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Engineered Parquet
The technical details may change based on the room or the specific floor used so it is essential that you speak to an experienced fitter before you lay your floor and do some thorough research.
This guide is for engineered parquet only. Because of the in-depth, time consuming process of installing solid parquet flooring, we recommend that you always have your floor fitted by a professional.
Preparation
Before you lay the boards they will need to acclimatise. This is as simple as leaving them in their box in the middle of the room for 3 days. The room should be kept at a steady, normal temperature (at least 18 degrees). Make sure the subfloor is as clean as can be. Sweep, hoover and wash the floor before leaving it to dry. It must also be level, which means as little deviation as possible.
Safety
Remember, this process will involve a lot of kneeling, so we strongly recommend using padded knee pads. We also recommend safety goggles and dust masks for when sawing boards and ear defenders using power tools.
Underlay
Once the surface is prepared, you can apply your underlay to the entire floor area. Placer the roll at one end of the room and unroll from the wall. Simply use scissors or a knife to trim at the opposite end. Continue across the room, making sure the edges meet but don’t overlap as this will create an uneven floor. It’s best to leave a 10mm gap around pipes, but make sure the Damp Proof Membrane reaches slightly up the wall to protect the edges of the boards..
Fitting
Pick a wall to be your back wall where you’ll start your installation. Begin by laying the first panel on the left-hand side of the wall. Place an A panel at 45 degrees to the left wall. The panel shouldn’t be touching the wall, but should be less than one panel’s length away.
Next, add a B panel, pressing the long side against the short side to make an L shape. Make sure the edges line up. Continue across the floor, alternating A and B.
Next, centre the panels along the back wall so that the distance between the row and the side walls is equal and less than 1 panel length. Cut the end panels to fit against the wall (taking account for the 10mm expansion gap) and put them in place.
Working from left to right, start to install the A panels in the second row. Once these are in place you can install the B panels, working from right to left. Install 2 more rows for a total of 4 complete rows.
These 4 rows now need to be cut so that they sit flush along the back wall. Measure and mark a straight line across the middle, from left to right where you intend to cut. Now, disassemble these rows so you can make the cuts - we recommend numbering each plank on the reverse so that you know how to reassemble them. They should fit together to make triangular sections.
Arrange the triangle sections against the back wall and start to add further rows, fitting the A panels left to right and the B panels right to left.
Measure and cut last row to fit in place – remembering the 10mm expansion gap. Our engineered boards are designed to line up perfectly and come pre-finished, which means there’s no need to sand down and finish like other parquet floors.
Tip: If you are installing engineered parquet flooring in more than one room, try to alternate between starting with A boards and B boards. This should prevent situations where there is an excess of either A or B boards after installation, reducing overall wastage.