Parquet flooring is a great spin on the standard style of flooring. You will know you’re standing on parquet wood floors if your eyes travel over the floor, mesmerised by it more than anything else in the room.
But the calling card of the parquet flooring is the pattern, and patterns come in ranges of difficulty. When you’re talking about your flooring, no doubt you’ll want to get it right. If you’re thinking of getting parquet flooring, and, better yet, laying it yourself, you might need a few tips to help you along. Take a look at our guide to laying parquet flooring for all the best tips.
Choose your pattern
The beauty of parquet floors is their pattern. The literal “straightforward” pattern of laying floor tiles has become standard and is still a stylish option. However, the focus of parquet flooring is the many patterns you can make with the tiles, which can offer a more sophisticated look.
So what patterns are there? Quite a few actually. If you like the look of geometrics, your cup runneth over. There is Herringbone, which will look like interlocking arrows on the floor, not to be confused with Chevron, which is similar, Basket Weave, which looks like well, basket weave but also little squares made up of three or four tiles in alternating directions. You’ve also got Brickwork and Ladder tiles, which are stacks of tiles where alternating stacks line up. Within these options there are variations, so take a look at examples online to be sure you know what you’re looking for.
Lay your underlay
If you are laying laminate or vinyl flooring, it is simple enough that you can do it yourself. Solid and engineered floors might need a professional to get done, on the other hand. But before you get to laying your floor tiles, however, you will need to prep the floor.
You’ll need to assure that the floor is level with a spirit level and put down an underlay. If you are laying vinyl this has to be an approved LVT underlay, and you’ll have to look into the floorboards you have bought to get the right underlay.
If you are laying vinyl or engineered flooring, you have the chance for a nice little addition that solid wood and laminate flooring doesn’t: underfloor heating. You will never have to go hunting for your slippers again as you tiptoe around your home on heated floors.
Related: 4 Advantages of Concrete Flooring
End everything should click into place
If you are laying laminate and vinyl flooring, and you have bought the click-in-place tiles, the way forward should be easy.
Start with the end joints on your first row, then set your next board in place by tapping it with a rubber mallet. Make sure each joint is smoothly connected to the next tile and keep going until you hit the wall where you should leave a 7-10mm expansion with a joint.
Adjust your next row according to the pattern you’re looking for and install tiles individually until the floor is filled.
