How to lay parquet?

Parquet has long been considered one of the best materials for flooring. To this day, such a natural coating remains popular, in particular for decorating rooms in both classical and modern style. Many people ask how to lay parquet, or rather, what methods exist and what should be remembered in the course of this work. Modern technologies make it possible to lay with a minimum number of slots.

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Choosing a parquet board

There are several factors that affect the life of the floor, its quality and other characteristics, namely:

• The thickness of the top layer. The life of a parquet board directly depends on this indicator, since over time the surface is erased, scratches and other physical damage appear. This, in turn, further requires additional finishing - hinging and grinding.

Important! The greater the thickness of the top layer, the greater the number of processing steps that can withstand the coating without losing its performance.

• The total thickness of the board. The thickness interval of the parquet board is in the range of 7-25 mm. In residential premises, it is recommended to lay a parquet board with a thickness of at least 13 mm. For laying over a concrete screed, it is advisable to choose a board of 22-25 mm, on plywood or logs - a smaller thickness is allowed.
• The grade of wood and the quality of its processing. A quality board must be properly sanded. If you detect the slightest bumps, roughness and other defects, it is better to refuse the purchase. It is also necessary to pay attention to the type of wood - depending on the type of wood, the moisture resistance of the coating, its hardness and resistance to temperature extremes may differ.

Important! When choosing, the conditions in a particular room should be taken into account: temperature, humidity level, expected loads.

• Sizes. Standard overall dimensions are in the range of 13–20 mm wide and 1.7–2.5 m in length. The upper sheet can consist of either a single solid piece of wood or several tightly fitted lamellas that imitate stacked parquet. There may be one, two, three or four lanes.
• The quality of the locks. The absence of chips, damage, as well as high-quality processing of joints gives a guarantee of simple and quick installation of parquet boards.
• Type and properties of the coating. In the event that the surface of the board is varnished, it is worth asking about the number of layers applied - the wear resistance of the material and its durability will depend on this.

Important! A correctly selected type of wood will make it possible to avoid drying out and cracking of the material in conditions of high temperature or deformation at high humidity. For example, beech coating is not recommended for rooms with a humidity of 60%.

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Materials and Tools

In order for the result to be worthy, and to make it easier to work, you must have the following tools and assistant materials on hand:

• Level.
• Plumb line.
• Roulette.
• Bar or finishing board.
• Pencil.
• The square.
• Saw.
• Wooden wedges.
• Hammer.
• Electric jigsaw.
• A sharpened knife.
• The crutch is finishing.
• Dowels, nails, screws.
• Polyfoam or roofing cardboard.
• Embedded bushings for pipes.
• Wear resistant polyethylene.
• Glue (PVA or D3).

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Rules for laying parquet board

To properly lay the parquet, the following must be considered:

• The main rule when laying - the base (floor) should be perfectly flat.

Important! However, there are still roughness tolerances - 3 mm per several meters. Moreover, this defect can only be where the pit does not turn into a hill - in other words, irregularities can only be smooth.

• Lay the parquet board exclusively on a dry floor. If the screed is completely fresh, do not work.

Important! To make sure that the screed is completely dry, you can use a special device. If you do not have such a device, then there is a proven method: oilcloth is laid on the surface for a day. If condensation occurs on the material after this time, the floor is not yet ready for laying parquet.

• It is recommended to leave the purchased material in packaging in the room for a couple of days for “acclimatization”.
• If laying is carried out in a newly built building, it is advisable to ventilate well, as well as to heat it for a month.

Important! In an unheated room, laying parquet is not recommended.

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Foundation preparation

Before laying the parquet, it is necessary to prepare the base. As mentioned above, it must be dry and as even as possible.

The amount of work depends on the basis, because:

• in multi-apartment brick or panel buildings, reinforced concrete flooring acts as the basis;
• in old houses, floors can be made of light types of concrete located on wooden or metal load-bearing beams;
• in private cottages or houses, special supports that were installed directly on the ground can serve as the basis.

In the case of laying parquet on a concrete base, it is necessary to level the floor. Screed is done exclusively on dry leveling. Then the surface of the screed is treated with a primer.

Important! If there is moisture in the concrete floor, additional waterproofing work must be carried out.

The installation of the finish coating is carried out exclusively after the screed has completely dried - not less than 28 days after pouring. When leveling the base with plywood sheets and logs, the space between the logs is filled with mineral wool, and the sheets are fastened with self-tapping screws.

Important! When laying on a rough floor, wooden or metal floors are used, hydro and thermal insulation is made using polyurethane, plastic film, mineral wool or other materials.

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Methods for laying parquet board

There are two main ways to properly lay parquet. Let's deal with each of them in more detail.

Floating way

Most manufacturers make a board equipped with a lock connection, which allows you to do without the use of glue. The groove-lock connection is durable, can withstand heavy loads, resistant to humidity and temperature extremes.

Laying parquet on a screed without plywood involves the use of a substrate that provides additional hydro and thermal insulation. The substrate can be made from synthetic materials or cork. Its thickness should not exceed 3 mm, otherwise - under load the floor will be deformed.

The installation process is as follows:

• From the surface of the screed remove all dust and debris with a vacuum cleaner.
• Lay a hydro and thermal insulation layer. The joints are sealed.
• Measure the room and select the required amount of material. All technical holes for pipes and other utilities are drilled in a parquet board.
• The first board is placed with a spike in the direction of a long wall, providing a clearance of 8-10 mm with a wooden wedge.

Important! A clearance is required to compensate for expansion due to temperature changes.

• The second board is set at an angle of 25-30 degrees with respect to the first - when lowering, the lock latches. Using a hammer and a finishing bar, an additional seal of the joint is made carefully so as not to spoil the lock. Subsequent boards are connected in the same way.
• Upon reaching the end wall, the board is cut to the desired length with a hacksaw or jigsaw. The cut-off place should be located in the direction of the wall - after completion of work it will be covered with a baseboard.
• A plinth is installed around the perimeter of the room.

This installation method has several advantages:

1. The room is ready for use immediately after completion of work.
2. The coating is easy to repair - in case of damage, individual parts can be replaced without having to remove the entire floor.
3. It is possible to dismantle and reuse the material.

The disadvantages include the following factors:

• There is a limit on the area of ​​the room - no more than 50 square meters.
• Walking produces more noise.
• More complex processing needs to be done using a grinder.

Glue method

Correctly laying parquet on plywood or OSB board with glue is quite simple. However, when working, the following points must be considered:

• Laying is carried out from the far corner of the room with respect to the front doors.
• Unlike the “floating” method of laying parquet, gluing requires a perfectly flat surface without any irregularities.
• Laying parquet on a wooden floor is possible only after careful scrapping and grinding.
• The best characteristics for bonding parquet are two-component polyurethane adhesive.
• Gluing is carried out both to the base and along the entire perimeter of the board (both in width and in length).
• For additional fixation, nails or self-tapping screws can be used that connect the lower part of the castle connection to the base of plywood.
• The room temperature should be at least 18 degrees, air humidity within 40-60 percent, screed humidity not higher than 12 percent.
• Moisture-resistant plywood or OSB board should be fixed firmly.
• Walking on the surface of the floor is allowed only after it has completely dried.

Important! The glue method of fastening gives greater rigidity to the floor compared with the "floating", the coating as a result produces less noise while walking on it. At the same time, repair and dismantling of such a time is more problematic.

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Stock footage

In fact, it’s not so difficult to lay the parquet correctly as it might seem at the beginning - this work will require minimal skills and knowledge. To assemble the parquet floor, it is not even necessary to remove all the furniture from the room - you can simply drag it from place to place.