pre-finished parquet is therefore ready to use. This is no small advantage, as pre-finished parquet saves time during varnishing and oiling.

In addition, a floor made of pre-finished parquet can be walked on within a few hours after installation. The waiting time for a solid wood parquet floor to be walked on expands considerably. The prices for solid wood parquet are also higher than for pre-finished parquet.

Main protective treatments for pre-finished parquet

The pre-finished parquet is protected by means of a layer of varnish or alternatively by the application of impregnating oil. However, it should be pointed out that a flooring made of multilayer pre-finished parquet can also be requested without any special surface treatment: in this case we are talking about pre-polished parquet.

How does the laying of pre-finished parquet take place?

Before proceeding with the laying of a pre-finished parquet, it is advisable to pay attention to some aspects: as stated in the previous paragraphs, the structure of these coverings allows a greater stability of the boards. For this reason it is possible to choose different laying techniques for pre-finished parquet.

It is possible to proceed in this way:

• Laying glue parquet
• Floating parquet laying

Both laying techniques have some advantages and disadvantages.

Some advice on the choice of parquet

When choosing the parquet to be prepared in your own rooms, our advice is to choose strips made of oak wood from controlled forests, such as those found for example in Hungary, Poland or Slovenia. In these forests, a cut plant always corresponds to a planted plant (no wenghé or doussier, which have an extremely environmental impact).

Alternatively, you can opt for strips made from American walnut wood, even if this material has an ecological impact due to transport and travel.

Once you have chosen the type of wood that makes up your parquet, you will have to identify the most suitable finish for your specific needs, choosing between:

• matt finish
• not matt finish
• satin finish
• oil finishing

Laminated parquet, what is it

Laminate parquet (or cheap parquet) is in fact not a real parquet. It is true, however, that a quality laminate parquet can perfectly imitate a real parquet.

Laminate parquet consists of a wooden panel on which a decorative sheet with a high definition is placed in order to reproduce the wood as faithfully as possible. A light protective film is also applied to the sheet.

As far as the thickness of the laminated parquet strips is concerned, it varies from 6 to 12 mm respectively.

Advantages and disadvantages of laminate flooring

Laminated parquet is a type of covering that can boast many advantages. First of all, it is worth mentioning the great speed of installation of this flooring, as well as its cost-effectiveness.

Another great advantage of laminate flooring is its great strength and resistance and its great ease of cleaning and maintenance. Last but not least, the laminate flooring does not undergo any alteration over time as a result of the cleaning phases.

Because of its great resistance and robustness, this type of covering is the ideal solution for the realization of the floor of a kitchen or bathroom and in general of all those environments in which the floor is subjected to continuous stress.

In order to benefit from the great advantages of laminate flooring, our advice is not to save on the quality of the materials and the professionalism of the installation.

However, given the great economy and convenience of the product, it is inevitable to point out that even the highest quality laminate flooring is not able to give the rooms the feeling of warmth and comfort that only a real parquet can give.

Read on: Resin flooring: advantages and disadvantages