DIY parquet laying

Parquet is a great option for flooring in living rooms. It looks beautiful, gives the room its charm, makes it more “habitable” and warm. If you decide to independently finish the floor with this material, then you just need to understand the question: how is the installation of parquet with your own hands? In this article, we have gathered for you basic information on how to properly lay parquet, on methods of scrapping and opening it with varnish. Consider the classic piece parquet, since it is he who is considered the most popular in the modern building materials market.

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Styling options

Today, there are two traditional options for laying parquet on a prepared foundation. It:

• Option to lay piece parquet on special glue.
• The option of laying in a "floating" way.

Important! There is also a technology for fixing the parquet board with screws and nails, but it is used quite rarely, since the fasteners spoil the appearance of this floor covering. The above two indicated methods can be used to securely and securely fix the floor covering without going into the details of the third.

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Special glue laying

This way of laying parquet with your own hands is quite reliable and simple. You will need:

• special glue for parquet, a drill with a nozzle for stirring it and a bucket;
• also prepare a pair of spatulas - one notched, the other a small one.

Carefully ground the surface of the floor, let it dry completely, then prepare glue according to the instructions and lay the parquet on it according to the principle of laying ceramic tiles. The glue can simply be spread on the base with a uniform layer.

Important! The primer must be selected correctly - for wooden or concrete surfaces. Parquet laid on glue will be difficult to tear off, so everything needs to be done quickly and do not touch the planks until they dry completely.

One of the most significant drawbacks of laying parquet on glue is the impossibility of its subsequent repair. In case of damage, you will have to lay a new section, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to remove the old one without damage.

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Floating

This method is considered the fastest and most common - the parquet board is stacked next to each other, going with a spike into the slotted groove. This method is so called due to the fact that the parquet layer does not attach to the base.

Features:

• When humidity and temperature change, it can narrow and expand, while “floating” on the rough floor. That is why in the process of laying it along the perimeter of the room, a 10 mm damper tape is laid, which gives the parquet the opportunity to “play”. If this is not done, then the boards will begin to rise, and the surface itself is unpleasant to creak.
• Before you start laying the parquet board with the floating method, you should qualitatively level the floor base (as a rule, plywood sheets 6-8 mm thick are laid on the rough floor). After that, they lay a membrane on them (a layer of vapor barrier and sound insulation), which can be used as a foamed polypropylene or cork layer. It not only protects the room from unnecessary sounds, but has excellent thermal insulation properties.

Important! Flooring, which is laid by floating, can be easily repaired. To do this, remove the damaged boards and put new ones in their place.

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Basic laying rules

It is best to lay the parquet in the warm season - the room should have constant humidity and temperature. If you just brought it from the store, then you should not start laying it right away - let it lie down so that the humidity and temperature have become “familiar”. The installation process can be divided into several main stages.

Important! It is worth remembering that the entire final result will depend on the quality of each of these stages.

The order of work when laying the floor with your own hands:

• Foundation preparation. The base of the floor must be dry and durable, it must not bend and “play”. Carefully close all potholes and cracks, and then smooth the surface. To do this, you can use chipboard, plywood, OSB or fiberboard. If you live on the ground floor or there is a basement under the room, then it is advisable to make the floor waterproofing (at least with an ordinary film). After that, spread sound and vapor barrier on the base.
• Laying damper tape. In order for your parquet to lie for many years and not creak, stick a 10 mm damper tape around the room perimeter (or leave a gap of the same size). You need to do this when laying boards on glue, and with the "floating" method. The damper tape acts much more efficiently, protecting the room from excess noise, and also damping vibration from the walls.
• Parquet laying according to the chosen method.

Important! It is worth remembering that the parquet will be stronger if it is laid with an offset of half its length.

• Sanding parquet (scraper). This operation is mainly done on inexpensive types of floorboards, which do not have a prepared front side. Grinding occurs with the help of special devices - the larger their mass, the easier it is to work.
• Processing tinting (stain). In some cases, do-it-yourself parquet laying technology requires additional tinting, thanks to which you can emphasize the borders of the boards, their texture and the laid out pattern in general.
• Varnishing. You will need a special parquet varnish, which should paint the surface at least twice. The varnish protects the material from abrasion and moisture, and also gives it gloss and shine.
• The final work. At this stage, varnish streaks are eliminated, baseboards are installed.

