Parquet refers to a specific type of flooring installed by arranging smaller pieces of wood slats in distinctive, repetitive patterns. Parquet floors are a unique hardwood flooring patterns that has become incredibly popular in the past few years!

Historically, wood flooring experts would install parquet wood floors piece by piece. However, these days, most modern wood parquet flooring products are sold in a tile form, where the smaller wood pieces are bonded together on backing materials.

Commonly known as parquet tile, this product is installed using glue, nails, or staples to attach the parquet wood tiles to your subfloor. Parquet tiles are made from hardwood pieces, giving them a look and a performance similar to traditional hardwood flooring.

What are Parquet Wood Floor Tiles?

Parquet wood tiles typically come in three common sizes.

They are as follows:

• 9” x 9”,
• 12” x 12”
• 19” x 19”

The thickness of a parquet tile will generally range from 5/16’ to 3/4’.

Parquet tile products typically include mesh backing made of cloth, paper, or plastic stitched to a thin plastic or metal frame. The top layer of the parquet tile is made of hardwood, typically oak, but also comes in popular hardwood floor species like walnut, maple, and others.

What is the Difference Between Unfinished Parquet and Prefinished Parquet Tiles?

In an unfinished natural state, a parquet wood tile will be prone to damage and staining, which is why it must be finished after installation to protect the hardwood surface. Once installed, the unfinished parquet tiles are generally sanded, stained, and finished, preferably by a wood flooring professional. The benefit of unfinished parquet wood flooring is that you can choose your hardwood floor stain color and finish type, opening up endless decorative possibilities.

A prefinished parquet tile is a flooring product treated with a factory-applied, durable wood finish. Typically, factory-finished wood parquet tile flooring is more durable than flooring that was finished on-site. Furthermore, a factory-finished parquet wood floor will reduce the mess and hassle associated with applying the finish on site. The downside, of course, is that you don’t have the range of decorative hardwood floor finish options that working with unfinished parquet wood tile offers.

Parquet Wood Flooring Designs

When it comes to style and elegance, there is nothing more stunning than a parquet wood floor. Perhaps that is why it remains a popular flooring choice for formal rooms like foyers, dining rooms, and living rooms.

While the style and sophistication of parquet wood flooring make it a top choice in formal areas, there are certain areas where parquet floors are not feasible from a design aesthetic. For example, visually, those stunning geometric patterns are often too busy for most bathrooms and kitchen hardwood floors. These small spaces already have lots of visual activity, and adding parquet flooring to the mix is often just too much. The same goes for other small areas, including bedrooms, where highly decorative parquet flooring can make the room seem cluttered.

Parquet Wood Flooring in High Moisture Environments

Parquet flooring fairs slightly better than traditional hardwood flooring in a moist environment, mostly because the smaller wood slats of each tile will expand and contract less because of humidity when compared to other wood products. However, parquet flooring is still a wood product; therefore, there is a substantial risk of molding, warping, and plumping when parquet flooring has been exposed to extreme moisture and wet environments, like bathrooms and mudrooms.

How to Refinish Parquet Wood Floors

Because parquet wood flooring is a hardwood product, it can be both sanded and refinished. In fact, most parquet wood flooring can be refinished at roughly the same rate as a hardwood plank floor of a similar thickness.

Unfortunately, refinishing parquet wood flooring is not as easy as refinishing traditional hardwood plank flooring because the wood grain material is typically oriented in different directions. It is not uncommon for the tiny pieces of wood that make up parquet wood flooring tiles to point in many different directions, which increases the risk of cross-grain scratching. Cross-grain scratches can be incredibly difficult to repair. In certain instances, the only way to get your entire parquet wood floor surface to look consistently smooth is to hand sand certain areas. When looking for hardwood parquet floor sanding and refinishing in Philadelphia, hiring a team of wood floor experts is the best way to go.

Hiring a Pennsylvania Parquet Wood Flooring Expert

While many individuals have successfully installed, repaired, and refinished parquet wood flooring, it is usually best to leave these kinds of jobs up to experts in the field. Hiring a professional parquet flooring expert in PA will save time and money, protecting your floors from the costly mistakes of a DIY project.

If you are interested in learning more about parquet wood flooring products, contact the experts at Artisan Wood Floors LLC. The PA wood floor experts at Artisan Wood Floors have decades of experience refinishing or installing parquet flooring in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.

Call 215-515-7355 and ask for Steve!