What Is Parquet Flooring? Everything to Know

Parquet is a type of wood flooring made by arranging small slats of wood in distinct, repeating patterns. Traditional parquet floors were installed one piece at a time. Meanwhile, most modern parquet flooring is in tile form, with the wood slats bonded to a backing material.

Parquet tile flooring is installed by gluing, nailing, or stapling the tiles to the subfloor. Because the parquet strips are hardwood, parquet flooring is similar in look and performance to traditional solid-hardwood strip flooring.

What Is Parquet Flooring Made Of?

Parquet flooring is made of narrow strips of hardwood joined to create a pattern directly on the floor or installed as prefinished parquet-style tiles. The tiles come in a few standard sizes:

• 9 inches by 9 inches
• 12 inches by 12 inches
• 19 inches by 19 inches

The total thickness of tiles typically ranges from 5/16 inch to 3/4 inch. Parquet tiles usually include a mesh backing of paper, cloth, or plastic stitched with a thin metal or plastic skeleton. The hardwood top layer is mostly oak but may also be maple, walnut, and other popular hardwoods.

History of Parquet Flooring

Parquet flooring emerged in France in the 1500s, at the start of the Renaissance. The word "parquet" means "little compartments" in French, which explains the smaller pieces of wood that come together to create a design.

It's believed that Italian architects helped popularize the style by bringing it to France when working for the prestigious Medici family. The style was used for the flooring in Luxembourg Palace in Paris in the 1620s. Parquet floors were all the rage in the late 1680s when King Louis XIV used them at the opulent Palace of Versailles. Their debut at Versailles gave it global momentum.

Parquet floors have been used for centuries, including in the United States, although the style never really gained popularity in Britain. However, by the 1930s, parquet floors lost popularity and were often covered by carpets. In recent years, original turn-of-the-century parquet floors have been uncovered and polished while restoring old homes and are now uniquely embraced for their historical charm.

Pros and Cons of Parquet Flooring

Pros

• Aesthetic appeal: Parquet flooring is sophisticated and bold, making it a popular choice for formal settings such as living rooms, dining rooms, and foyers, as well as in midcentury modern home styles.
• Low-maintenance: Clean your parquet like any other hardwood flooring by sweeping and dry-mopping it at least weekly. Rugs and mats beneath chairs can also help prevent scratches.
• Durable: Hardwood parquet is structurally sound and can hold up beautifully for decades.
  
• Easy to install: Parquet strips and tiles are thin and easy to cut. They can be arranged and often glued to a perfectly flat subfloor rather than nailed.
• Wood species options: Choose from many hardwood options for a parquet floor design.

Cons

• Too busy: The geometric patterns of parquet can be too visually busy and overwhelming for kitchens, bathrooms, and other small spaces and can lend a cluttered feel to the room.
• Damage in damp spaces: Parquet can warp and cause other problems if used in damp environments or below grade in basements.
• Potentially dated look: Buyers may consider parquet as an outdated style if you plan to sell your home.
• Susceptible to marks: The wood is easily scratched and scuffed, and these marks are hard to buff off a parquet floor.
• Refinishing and repairing can be difficult. Wood parquet may be tough to refinish because the grain directions alternate on the hardwood pieces. To repair parquet, treat the floor as you would any other hardwood floor with scratches, using methods such as sanding, wood fillers, and colorants, depending on the severity of the damage.

Types of Parquet Flooring Designs

Regardless of your parquet design, each plank in the pattern is unique and individual. In parquetry, planks and strips are called "fingers." Here are the most popular parquet patterns:

• Herringbone: Zigzag pattern using rectangular blocks or planks with straight ends
• Chevron: Zigzag pattern using planks with ends that have a 45-degree angle to create a true V-shape
• Basketweave: Wood planks appear to be interwoven under and over each other and appear like a woven basket
• Checkerboard: Strips of wood create cubes that create a checkerboard pattern
• Mosaic or brick (also called "square on square"): Thin wood strips of equal sizes create one square, and squares are placed next to one another to create a pattern.
• Versailles: Diamond-shaped weave of wood strips
  

Unfinished vs. Prefinished Parquet

Parquet is prone to staining and damage in its natural unfinished state and must be finished to protect its hardwood surface. Unfinished tiles are sanded, stained, and finished on-site after installing the flooring. Using unfinished wood allows you to choose the color of stain or any finish you like, giving you a wealth of decorative options.

Prefinished parquet tiles are treated with a highly durable, factory-applied wood finish. Because this is done industrially, the finish can be significantly more durable than one applied on-site. Using prefinished wood also reduces the hassle and mess of applying a finish to your home.

Parquet Water Concerns

Parquet tiles fare slightly better in moist environments than custom-installed hardwood parquet planks. The individual slats in tile form are less prone to expansion and contraction during humidity changes.

Regardless, parquet is made of wood, so tiles and planks are still prone to warping, developing mold, and plumping in highly wet, moist environments, such as heavily used bathrooms.

Refinishing a Parquet Floor

Parquet is essentially made of hardwood and can be sanded and refinished. Some parquet tiles of similar thickness can be refinished roughly an equal number of times as hardwood plank flooring.

However, parquet floors are not relatively as easy to refinish as regular hardwood planking because the material's grain is not oriented in a consistent direction. Instead, the tiny slats of wood may be pointed in several directions. This can lead to cross-grain scratching, which can be difficult to buff. You may even need to hand sand in certain places to make the surface look smooth.