How Does Parquet Flooring Measure Up versus Engineered Wood?

How solid parquet flooring measures up against engineered wood parquet is a question we’re being asked more and more often at the moment at Wood and Beyond. Parquet flooring has seen a real rise in popularity over recent months and it’s easy to see why when you see it fitted. But the burning question for many is whether they should choose traditional, solid wood parquet flooring or an engineered wood option?

For anyone who reads this blog regularly, you’ll know that we are big fans of wood flooring in all its different styles and guises – parquet included.

Parquet flooring dates back centuries and is a style of flooring that, even to this day can be found in castles and stately homes across the whole of Europe. A flooring style that adds real charm and beauty to even the humblest of rooms, you can see why parquet has grown significantly in popularity in recent years.

Solid wood parquet flooring

Solid wood parquet flooring as its name suggests is made from blocks of solid wood. There are various different patterns of parquet flooring that you can choose from, but no matter which you opt for, each block will be painstakingly laid into place. That said, even solid wood parquet flooring today is easier to lay than it would have been 200 years ago.

In terms of look, many purists say that nothing that compares with solid wood, but to be honest, even the most cynical traditionalists would struggle to see the difference between a high quality engineered parquet floor and a solid wood option. So that takes care of the look. And then of course there’s the flexibility that comes with engineered wood flooring that puts solid wood firmly in its place for many people.

Engineered wood parquet flooring

Engineered wood parquet flooring is arguably one of the most flexible flooring options you can choose. Why is that the case?

Here’s why. Wood in its natural state is a material that expands and contracts when it comes in contact with changing moisture and temperature levels. We all know that, and while this isn’t a problem when wood is actually in its natural state in the likes of a wood or a forest, it becomes a problem when you cut it into strips and squeeze it into an inside space like a floor.

What happens when you do that is that you get slight movement every time your central heating comes on or goes off, or when there is humidity in your room. As you can imagine, bathrooms and kitchens are particularly challenging spaces for wood as heat and moisture are pretty much always on the rise and fall.

When solid wood expands and contracts, the boards push ever so slightly up against each other and then fall back into place. If they do this only slightly, it shouldn’t be a major problem. Where it does become a problem is when expansion and contraction is excessive. When this happens, at best what you end up with is a combination of unsightly gaps in the floor, and at worst, boards that are cupped or bowed because they’ve been so tightly squeezed against each other that there’s nowhere else for them to go. Not only does this result in an unsightly floor, it also means that your floor potentially becomes draughty and uncomfortable under foot.

It’s all in the construction

Engineered wood flooring on the other hand is constructed in such a way that it has a really stable core board that is virtually immune to the effects of changing temperatures and moisture. So this means that you can fit engineered wood flooring in whichever room in the home you want with confidence. This is particularly true with engineered parquet flooring

Here are the 3 Top Reasons why we choose engineered parquet flooring over solid parquet flooring time after time:

1. It looks great. You get a great choice of wood species, colours, finishes and parquet styles that suit every interior.
2. It’s practical. With engineered parquet wood flooring, you don’t need to worry about whether or not you’ve made the right choice for the right room, nor do you need to stress about under floor heating. When you choose an engineered parquet solution, you’ve got it covered.
3. It’s fast to fit. Even though solid parquet flooring is a whole lot easier to fit than it was a couple of centuries ago, there is no getting away from the fact that engineered is a complete breeze. Each board arrives with the parquet pattern you’ve chosen already in place and means you can have your room looking great faster than you dare imagine.

If you’re debating over how parquet flooring measures up against engineered parquet, debate no more. Simply reach out and we’ll give you the benefit of the decades of experience we have here within the team at Wood and Beyond.