Choose Between Hardwood and Parquet Flooring

You have made the decision to have a wooden floor installed, which is a great decision. However, now you are in front of another dilemma – what type of real wood flooring to choose? Real wood floors come in solid wood, engineered wood, and parquet options. If you want to go for a more classic choice, you would probably choose between hardwood and parquet flooring. Now, what is the difference between these two options and how to make sure you are making the right decision? Let’s find out in this article.

What Is Parquet Flooring?

Parquet flooring is probably the most traditional and classic choice when it comes to real wood flooring. It is the first type of wood flooring ever invented and installed in the Mirror Hall at the Versailles. Since then, parquet flooring got more and more popular not just among wealthy families. Nowadays, everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful parquet floor in their homes. Parquet floors are made out of smaller, real wood blocks, cut from a single piece of timber just like solid wood flooring, which comes in larger floorboards.

The pieces of wood are then fitted in a geometric pattern pretty much like a mosaic floor. There are a plethora of parquet flooring patterns you can choose from. Some of them are very common like herringbone, chevron, basket weave, etc. Others are more like pieces of art and a high level of craftsmanship is required for these. However, in most of the domestic settings, you are most likely going to spot a more classic and simple parquet pattern, herringbone being the most popular one out of all of them.

What makes parquet flooring differ from the rest of the real wood floor choices is specific to the pattern. Other than that, parquet flooring is pretty much solid wood flooring cut into smaller pieces and assembled in a mosaic way. Just like any other type of real wood flooring, parquet is also a durable, long-lasting, and hard-wearing option. Parquet wood floors can last up to a whole century if maintained properly. Of course, parquet floors can also be re-sanded and refinished once you notice wear and tear and also for removing imperfections and improving the condition of the floor.

The main challenge with parquet flooring comes when sanding is required. It is important to find a reliable and experienced wood floor sanding specialist to take proper care of your parquet floor and sand it to perfection. Due to the fact that parquet floor blocks are laid in different directions for achieving the pattern, there is a high risk of sanding against the grain, which can damage the wood. Therefore, a lot of craftsmanship, experience, and knowledge is required for the proper approach.

What Is Solid Wood Flooring?

Hardwood floorboards are cut from a single piece of timber, which makes them a pretty basic and classic real wood floor option. Solid wood floors offer a plethora of advantages and benefits. They are solid and sturdy, durable and long-lasting, beautiful and come in a great variety of wood species, colours, and textures.

The biggest advantage of hardwood flooring is that it can be sanded up to 6 times in its lifetime. This means that you can enjoy a floor looking brand-new every time after re-sanding and refinishing and all imperfections will be gone to minimising the risk of more serious issues. However, hardwood floors are not the best option for installation in rooms, where moisture content, humidity, and temperature fluctuations may be a problem.

Even when cut into floorboards, wood remains wood and it reserves its natural response to changes in the environment, which means that wood’s porous structure will make the floorboards expand and contract when exposed to increased moisture and humidity, and temperature fluctuations. Therefore, solid wood flooring is not a good option for the bathroom, basement, and sometimes the kitchen. In addition, solid wood floor installation is not the best option for concrete subfloors and underfloor heating systems.

Choose the Right Wood Floor for Every Room

Now, since parquet and hardwood flooring share pretty much the same characteristics, both types of real wood flooring are not suitable for any room, where they may become a subject of moisture issues. Choose engineered wood flooring for the bathroom, basement, or kitchen and you can install a beautiful hardwood or parquet floor in the rest of the house.

When we are comparing the two types of wood flooring, we take into account only the different style options they can provide you with. Whether you will choose a parquet floor or a solid wood one mainly depends on the size of the room where the installation is considered. In addition, you should consider your personal taste, of course, as well as the overall interior style and atmosphere you would like to achieve.

In general, hardwood floorboards work best for larger and wider rooms. Since solid wood floorboards are offered in different sizes, some of them can be really large and wide, they are certainly better options for rooms that are already spacious and can make the place look even larger. Now, you can get a hardwood floor in so many different colours, textured, grains and patterns, natural designs and more. What style of solid wood flooring you are going to purchase depends entirely on your personal preferences. However, keep in mind that light wood planks allow you the opportunity to further make every room appear more spacious.

Parquet flooring is suitable for every room in your home. However, as a rule of thumb, parquet floors are not installed in very small and narrow rooms because the parquet pattern can make the room look too busy and cluttered and create some distraction. Keep in mind that parquet floors also contribute to creating a more formal and classic style in the room. Despite that fact, parquet floors can also be interpreted in the context of more contemporary and modern interior styles, it all depends on what you like and prefer as a homeowner and what you will enjoy the most.