Parquet
A room with parquet flooring is synonymous with value and elegance: the warmth of touch, the smell of wood, and the visual beauty of its grain are the main reasons for choosing this material. Added to this is an infinite variety of colours and effects that suit every style and decor.
The choice of parquet flooring to be included in your home environment or within a workplace is always very complicated due to the wide range of solutions available on the market. A long-term choice, that of flooring, which should be taken with care, taking into account one’s needs, lifestyle and use of the rooms.
Wood is a versatile and highly customizable material, possesses excellent durability and wear resistance, provides good performance to mechanical and vibrational stresses, and is an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator. Parquet can have a large number of finishes. In terms of budget, the cost of a parquet depends on a large number of factors: type of wood, type of parquet (whether supported, industrial or solid), thickness, and finish.
To get quality parquet at a competitive price, you can turn to a specialized company like Luxury Windows Italia. For many years we have been dealing with the proper installation and supply of PVC windows and doors, guaranteeing an optimal match also for aesthetics. There are several solutions from brands of great tradition and excellent value for money that we can offer you, such as those proposed by our partner Italwood Trading.
Characteristics of Parquet
Let’s start with solid wood parquet: consisting of planks made from a single block of pure noble wood, about 2.2 centimetres thick and mounted on supporting materials, it is the “classic” parquet, also used in period homes.
Compact, beautiful and durable, with a typically rustic charm, it is also quite unstable: since it is untreated wood, traditional solid wood parquet tends to warp and expand due to moisture and temperature changes. Maintenance and costs are quite challenging. The long and expensive finishing process of this type of parquet depends not only on the wood species used but also on the time-consuming work of laying, sanding and varnishing.
That’s why today the market offers a more modern type of parquet, the prefinished wood model: less valuable, of course, but which in the version of the best brands has little to envy in terms of aesthetics to solid wood, improving its durability, especially in humid conditions. Since it is already painted and treated, it is put in place much more easily, quickly and economically.
Prefinished wood parquet is made of two or three layers of wood, but only the surface layer is given by solid wood. Prefinished parquet can rely on a surface layer that has already been finished (sanded and varnished), so it is ready for installation (laying). The lowest layer is called the backing and is the base for a layer of solid wood (noble wood); it is practical and cheaper than traditional solid wood parquet. The length of the planks ranges from 1.8 to 2.2 meters and the width from 18 to 20 centimetres. Laying is easier and faster than that of traditional parquet: after two or three days at most, it is already possible to walk on it.
Unlike solid wood, prefinished wood parquet can be laid even in the wettest rooms of the house, such as the bathroom or kitchen, thanks to special industrial treatments that increase resistance to scratches, stains and mould; it costs less, laying is faster and it does not suffer from expansion. Compared to solid wood, it is less insulating: this means that in winter it manages to convey that pleasant feeling of warmth spread by heating.
How to choose parquet flooring
Is prefinished or solid parquet better?
Choosing between an over finished parquet or solid parquet can be made by considering the basic differences between these types of flooring:
Prefinished parquet is laid in a short time and is walkable after only 24 hours, while solid parquet, between laying and finishing, takes about 30 days to be walkable.
Solid parquet (in noble or solid wood) is more customizable and is suitable if you want a custom or special finish while prefinished is suitable if you intend to install an underfloor heating system.
Solid parquet is perfect for those who intend to choose a floor that is 100% natural, glue-free, and only made of noble wood.
Much more than just a floor, a parquet is a piece of furniture that gives the home a warm character and comfortable elegance. Material, installation, finish, aesthetics, and functionality are all variables to be considered.