# Parquet Flooring Questions...



## joiner_sim (15 Nov 2009)

Hi all,
Firstly I haven't been around here for a while, but I hope everyone's okay and still got all there fingers intact... :lol: 

I have been asked to lay a Parquet floor for a friend. I have laid laminate floor before, but not real wood. Parquet seems a little bit more complicated than laying a real wood floor. I've gone on this web site: http://www.simplifydiy.com/floors/wood- ... t-flooring for a few hints and tips. 

Does anybody agree or disagree with what the webpage says? And is this flooring easy to lay once you've got into the swing of things? I know everyone's different but how many square metres would you say it is possible to lay per hour?

Thanks in advance for any replies,
Simon. :wink:


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## trousers (15 Nov 2009)

What sort of parquet?
Do you mean the individual blocks that were traditionally used?
If so I'd say that website makes it sound rediculously easy when in fact there is much more to it.
For a start they don't even mention sanding the blocks before the finish goes on, and 24hrs acclimatisation is nowhere near enough.
We had a firm on site doing one in pine. Took 2 blokes a week to lay (herringbone, so lots of cutting into the border), then they spent 2 days with various sanding machines getting it flat and smooth, and another 3 days sealing it (one coat per day - absolutely stank).

If your using those laminated T & G ones, ignore the above :roll:


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## katellwood (15 Nov 2009)

What size are the blocks and how do you intend to fix it?

I laid approx 30 sq metres last year of maple blocks approx 8" x 2 1/2" this was reclaimed flooring whit I had purchased from ebay 

The blocks on arrival were slightly bigger than the above size and approx 1 1/4" deep, the bottoms were covered in bitumen and the tops had at some point had lino evostuck to them 

Utilising jigs I cut the top and bottom off each block finishing down to approx 3/4" I then took a small amount of each edge making all the blocks uniform 

Following this I placed a 1/4" x 3/8" groove on all four edges and fixed the blocks to my hall floor with 1/4" ply loose tongues secret fixing through the tongue. The blocks were fixed in an herringbone pattern bordered with a two block width all around the room. They were all fitted on top of a 1/4" acoustic board purchased from B & Q 

For sanding I got someone in to do it who did an excellent job 

They initially sanded the whole floor then utilised the dust which came off the first sanding, mixed this with some sort of resin then using a plasterers float then skimmed the whole floor filling in any imperfections with the resin/dust mixture. After it had dried they sanded twice more with two different grades of abrasive then placed a finish on it guaranteeing the finish for 3 years

All in all it took in excess of four months in my spare time and was extremely laborious and tedious. however now its done I'm glad I did it 

It you're interested I'll post some pics


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## Dibs-h (16 Nov 2009)

joiner_sim":3duhf9ll said:


> Hi all,
> Firstly I haven't been around here for a while, but I hope everyone's okay and still got all there fingers intact... :lol:
> 
> I have been asked to lay a Parquet floor for a friend. I have laid laminate floor before, but not real wood. Parquet seems a little bit more complicated than laying a real wood floor. I've gone on this web site: http://www.simplifydiy.com/floors/wood- ... t-flooring for a few hints and tips.
> ...



pineapples springs to mind in terms of the stuff on that website - my advice is not to do it to be honest! And that's from experience. I did it once and would never do it for anyone other than on a outright commercial basis. Here's the one I did,

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... ht=#203095

PM me your email and I'll send you some proper instructions on how to lay a herringbone parquet floor. 

If for some reason you must - here's my tips - 

- pre-sort the blocks making sure they are all to within several mm's of each other - i.e. nothing smaller than x mm as you will have to take teh floor sown to the lowest block.

- fit the last blocks, i.e. the ones that require cutting prior to the soldier course and when the adhesive has gone of, use a circular saw and guide and cut the ends off. Have a few blades as they will dull even new blades.


