Parquet is the recognized king of interior flooring. With it, the house is warmer, more comfortable and has a more luxurious look.
The parquet looks suitably elegant in the ballroom and in the small living room, if necessary it does not intrude, but always generates a feeling of coziness and warmth. Parquet, however, is a long-term investment. When we lay it, it is good to keep in mind that this will be the flooring on which we will step for 20-30 years, and maybe more. Its choice in this sense is extremely important, especially if we want the floor not to cause us any worries, not to irritate us and to successfully add coziness and comfort to the home. And no matter how difficult it is for us to imagine our home in 20 years, it is good even now, with the purchase of the parquet, to apply several basic selection criteria that will help us for our long-term interior vision.
1. Type of floor covering
Choosing the type of floor covering is first and foremost. There are three main types of natural parquet that you can choose from: multi-layered, solid and parquet. Derivatives of solid parquet are artistic parquet, parquet modules, rosettes, borders. The most economical option from the family of massive parquets is considered to be the floor. It is a 2-meter-long board with a width of 20 cm, which is usually available in a finished form – stained and varnished. An advantage of the floor is that it is quickly installed without the need for any special skills. Multi-layered and completely solid parquet floors are more expensive than the floor mainly because they are high-quality wood material, specially treated, which gives them a beautiful design and durability.
Parquet made of solid solid wood has one important advantage – its thickness is 1.5 cm, which allows it to be cycled many times. Parquet floors can be laid in a different shape – herringbone, duck’s foot, or one after the other. Because of their small size, they cover the corners and corners in the room many times easier than the floor. In the mass case, the massive parquet is sold raw, so it can be tinted in the desired color right from the first laying.
Multi-layer parquets are made of several – 3 or 5 layers of natural wood, placed perpendicular to each other. The advantage of such a sandwich construction is that it is highly resistant to impact, load, moisture and temperature expansion. The upper layer, however, is very thin and allows up to one, at most two cycles. Multi-layer parquets are available with a factory finish – stained and varnished by the manufacturer, which gives them a perfect appearance and high wear resistance. Massive parquets, especially artistic ones, require a number of additional materials and must be laid by a specialist.
2. Floor color
Advice! Do not choose the color of the parquet based on the picture. There must have been some lighting that changed the shade of the wood when the photo was taken. Choose the color of the parquet live in the store. It is also good to keep in mind that wood is a living organism and changes its color over time, in most cases it darkens, becomes more saturated. It is good to have color contrasts in the interior. You can achieve them with parquet. There is an opinion that the dark floor narrows the space. Yes, but only if the walls are the same tone. The dark floor is perfectly combined with white walls, and this effectively increases the height of the room. If you want to expand the space, then let the walls be dark and the floor light.
People often wonder if it is good to put a different parquet in each room. Parquet is an interior element that supports the sense of unity and completeness of the interior. It is good that the floor covering is the same everywhere. However, if you want to create a chamber atmosphere in an area or room, yes, then you can use a parquet with a contrast on the main floor.
3. The coating – varnish or oil?
We perceive the parquet not only with our eyes, but also with touch, walking, often barefoot, on it. That is why it is important that it is pleasant to the touch. The matte board, visibly soaked in oil, allows us to feel the wood, its relief and warmth. Varnish, on the other hand, hides the wood pores and under our feet we feel a cool, flat and glossy surface. Varnish and oil also differ in operation. Matted parquet floors are considered to require less care. The embossed semi-open structure of the wood very well hides small scratches and even dust. Refreshing it does not require the help of a specialist, because the oil is simply applied without the need for prior cycling. Depending on the workload, experts recommend greasing the parquet at least once a year.
Lacquered parquets, on the other hand, protect the wood very well from any external influences, creating a very good film on its surface. However, this also has its disadvantages – even the smallest scratches and microscopic dust can be noticed on the surface of the varnish. With average use, lacquered parquet will serve you up to 25 years. It must then be cycled and varnished again by professionals. However, practice shows that it is good to renew lacquered parquet every 6-7 years. It is good to take into account one more fact – lacquered parquet reflects light, while oiled parquet absorbs it. This choice should also have an impact on the lighting layout.
4. Sorting the parquet floors
The factory sorting of the parquet floors reflects the interior style. The characteristic flutter, the bright texture, the deep relief, the natural even color give peace and comfort to the environment.
In general, three types of sorting are offered: Select, Nature and Rustic, which can be supplemented by subtypes.
- Select is a parquet with a radial cut – the board is cut right through the core, with the fibers parallel to each other. No plugs or color shades are allowed.
- Nature is a parquet of mixed type of cuts. Mechanical damage and plugs are not allowed. Shades in the colors of the parquet floors are allowed.
- Rustic is a parquet with a mixed type of cuts and a wide range of parquet colors. Plugs and mechanical damage with a depth of up to 1.5 mm are acceptable.
5. Size of boards
Choose the size of the parquet according to the size of the room. Wider boards will not fit well in a narrow room, they will even visually reduce the space. Your choice should be guided by the following principle: place wide planks in a large space, and arrange classic parquet floors in standard rooms.
An important condition for choosing the size of the parquet is the humidity in the room. If in your home it is difficult to control the humidity and temperature of the air, you do not have humidifiers or air conditioners, this means that the tree will react, especially in the winter when the air is drier. It is possible for cracks to appear on it, for example. Keep in mind that long boards react more quickly to temperature expansion by bending and cracking. For risky rooms, it is best to choose parquet from the standard parquets.
