What Is A Parquet Floor?

A parquet floor is a type of wooden flooring made when various wood patterns (mosaic) are joined together and laid on the floor. In essence, a parquet floor is a wooden flooring made exclusively from the arrangement of small slats of wood in distinct and repetitive patterns.

When we consider the 1960s-70s, we observe that most American homes had several rooms, such as the kitchen, dining area, and the recreation room designed with one or different parquet floors.

Back then, most parquet floors were laid a piece at a time. Fast forward to today, a majority of parquet floor designs come in tile form. The wood slats are glued to a backing material.

Parquet tile flooring is installed in different ways, such as stapling the tiles or gluing them to the subfloor.

Where Did Parquet Come From?

Parquet flooring goes back to the 16th century. Wealth members of high society in Europe (aristocrats) hired artisans to install parquet over the marble flooring. Over the centuries, artisans came up with different geometric patterns, thus increasing this floor’s range.

After carpets became popular and cheaper to cover bare floors in the 1800–1900s, parquet floors became less popular. It’s not until the 1960s to the 1970s, where American manufacturers mass-produced thin parquet tiles, that its popularity picked up.

To make them appeal to the masses, engineers created wood tiles with hardwood veneer pieces arranged in geometrical patterns. Doing so, manufacturers reinvigorated the look of expensive parquet at reasonable costs.

Parquet floors were done in the kitchen, recreation room, and dining rooms, while the remaining spaces were carpeted.

What Are Parquet Tiles?

Usually, parquet tiles include a mesh backing of paper, cloth, plastic skeleton, or plastic stitched with thin metal.

This floor’s top layer is made from hardwood, commonly oak; however, walnut, maple, and other hardwoods are used.

Many parquet lovers have installed it in their living rooms, dining rooms, and foyers when it comes to design options, and thanks to its various range of patterns, many parquet lovers have installed it in their living rooms, dining rooms, and foyers.

What Are The Different Types Of Parquet Floors?

When considering structural arrangements, we see parquet can be divided into three major groups:

Engineered: floors made from multiple layers of hardwood

Solid: made from solid wood blocks

Parquet Overlay: Manufactured from thinner wood pieces and mostly installed on top of existing floors.

Like other regular floor designs, parquets come in three grades: prime, select, and rustic. The Prime design is of the highest quality. The wood used doesn’t have any knots or sap.

The Select design is the middle ground; fewer knots and a small amount of sapwood come. The rustic grade is the most natural-looking. It features different kinds of knots.

What Are The Different Parquet Floor Patterns?

Parquet patterns are almost entirely geometrical and angular. They are made in these patterns triangles, squares, lozenges, and at times contain curves. The most common designs include;

Herringbone Pattern: the most popular pattern by far because it grants dimensional stability. Since the slat wood blocks are pressed, the floor pattern is installed diagonally or parallel to the walls.

FYI: Ancient Romans first used the herringbone pattern for their roads. You can tell it’s high quality, durable and stylish.

Straight Pattern: Another common and well-known parquet floor. The boards are laid side by side and wall to wall. Its’ simple, practical, and straightforward look makes this design popular. It makes the room look less busy and decluttered.

Most installations in small rooms see the boards arranged in ways that follow the room’s longest wall, making the area appear more prominent.

The straight parquet floor pattern is a common choice in many homes and perfect for all types of interiors.

Brick Pattern: The tiles are laid down in a way that resembles traditional brickwork. The tile can be laid to cover the entire floor or the area that it’s designed to protect, surrounded by borders.

Brick pattern parquet floor perfectly complements modern, minimalistic, urban, and industrial interior styles. It’s a unique floor that functions as a piece of art and blends well with most furniture pieces, intriguing textures, and vibrant colors.

Random Pattern: The tile blocks’ width in every row may vary with this type of pattern. One might be 7-inches, the other 4-inches, or 5-inches. However, despite the name, the design is consistent. The only stack difference being the sizes of the boards.

The random design gives the impression of a bigger room and comes either as a diagonal or straight pattern. Installing it parallel to the longest wall or the natural source of light in the room is the best way to achieving the sound effect.

A random pattern design adds plenty of character to your space. Selecting different colors and textures of the wooden floorboards can help you develop unique and stunning floors that look like art pieces.

Installing A Parquet Wooden Floor

Parquet flooring tiles are installed with ease. They need to be glued down on the subfloor as opposed to having them nailed.

Most installers use urethane-based adhesives since they get a 60-minute window to work with the tile before the glue dries. Moreover, these tiles are about 5/16 inches thick, making it easy to cut through them using a jigsaw.

Most parquet flooring tiles are pre-finished, meaning that users don’t have to varnish or stain them after installation. For proper application, the subfloor should be perfectly flat and sturdy.