Laying parquet yourself

Parquet is, according to experts, one of the most popular, durable, environmentally friendly and beautiful floor coverings, if, of course, we are talking about real wooden parquet made of small planks or high-quality solid wood flooring, and not its modern "substitute" - laminate flooring. At the same time, laying parquet with their own hands is available to most of those who are used to doing everything in their house or apartment on their own.

The process of laying parquet is not complicated. The problem is usually created by only one of the final stages of this process - the spiking (grinding) of the laid parquet strips. At this very moment you will need a special tool, which is usually not available at home, but more on that below.

Styling Features

The process of laying parquet (and laying block parquet, and massive floorboard), in principle, consists of the same steps as laying any other floor covering:

1. The choice of parquet.
2. Selection рисунка укладки паркета.
3. Preparing the surface for laying parquet.
4. Laying artificial parquet или паркетной доски.
5. Grinding (cycling) of the surface.
6. Parquet lacquer.

Consider what the technology of laying parquet in terms of independent performance of work.

Selection

The oak parquet was considered the best parquet at all times. Following are birch, pine and about fifty more varieties of wood, from which parquet or massive parquet can be made. They differ not only in cost, but also wear resistance, and color.

But since in modern apartments and houses the parquet floor is not laid for a couple of hundred years, you can choose parquet from any wood, focusing only on its color and cost.

The fact is that whatever wood is used for parquet, being a natural material, it will still undergo a slight distortion during operation. Thin slits will appear between the slats (or massive parquet boards), which will not allow the floor covering to look ideally smooth and even.

Note! In those houses where expensive parquet is laid (and even gaining it with a complex geometric pattern), you should always strictly follow the temperature and humidity conditions in the room during its operation, otherwise the ideally beautiful floor will be covered with completely unsympathetic alkalis between the slats.

Styling drawing

If we take into account that solid wood planks (not three-layer, as one might think) are more than 50 centimeters in length, then the choice of the parquet laying pattern is relevant for it, as well as for piece parquet.

Consider the most popular and simple patterns suitable for laying parquet:

• "Herringbone" - the slats are stacked, alternating vertically and horizontally. Such parquet laying can be single, double or triple.
• “Straight Square” and “Expanded Square” - the slats are stacked so that full-fledged squares form on the floor.
• "Straight lines" - they can be placed both parallel to the walls, and at an angle of 45 degrees.
• The alternation of horizontal and vertical laying strips.

If you wish, you can come up with a few more similar patterns laying parquet. Here the main thing is to observe one condition: the slats are subjected to minimal trimming, and cutting of the “groove” or “tongue” is not required on the cuts.

Note! Particular attention should be paid to the edging of the floor of the parquet along the walls. It is better to lay out the parquet in such a way that its main drawing (let it be even the simplest, for example, such as laying the parquet with a Christmas tree) is in a kind of “frame”.

Floor surface preparation

Like any floor covering, parquet requires preliminary preparation of the base surface on which it will be laid.

The surface must be:

• flat, without dimples, cracks and "hills";
• suitable for gluing slats - it should not dust or peel off during operation.

The main difference between laying parquet and laying, for example, laminate, in the absence of a heat insulating substrate under it. Parquet strips on their base (floor surface) are glued, and not just fit without a hard grip with it.

For laying parquet (piece or massive parquet) are usually used:

• Aligned concrete base (for these purposes, you can use self-leveling mixture). Such a floor should first be carefully primed with special compounds to avoid the formation of "dust" on its surface before the parquet is laid.

Note! Laying parquet on a concrete base lying directly on the ground (the first floors of private houses) will require additional processing of concrete by penetrating waterproofing compounds that will not allow moisture to penetrate to the parquet from the bottom when the soil is wetted after a very heavy rain.

• The surface of plywood sheets (waterproof), laid with bandaging seams. Plywood should only be laid on a primed concrete base. A regular sheet of plywood is better to cut into four equal parts and lay them with an interval of about 6–8 mm between them (these will be temperature joints).

The process of laying plywood sheets consists of the following:

• first prepare the concrete base - level it, prime it and wait until the surface is completely dry;
• Prepare the glue on which the plywood will stick, and apply it with a notched trowel on the concrete base;
• Take the prepared sheets of plywood (already cut into elements of the required size) and lay them down, carefully pressing over the entire area;
• drill a hole with a drill, departing from the edge of about 2–3 centimeters, in increments of no more than 20–25 centimeters (along the perimeter and in the central part);
• hammer the plastic dowels into the holes and screw in the screws with a screwdriver, deepening their caps (it will be very difficult to do this manually with an ordinary screwdriver, so check the availability of the necessary tool before you begin to lay the plywood).

Since the sheets laid at the joints can have noticeable differences in height, their surface must be leveled. Use for this parquet grinder.

Piece parquet or massive parquet board

Laying parquet should begin with the markup of the room so that the laid parquet floor looks symmetrical and aesthetic. Do not forget that at first the parquet is laid out in the "core" of the room, and only then the "frame" along the perimeter along the walls.

Now you can prepare all the necessary tools and materials: glue for parquet (one- or two-component), construction level, thin nails, a pistol for hammering them, a notched trowel for applying glue, a jigsaw, a pencil and a tape measure.

Sequence of parquet laying technology:

• we put glue on plywood;
• we lay the floorboard;
• fix its position with nails;
• we put a second bar on the side of the laid bar by inserting a comb into the groove;
• fix it with nails;
• repeat the whole process from the beginning.

Sanding parquet surface

Grinding (cycling) is performed using a special machine (it is also used to level the surface of plywood sheets).

The work is dusty, so it is better to do it with the windows open, thinking about the protection of the respiratory system.

Note! There will be a lot of dust! It should be carefully removed using a vacuum cleaner. A home vacuum cleaner may not withstand this “procedure”, so it is advisable to use a special construction vacuum cleaner.

Parquet coating with varnish

If you want to preserve the natural color of the parquet, use colorless varnish. Parquet can be darkened with a tinted lacquer.

It is possible to varnish the parquet either with a brush (for example, in the corners of a room) or with a roller.

After the first varnish has dried, the parquet must be re-opened. In some cases, to obtain the desired shade, a third varnish is also required.

Video: parquet laying process