Mint Floors + Shutters discusses how to achieve a timeless look with parquetry flooring.
Mint Floors + Shutters discusses key features, benefits and considerations of engineered parquetry flooring, as seen on display in one of Hall & Hart's award-winning display home designs, The Ascot.
Engineered parquetry floors have continued to impress the world over, bringing together the stability of an engineered floor with the classic elegance of a herringbone or chevron design.
Parquetry flooring is laid in a decorative pattern and uses smaller pieces of wood than your traditional strip timber flooring. Herringbone and chevron refer to the most popular patterns used in parquetry.
Chevron patterns have a continuous zigzag design, as seen below. The zigzag pattern comes to a sharp point; imagine the letter ''V'' on repeat.
Whereas herringbone patterns have a broken zigzag design, see below.
As the market share for these products continues to grow, new materials and installation techniques grow in parallel, to a point where the choice for consumers is broader than it has ever been.
In general terms, engineered parquetry in Australia and New Zealand is available in three main categories:
- Herringbone
- Chevron
- Custom Panels
Within each of these categories, there are different materials on offer. The majority of engineered parquetry is prefinished European Oak. These are often supplied with factory-applied custom stains and coatings in the herringbone design, although chevron blocks are becoming more prevalent.
However, European Oak is not the only choice available in today's market. Australian timber species are becoming increasingly available in Engineered Parquetry options, with multiple suppliers of Blackbutt and Spotted Gum herringbone blocks offering a variety of sizes and finishes, with more timbers and finish options just over the horizon.
Another growing trend is the use of raw-engineered parquetry. This provides for the stability of an engineered block, with the seamless and customisable finish only a quality tradesperson can deliver by applying their craft on site.
Key Benefits
When exploring parquetry options some key benefits include:
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Parquetry floors are timeless – they have been installed throughout the world for hundreds of years and have always been considered a premium choice.
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Parquetry floors are inherently more stable than traditional strip floors due to the varying angles of the timber grains and the full trowel glue installation techniques.
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Parquetry floors create a feeling of spaciousness
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Grading is often cleaner in parquetry compared to its equivalent boards. Smaller sections are easier to find without knots and imperfections.
Installation
When it comes to installing engineered parquetry floors, there are a few key things that need to be considered.
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Subfloor levels must be flat, smooth, sound and dry. Whilst this is a requirement to some degree in all timber installations, with parquetry the flat and smooth is more important.
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The skill of the installers needs to be up to the task – parquetry installations would be considered near the very top of the skill tree in our trade.
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It must be a full trowel glue application with a deeper notch trowel than some other installation types – check the install guide to be sure.
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Keeping the pattern straight is vital – it prevents gaps at end joints in Herringbone and panel parquetry, and it prevents the straight line in the mitre joint of the chevron from wandering.
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If installing a raw block to site stain and finish, the sanding technicians also need to be up to the task – staining parquetry is also considered near the peak of the skill tree.
Strength and Durability
Engineered parquetry floors offer a unique sophistication with amazing durability and stability. The vast majority of truly aged floors in the world are in fact parquetry – a testament to their continued appeal across the ages and to the strength and durability of their design and installation techniques – many of which remain unchanged over the years.
Developing additional skills and expertise to deliver a wider range of flooring solutions in this difficult market is becoming an imperative step if our trade is to continue to thrive. Engineered parquetry allows us to display our craft in a pure form – creating something sophisticated and durable that both ourselves and our clients can be proud of for years to come.
Herringbone Highlight
The Ascot, Hall & Hart's Provincial style architecturally designed home has a real sense of grandeur with raised ceilings and Mint Oak Parquetry flooring in Herringbone pattern throughout.
The flooring colour was custom designed by the team at Hall & Hart and it's a colour so beautiful we agreed it had to be added to our product range. That was how the colour Noah was created, named after the street The Ascot display home lives on within HomeWorld Box Hill.
