18mm

Our Top 3 18mm Parquet Flooring Finishes

Parquet Flooring Samples

Find Your Perfect 18mm Parquet Flooring With Our Free Samples

New flooring can be a big investment, especially when looking at some of the more luxurious options such as our 18mm parquet flooring. That’s why we firmly believe that you should be sure of your decision, choosing a floor that will see you through the decades. To help you with that choice, we offer free unlimited samples. 

How To Order Your Free 18mm Parquet Flooring Samples

At Flooring365 we like to keep things simple. So, to order your free samples, all you have to do is click the 'Order FREE Sample' button on your desired floor. This will add the sample to your cart for you where you can proceed with the order free of charge. Don’t forget, our samples are unlimited so you can add as many as you need to compare before proceeding.

Quick & Easy Delivery

All of our samples are sent by Royal Mail, and you can usually expect to receive them within 2-3 days.

Parquet Flooring FAQ's

What Is 18mm Parquet Flooring?

Parquet flooring is a timeless flooring solution that has been around for centuries but has recently increased in popularity again, becoming a sought-after choice in homes across the UK. Traditionally made from solid wood blocks, parquet flooring is arranged into a geometric pattern to create an intricate and beautiful floor that exudes luxury and elegance. While many people do not realise this, there are an endless amount of parquet flooring styles available, but the most popular styles are herringbone and chevron. As flooring experts, we often find that most customers choose 18mm parquet flooring for its unique appearance, but there are many other benefits to choosing a parquet floor such as the increased durability and stability that it can provide. This makes it a great choice for high-traffic areas of the home where appearance is still high on the priority list, such as hallways, lounges, kitchens, or dining areas.

Does 18mm Parquet Flooring Scratch Easily?

Any wood flooring will be susceptible to scratches to some degree due to its natural composition. However, providing it is cared for correctly, our 18mm parquet flooring is durable enough to withstand even the busiest of households. In homes where scratches are a huge concern, such as those with pets or children, there is also a selection of finishes you can choose that will help prevent this. Should the worst happen, you can also refinish our solid and engineered parquet floors to give them a new lease of life and extend their lifespan.

For more information on how to maintain, or refinish your parquet flooring, visit our maintenance centre. 

Is 18mm Parquet Flooring Waterproof?

No, our 18mm parquet flooring is not waterproof. This is because floors with a thickness of 18mm or more are usually solid wood or engineered wood. Both of which are made from real wood and can be highly susceptible to moisture. While engineered wood floors are more resistant to moisture and humidity, they are still not waterproof. Therefore, any spillages should be cleaned within 2-3 hours to avoid warping or discolouration. In areas of the home where this is not feasible (such as bathrooms), we recommend choosing a vinyl parquet floor, which is 100% waterproof.

How Long Does Parquet Flooring Need To Acclimatise?

Acclimatising your flooring is just as important as the installation itself. It allows the floor to adjust to its new environment allowing for a smooth installation. The time required will depend on the floor type chosen, but for our 18mm engineered parquet flooring, we recommend a minimum of 48 hours. If you don’t know how to acclimate your flooring, check out our guide.

Parquet Flooring Types

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring is a composite wood flooring, made up of structural sublayers (usually plywood) and a real wood top layer, offering a finish identical to solid wood at a fraction of the cost. Our engineered wood flooring can also be re-sanded throughout its lifetime to replenish the overall finish when needed.

Solid Wood

Our solid wood flooring is made from a single species of wood, offering an authentic real wood finish. Solid wood flooring requires fixing to a subfloor using flooring adhesive.

Vinyl (LVT)

LVT vinyl flooring is an ideal choice for kitchens and bathrooms, as it's fully waterproof and easy to fit. However, expert finishes mean LVT is now becoming popular in any room of the house, offering easy fitting, a crisp finish, and a wide range of styles.

Laminate

Laminate parquet, such as our Valore Laminate Range is an ideal choice for those looking for parquet flooring on a budget. With a decorative photo top layer and hard-wearing protection, our laminate parquet offers a striking finish that's hard-wearing and easy to maintain.

Parquet Flooring Finishes & Treatments

Unfinished

Our unfinished 18mm engineered oak parquet flooring is a natural and raw material. This means that it hasn't had any stains, lacquers, or oils applied. simply a raw material without any stains, lacquers, or oils applied.

Whilst unfinished flooring does require treatment or protection after fitting and before use, it does offer the benefit of a wider range of styles available, thanks to the availability of oils, waxes, or stains.

Brushed

A brushed finish is perfect if you want a slight texture to your flooring. Brushed finishes help enhance the natural character of the floor by gently brushing it with a steel comb. This removes the soft grains of the wood and leaves behind only the hard grains. You can then treat the flooring with oil or lacquer.

The depth of texture varies, depending upon the level of brushing and wood type.

Lacquered

Lacquer is a varnish that dries to produce a hard, durable finish and acts as an additional wear layer. This makes it a popular choice for many, but particularly ideal for areas with higher foot traffic. Lacquer is available in gloss, matt, or satin matt finishes and can be clear or coloured.