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## Boz62 (16 Nov 2009)

There are a series of posts on Konrad's (Mr Infill Plane) Blog about his experiences. Might be enough to scare you off if you haven't been already 

Boz


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## katellwood (16 Nov 2009)

These are the photo's of my efforts. 

excuse the mess I am in the process of fitting a hall cupboard


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## joiner_sim (16 Nov 2009)

I think I'm going to turn down this one after hearing other's experiences. This really isn't something I'd like to do in someone else's house. I will advise my friend to find a specialist fitter for this flooring.

Thankyou everyone :wink:


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## joiner_sim (16 Nov 2009)

Just gave my friend a call, and obviously the idea of paying a specialist has put them off due to price wise... They are going to go and have a look at other things available, I said I am happy to lay T&G board floors, so they will get back to me.


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## Dibs-h (17 Nov 2009)

katellwood":2rrk0hjl said:


> These are the photo's of my efforts.
> 
> excuse the mess I am in the process of fitting a hall cupboard



Very nice - how long did it take? Looks unsealed. Cuts with a guide and saw in situ?

The one thing I would have done differently is where you've got the soldier course changing angles - I would have mitred it, to balance it aesthetically - but I'm a picky ar5e! :wink:

*Edit* - just spotted your earlier post.


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## ProShop (17 Nov 2009)

Just spotted the deliberate mistake   

Actually that's a block floor, joiner sim was refering to a parquet floor  

looks nice though


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## Jake (17 Nov 2009)

Looks like a nice job on the maple, Katell.

When you say this:



katellwood":169tc31i said:


> They were all fitted on top of a 1/4" acoustic board purchased from B & Q



Does that mean you laid it floating, rather than glue down?


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## Dibs-h (17 Nov 2009)

ProShop":26jqofex said:


> Just spotted the deliberate mistake
> 
> Actually that's a block floor, joiner sim was refering to a parquet floor
> 
> looks nice though



I've always understood the floor as done by katellwood to also be a parquet floor. Probably watching too many 'murican TV programs!


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## Jake (17 Nov 2009)

Woodblock, traditionally. Parquet is thin. But in common parlance they are both referred to as parquet.


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## ProShop (17 Nov 2009)

Dibs-h":3sl6xpmb said:


> I've always understood the floor as done by katellwood to also be a parquet floor. Probably watching too many 'murican TV programs!



As Jake mentions Parquet is thin, it also comes in a square pre manufactured item with either the small fingers of wood stuck to a string type mesh or a very thin layer of paper bonded with pitch or the modern equivalent. 

Block floors are traditionally laid on a firm solid floor using pitch or the modern setting mastics.


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## Digit (17 Nov 2009)

Bin there, dun that--_my advice is not to do it to be honest!_ agree!  

Roy.


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## katellwood (17 Nov 2009)

unfortunately I have no WIP's re laying this floor but for those interested heres a short tutorial 

They arrived like this covered in bitumen and evostick 











With the use of a number of saw table slot jigs on the saw and spindle I turned them into this 











This is a link to what I placed under the blocks 
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?a ... arch=false

I did this because the original boards were extremely old and I did not have the time to rip them up and put down ply or chipboard I considered sanding the original floor however I have removed a number of walls which left unsightly gaps in the floor

These two sketchup's will hopefully explain how they are fixed down with the use of 6mm birch ply in the grooves and secret screwed through the loose tongue 











I do agree with the comments on mitring the soldier course however I did not mitre the 90 degree corners so at the time if seemed more inkeeping 

comments and constructive criticism will be valued 

re the finish as mentioned above I had it done professionally


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## tsb (18 Nov 2009)

Katellwood-- can you give me an idea of the saw jigs you used for cleaning up the blocks. I've got some similar blocks which need cleaning. Also thanks for showing pictures of finished floor!! swmbo have just seen it and thats the design she nows wants."probably 4 months of my spare time spoken for"


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## katellwood (18 Nov 2009)

tsb 

The original jigs were stripped down following completion however I have been playing with Sketchup and this should show you how I did it 


























I used similar jigs for cutting the groove, to crosscut the blocks I used a strip of timber screwed to the mitre gauge and two stop blocks 

Hope this helps


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