What is parquet flooring and how to lay it?

Go into any stately home, both in the UK and particularly on the continent, and you'll see stunning examples of one of the most desirable types of flooring. Parquet turns an ordinary floor into a showstopping interior feature, showing off the skills of the craftsmen and women who create these masterpieces. It’s no wonder that parquet and herringbone flooring is seen in all the finest palaces in the world. 

It's been around for centuries, but does it have a place in the modern home? How easy is it to create that Versailles palace look in your front room? And how do you Install and look after parquet flooring? Here is Arnold Laver's guide to parquet flooring.

Herringbone flooring uses exactly the same principles as parquet. It is simply a specific design or pattern where the blocks are arranged in a herringbone pattern rather than a more ornate basketweave design. To create a herringbone pattern, blocks are cut into rectangles and laid in a zig-zag or staggered pattern. Blocks can be made of wood or LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles). No matter what material you choose, the result is striking and works particularly well in hallways.

As carpets have lost their hold on the nation’s floors, parquet and decorative wood flooring have regained their popularity, and there a few types to choose from.

• Classic wooden parquet
• Vinyl parquet
• Solid wood flooring

Thanks to modern materials and manufacturing techniques, it's also more affordable. You now have even more choice, from classic wooden blocks to vinyl tiles and hardwood alternatives such as bamboo. As long as you create a geometric pattern with those blocks and tiles, you can call it parquet.

If you don’t want to create a parquet floor from scratch, you can use prefabricated parquet panels that feature wood designs within the tiles themselves.

We’re often asked, ‘how easy is it to lay parquet flooring’? It is possible to lay parquet flooring yourself, but we will say from the outset that it’s not for the fainthearted! Getting three-quarters of the way through the process and finding that you’ve laid a couple of tiles or blocks incorrectly could ruin the whole pattern - and your day. So the number one rule is to plan first carefully.

You’ll need to measure the size and shape of the room. Our top tip is to draw the plan out on graph paper and remember to measure at least twice to make sure your dimensions are 100% accurate.

The type of design you go for and the size of the room will determine how many tiles or blocks you’ll need. A simple pattern using larger blocks or tiles will require fewer individual tiles, while a more complex design using small blocks will require more. 

If you use real wood, you will need to factor in expansion and contraction of the blocks during hot and cold weather.

You can lay parquet or herringbone flooring onto almost any surface as long as it has been prepared correctly. However, do not lay herringbone or parquet flooring directly onto wooden floorboards as they tend to flex, which could damage the flooring. 

Make sure your blocks spend some time in the room to acclimatise. This will prevent warping or issues when laying them. Also, ensure that your blocks are the right way up! Draw a centre line on the floor and start laying the blocks without adhesive. Work outwards from the centre line, ensuring that you follow your pattern for each block. Once you are sure that you've completed several rows 'dry' (without adhesive), you can then go back and fix them into place.  

Allow the adhesive to dry and cure. Then sand and fill any gaps before sealing with a wood finish of your choice.

If all of that sounds complicated, you can make life easier by using LVT. The process is the same, but thanks to the ‘click and lock’ feature of LVTs, you can achieve a parquet or herringbone floor in a fraction of the time.

One of the significant advantages of parquet flooring is that it's super-easy to care for and keep clean. If you’ve used wood blocks to create your parquet floor, regular vacuuming and the occasional wipe over with a damp mop should be sufficient to remove everyday dirt. To bring the natural beauty of the wood out, regular polishing will also help protect the surface.

Although they're not as long-lasting as hardwood blocks, LVT tiles are even easier to care for. Simply vacuum and mop regularly.

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Once you have cleared out the furniture from the room, you can start by removing all of the dust and debris from your parquet flooring. Then, prepare a solution of warm water and an appropriate floor cleaner. Give your flooring a good wash, being mindful that your mop is damp and not overly wet. Too much moisture could damage your flooring. Repeat the process with just warm water to wash off all the soap. Not forgetting to give those stubborn stains a light scrub!

Select a section of flooring that is not normally seen, such as under a sofa or a set of shelves. Place two drops of water on the section of floor. Leave the drops for around 10 minutes, and examine the results. If you can see white spots on the parquet, the floor was originally finished with either oil or wax. If there are no spots, either lacquer or varnish was used. You can then remove white spots from the parquet using a piece of steel wool coated in floor wax.

Purchase an appropriate maintenance product for the original finish on your parquet floor. This product will restore it. Apply the product to the floor, following the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Most maintenance products for floors with an original varnish or lacquer finish take the form of polishes. However, in the case of an original oil or wax finish, you have the option of using either polish or a hard wax. In the case of an oil or wax floor in very poor condition, use hard wax and apply two coats.

Buff the floor. Be guided by the manufacturer's instructions as to how long you should leave the maintenance product on the floor before doing this. Use either an old-fashioned buffing block or a semi-professional buffer with a large white pad attached. In the case of parquet restoration, an ordinary domestic buffer may not achieve the quality of finish necessary.

If you want to know how to lay herringbone flooring or want to add value to your home with a parquet floor, take a look at our blog hub for plenty of practical, no-nonsense advice and information from the experts at Arnold Laver.