Parquet Flooring
Two types of flooring really get me and the first one is Parquet flooring. My second is polished concrete by the way – two completely different compositions, but both equally beautiful.
Parquet flooring is my oldest obsession, my first memory is as a child, sitting on such floor and parking the cars in each of the herringbone arranged block making patterns. As I got older, it was the pure beauty of the natural wood that inspired me. I remember one of my friends living in a fantastic large open plan 60s house and we used to slide across the floor, we loved it and so did my friend’s parents as our bums polished up the floor a treat.
As I got older the appreciation grew and I longed to live in a house with a parquet floor. You always see picture of people pulling up old carpets and finding amazing parquet floors, but sadly this still hasn’t happened to me, there is still time however. I think that will be my top must have when we downsize. More recently I was admiring a beautiful parquet flooring at one of the London University buildings on a open day with my daughter. We walked in and my god the flooring was so mighty fine. The sun was pouring through critall windows onto the floor and I just couldn’t stop myself from bending down to run my palm over the smooth warm wood – much to my daughter’s horror as people to stopped to stare!
Parquet, what does it mean?
Simple. Parquet is a floor covering of pieces of hardwood fitted in a decorative pattern; parquetry. The origins of its name are to the french word parqueterie and dates back to the mid 1600’s. The parquet floor can be made from solid and engineered wood. Solid wood is as you would expect, made from solid pieces of timber, engineered is made from layers of different types of wood topped by hardwood.
Whatever you chose the finished look will be the same. As for the laying process, well I would leave that to a professional or a very skilled DIYer. Thank goodness you don’t have to use hot bitumen anymore, the new way to lay is with a cold adhesive which gives a very stable result.
And just as a cheeky finish there are some amazing faux parquets out there from Floor tiles to vinyl, have a look at these if your on a tight budget.
Parquet best buys for your budget
John Lewis
Wood Ultimate Vinyl Flooring, Feldberg
Product code: 63907731
£24 per square metre
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