Important! If you are laying the parquet, then you will need either a rubber mallet or a wooden flat level of the required length. Connecting the boards with each other, you should tightly knock them out with these objects. The last board “snaps” with a staple or spacer.

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Styling design

There are several options for laying piece parquet. The most popular are the following:

• Standard Christmas tree.
• Classic deck.
• Mosaic.
• Squared.
• Rhombus.
• Variant of the Sheremetyevo star.

Important! In fact, these methods differ from each other only in pattern, and the technology is approximately the same. The only thing is that you always need to keep in mind the styling scheme. Therefore, if you are doing something complicated, just print it on a piece of paper.

Deck

This method is a classic version of laying parquet - each of the subsequent rows is shifted relative to the previous one by half the length of the plank. Such a scheme gives the surface strength and a beautiful appearance. As a rule, planks begin to be laid along the wall, which is opposite the entrance, and gradually move to the doors.

Important! If you want the top layer to be glossy and almost monolithic, then lay out the parquet along the incidence of sunlight. If you need to emphasize the pattern and structure, then across.

The installation process is quite simple and looks as follows:

• Lay the material along the wall, remembering to make a gap of 10 mm.If the last plank does not fit completely, then saw it off and put it in place.
• Start laying the second row with an offset of half the length of the board (on the principle of brickwork). To connect, simply insert the spike into the groove at an angle of 45 degrees and gently lower the board, tapping it with a rubber hammer if necessary.

Important! Try to check each joint, slightly swaying the slats and pushing them into place until a characteristic click is heard.

• Continue laying rows, each time shifting left-right relative to the previous layer, be sure to remove the spikes on those planks that touch the wall.

Important! It is worth remembering that the deck method of laying can also be diagonal. If you are going to lay the parquet this way, you should draw diagonals from the center of the room at an angle of 45 degrees and lay the parquet parallel to them, starting from the corner farthest from the entrance. This method is more time-consuming, in addition, for its implementation you will need 10% more material.

Standard herringbone

To lay the floor with his own hands in a similar way, he should have spikes on two angular sides, and grooves on the other two. Care must be taken not to confuse the slats - the connecting grooves must always lie in the same direction. Here, standard styling at an angle of 90 degrees is allowed or modernized at an angle of 45 degrees.

In order not to make mistakes regarding the styling picture, two rows should be laid along the walls. As a result, you will get a visible drawing and a straight line, regarding which all work will subsequently go. To hold the plane in the future, pull the rope on two weights and screws.

Important! It is advisable to lay the parquet with herringbone on glue, since it does not have the strength that the deck. In this case, you will not need locks - you can simply cut them off.

Squares, rhombuses, stars, braids

These methods of laying parquet boards can be combined into one. For them, you will certainly need a scheme so as not to get confused.

Important! It is best to put the stitches in this way on glue.

The laying principle is quite simple:

1. One pattern is assembled as a whole (square, star, rhombus).
2. After that they move from this element according to the selected scheme.
3. Through each row, the pattern is shifted to get a dressing.

Important! There are a lot of calculation options with this method, so you can choose the one you like most. For such parquet drawings you will need more material than with the classic, so you should consider this fact when buying.

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Surface cycling

Today, scraping is almost never used - it has been replaced by modern grinding devices with abrasive wheels. They do not tear or scratch the parquet, and the result after such processing is much better than when hinging.

The principle of operation of such a grinding machine is quite simple - with the help of special rotating circles it removes all irregularities from the surface, making it perfectly smooth and even. For such machines, there are many different nozzles that can align significant differences of a few millimeters or simply align the joints.

Important! It should be understood that the heavier such a grinder, the better it will do its job.

The grinding process can be divided into two stages:

1. Primary processing, which requires a rough and hard drive - it will even out all problem areas.
2. The final treatment, which involves the use of a soft disk, wiping the surface to perfect condition.

Important! Grinding should be done only after the completion of all wet construction work. It is advisable to carry out each of the stages two times - so you can achieve a more optimal result.

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Stock footage

As you can see, do-it-yourself parquet laying - A simple task, but quite responsible. Adhering to all the tips and recommendations, you are sure to make a beautiful and high-quality flooring.