Choosing the right parquet floor for your home

Parquet floor is a mosaic of hardwood slats which are usually held in place by an adhesive or fastening. One of the most common forms of parquet floor is laminate.

The laminated floor covering is made up of four layers:

- A resin under layer, intended to counterbalance, therefore to maintain the panel right and plane.
- A panel HDF which is stuck in a damp-proof way and has very high density.
- A drawings layer printed in various reasons and colours.
- A road base which is wear resistant. It constitutes protection.

Laminate parquet floor is resistant to abrasions and shocks. It is easily cleaned and maintain.

Pasted parquet floor
Its principle is simple: we stick a layer of noble wood facing on a wooden support more common. The most current pasted blade is made of three layers or folds stucks: a wearing course, a heart and a back. It is declined in all essences. We find it in all forms, blades or panels. It is most of the time varnished or oiled. In general it is posed with loating installation.

- Finished product and ready to use and is machining quality.
- There is less wearing course than for the massive parquet floor.

Massive parquet floor
It is the tradition's parquet floor. It can have different forms, out of blade, panels, mosaic parquet floor.
- Blades: the reference is the 23 mm thickness blade in oak. But there is all thicknesses, 7.5 to 20 meters. The standard width is 65-70mm, but can go up to 1.5 meters. Generally its length goes from 0.30m to 1 m but can reach 2.5 meters.
These blades allow many. They are posed nailed or stuck. Generally sold in “gross” left factory, they require a completion treatment.
- Panel: it is made of massive wood elements pasted on a structure out of plywood, agglomerate or medium. The most famous is the Versailles panel; it is intended for a nailed installation.
- Mosaic parquet floor: its plates of low-size wood which are sub-assembled in factory. It presents many drawings (checker works, broken sticks etc.). It is posed stuck. When it is sold gross, it requires a treatment of completion.

- All types of essences. All types of installation's provision. The wearing course is important.
- Implementation more complicated and the product more sensitive to moisture.

There are three main types of installation:

Floating installation
The parquet blocks have to be assembling between them by their system of grooves and strips, all that is forming a “plate” which will be to disunite from the ground by an under layer.
Between ground and parquet floor, we will attach an under layer adapted according to the support, which will allow a good sound-proofing from the vicinity and an produce a floor that is comfortable to walk on.

- Facility and speed of implementation. The floor can be used immediately after installation. This floor also provides good sound proofing.
- Maintenance. This floor is affected by wear and tear less than the massive parquet floor, however materials may be harder to find.

Stuck installation
We can make two types of implementation.
The first, installation stuck into full. The parquet floor is stuck entirely on the support or an insulator (cork) with an adhesive which is adapted to its nature and its thickness is applied thanks to a notched spatula.

The other, installation stuck in cord. The parquet floor is stuck on the support by cords of adhesive Polyurethane cement perpendicularly within the meaning of the blades. We can also intercalate an insulator between the ground and the floor.

The main advantages of a stuck installation floor are:
- It is comfortable to walk on.
- There is low ground noise.
- The floor retains its heat.

However, with this type of floor, implementation can be more expensive than a floating installation.

Nailed installation
This system of installation is exclusively intended for massive parquet floors. The parquet floor is nailed in its groove or its strip on tie bars which are nailed on beams, sealed with plaster or floating on an insulator.

The main advantages of a nailed installation floor are:
- It is comfortable to walk on.
- There is a longer lifespan
- Installation is relatively fast.