What Is Parquet Flooring Made Of?

What is Parquet flooring? This refers to a type of puzzle-like mosaic floor pattern made up of angular and geometric blocks of real wood or faux wood that take up the shape of triangles, lozenges or squares and measure less than one meter long and ten centimetres wide. This is usually to be distinguished from a marquetry, where the blocks used are curved or of their natural shapes. The parquet blocks are usually derived from a wide variety of wood sources such as the pine tree, the oak tree, the walnut tree, the cherry tree, the mahogany tree and even the bamboo tree among others. These blocks can be either solid wood, which means that the block is entirely made of wood, or engineered wood, which means that the parquet block is layered with different wood types with the uppermost layer of the block being made up of hardwood.

A little into the history of parquet flooring parquet is derived from an Old French word parquet that loosely translates to little park’. It was a tradition in medieval France to place planks of wood underneath thrones and seats of honour in order to distinguish that area from the remaining part of the room. These planks of wood also elevated the thrones and seats of honour, both in a literal and more symbolic sense. It is from this practice then that early designers adopted parquetry as a decorative from of floor patterning. Parquet tiles gradually replaced the cold marble floor slab and earthenware tile patterns that had graced most of the European homes, gaining vast popularity especially in the nineteenth century.

Parquet floor patterns
The beauty in parquetry lies in the versatility of its patterns. There are classical patterns as well as contemporary patterns. The classical patterns are of historical origin and the parquets are made entirely of real wood, hence these are regarded as luxury parquet patterns as they are quite costly. These classical patterns include the Chantilly pattern, Chalosse pattern, Soubise pattern, Aremberg pattern, Parquet de Versailles’ pattern, Monticello pattern and the Chantreuse pattern.

The Parquet de Versailles 
Pattern is found on the floor of the Hall of Mirrors found in Versailles, France; The Monticello pattern was drawn up by former president Thomas Jefferson for his mansion in Virginia; and the Aremberg pattern found in the D’Aremberg castle was named after the D’ Aremberg family that ruled Belgium from the seventeenth century till world war I.

The contemporary patterns are gaining more popularity by the day largely due to their economic value derived from the fact they use faux-wood as well as standardized pre-fabricated parquet patterns. These patterns include the herringbone pattern, the hexagon pattern and the chevron patterns. Variations in these patterns have also been created, with the herringbone patterns having numerous sub-patterns such as the single herringbone, double herringbone, diagonal herringbone, diagonal basket, brick pattern and the square pattern. 

Benefits of using parquet tiles Parquet flooring is cost effective, especially with the advent of prefabricated parquet tiles. They undeniably look really good as well. As such, one can get their home to have that appeal of elegance without digging too deep into their pockets. 

Parquet flooring compared to the traditional wooden floor planks undergo little expansion in regions that have high humidity. This is due to their smaller size, and as such, in moist areas, the parquets offer a significantly better advantage than hardwood planks as floor material.

In addition, parquets get nowhere as cold as the marble tiles used to line some floors, and you will be sure that your feet will be happy even when the chilly weather comes.

Cons of using parquet tiles
While parquet tiles offer an advantage in moist areas over wooden planks, in areas of excessive humidity such as the bathrooms, they cannot be used. This is because of their wooden nature that causes them to expand as well as rot, destroying them in the process.

Parquet tiles also require regular maintenance. 
As such, there is need for periodic polishing, sanding and resealing of the parquet tiles. In addition, these tiles do not offer sufficient resistance to abrasion resulting in scratch marks to the tiles, which may reduce the aesthetic appeal of the tiles.

Parquet tile installation is also not an easy do it yourself project
This is because the tiles are numerous and largely directional, meaning that they need to be laid out in a specific symmetry and alignment. Failure results in an unsightly floor that erodes the aesthetic appeal of the parquet tiles.

Parquet floor installation
As mentioned above, this is not a typical do it yourself project, and as such the skills of a professional fitter are needed. Installation of parquet flooring begins with selection of the type of wood that you want your tiles to be made of. Options such as bamboo are eco-friendly, and more exotic hardwoods such as mahogany can be chosen, though these are more expensive. After selection, the parquet tiles are cut in the dimensions required from the parent wood. They are subsequently adjoined together in the parquet pattern that you have selected using specialised parquet adhesives. Consequently, the tiles are then sanded and varnished to add that glowing sparkle to the final laid out floor pattern.

Parquet floor maintenance 
Regular maintenance is required for this flooring, but it is not a tasking affair. Cleaning can be scheduled for twice or thrice a week. All you need is to vacuum clean the floor, or use a broom to sweep off dirt and dust particles, or use a damp mop (use a wet mop very cautiously and as few times as you possible can). The parquet floors are not permeable to liquids, therefore liquid spills can just be wiped off the floor, and you are good to go. If the parquet tiles have been scratched, you can simply do sanding where the scratch is followed by varnishing with a suitable floor wax. Regular varnishing and sealing should be done every few months according to the general condition of your parquet tiles.
In conclusion, parquet flooring is a great floor option to add to your home or office space. It looks good, feels good, and it needs not be expensive. I hope that this article has answered all your questions regarding parquet flooring.