Oiled

Oil seeps into the wood and maintains the surface texture of wood flooring while providing some resistance to damage. However, it does not protect the flooring in the same way that lacquer does because it does not sit on the surface. Oiled flooring will require more maintenance and care over spillages because of this.

Wood Species

If you have decided on an engineered wood parquet or a solid wood parquet floor, then you’ll want to consider which wood species you prefer. While there are some minor differences in terms of functionality, ultimately the choice comes down to your aesthetics and preferences.

Oak

Oak is the most popular choice when it comes to wood flooring, and our oak parquet flooring is no exception. Whether you prefer red or white oak, oak parquet flooring offers plenty of choice with a wide range of products available in various finishes. In addition, oak floors have a tighter grain variation, resulting in less difference in grains and texture between each board. If you prefer a more consistent appearance from board to board, you should consider looking at our prime-grade oak floors.

Walnut

Walnut is the less popular option of the two and this is mostly because it's a rarer product that is harder to source and therefore more expensive to buy. Although, for those seeking a luxurious touch to their flooring design, our walnut parquet flooring is ideal. With its rich and elegant appearance, it's perfect for grand entrances and large living rooms. Walnut parquet flooring features vibrant colours and wider grains compared to oak, giving it a unique and striking character. However, walnut floors may have more variation from plank to plank, so if you prefer a more uniform look, then they may not be the best option for you.

Parquet Flooring Styles

If you have decided on an engineered wood parquet or a solid wood parquet floor, then you’ll want to consider which wood species you prefer. While there are some minor differences in terms of functionality, ultimately the choice comes down to your aesthetics and preferences.

Herringbone

Our 18mm herringbone flooring is one of the easiest parquet floors to install. Once complete, this interlocking pattern gives a 'zig zag' finish, which adds interest to any room, elevating your flooring.

Chevron

Chevron parquet is slightly more difficult to install than a herringbone floor. However, once complete, it has one of the most eye-catching designs. To create a Chevron pattern, the planks must be laid at a 45-degree angle. This will form a V-shaped pattern and result in a visually striking and timeless look.

Parquet Flooring Thickness

Board Thickness

If you have opted for an engineered wood floor, you may want to consider choosing thicker boards. Thicker boards usually have a thicker veneer, which is important if you plan on refinishing your flooring in the future. This is more important with engineered wood flooring as only the veneer (aka the wear layer) can be sanded down. Although there is no wear layer for solid wood flooring, the same rule applies. The more thickness you have, the more times you can refinish your flooring. You can see more information on this on our wear tab.

Regardless of which floor type you choose, thicker boards will be more hard-wearing and provide slightly improved sound reduction performance. Therefore, you may want to consider thicker boards in upstairs apartments or bedrooms, for example. As well as this, thicker boards are usually more suited to higher traffic areas, where they can withstand greater use. However, they are often more expensive to show for this, so ultimately it comes down to budget and personal preference.

Engineered Parquet & Underfloor Heating

If you're using a water-based underfloor heating system, it's important that your flooring isn't too thick to prevent the transfer of heat into the room. We recommend using flooring with a maximum board thickness of 15MM with 4/4.5MM Underfloor Heating Suitable Underlay.

WEAR LAYER (ENGINEERED PARQUET ONLY)

The wear layer refers to the top, aesthetic surface layer of real wood, which gives the engineered flooring its look. Thicker wear layers, whilst usually more expensive, offer greater durability and the option to sand more frequently, meaning flooring can be refreshed more times before being replaced.

Most engineered wood floors, regardless of the thickness of the wear layer, will provide years of use, maintaining their impressive appearance.

Sanding Guide

In most cases, sanding the top layer of engineered wood flooring will remove up to 1MM of surface, with a minimum of 1MM needed leftover for protection. As a rough guide, here’s the number of times a floor can be sanded, based on the initial wear layer thickness:

3mm: 1-2 times

4mm: 2-3 times

5mm: 3-4 times

6mm: 4-5 times

(Please note: Sanding times is a guide only, the number of times a floor can be sanded will vary on an individual basis.)

Parquet Flooring Installation Methods

Bond Down

Solid wood parquet flooring should be fixed to the floor using a strong adhesive. This installation method provides an ultra-secure, fixed finish that will stay in place for the lifetime of your floor. We recommend careful preparation of your subfloor for the best results.

Click Lok System

Click Lok flooring has a profiled edge which creates a glue-free, interlocking fitting system. The quick and easy system allows for flooring to be laid more easily and relatively hassle-free.

Click Lok systems are predominantly used in laminate and engineered wood flooring, allowing easy installation even for DIY novices. Simply, push, drop, click, and lock the boards into place for a sturdy floor installation.

If you’re considering Click Lok, it’s important to think about the underlying surface on which your flooring will be laid. Uneven surfaces make Click Lok much more difficult to fit, which often means the need for levelling underlay.

Tongue & Groove

A traditional method of fitting flooring, Tongue & Groove is a tried and tested installation type that involves tessellating profiled edges together using glue, such as PVA.

Whilst it can be slower to fit than Click Lok, some customers prefer the peace of mind a glued, tongue and groove flooring provides.