Those, who are not impressed to have long parallel timber planks for the floor, can always try parquet floors.
It seems, that even in older days, wealthy people needed more than just rectangular blocks for their floors.
Thus, parquetry has been found throughout many mansions of 17th century.
The trend continues to be strong but the cost and the reliability of the timber slowly gives up in favour of tiles.
Parquet floors are really stunning.
Even, small areas look very good with the design (contrary to simple straight lines of parallel boards).
Almost any material can be used for the parquetry.
However, the most popular are: Alpine Ash, Tasmanian Oak and Jarrah.
The most popular designs are squares, triangles, rectangles and lozenges.
The simple geometrical shapes are generally placed 45 degrees to the walls or are embedded with one another.
The possibilities to design parquet floors are endless and only limited by imagination and the budget.
Each panel of the parquet floor is glued using bitumen (old days) or modern cold adhesives (recent products).
Parquet floors are not the tradesmen secret.
Neither, there are permits needed for the floor installation of the parquetry.
Thus, you can DIY parquet floors.
However, if you do not have time for the job then private contractors are the only option.
The secret to successful parquet floors is the proper preparation of subfloors.
The subfloor may mean a previous timber floor or a bare, concrete slab.
To prepare subfloors you must ensure that the level is correct.
Ideally, a gradient greater than 0.01 is unacceptable for timber or parquet floors.
It is absolutely vital that the floor is completely free from moisture.
Trapping the humidity between the parquet and the substrate can have serious consequences.
Most installers use ply layers under the parquet floors.
The ply is not a necessity for the already installed timber subfloors.
However, the material certainly is easy to adjust for leveling, installation and insulation.
If you decide using ply layer then you must ensure that it is fastened to the floor.
The fixed-length parquet blocks are ideal for a novice installer.
These materials are easier to design and fix.
You need a special adhesive to install parquet floors.
It cannot be just a glue because timber floors expand and contract depending on humidity.
The best are silane based adhesives.
Bona R850 flexible adhesive or similar products (e.g. Lecol, Wakol) are ideal for the job.
Try to keep the design simple but neat.
You can position rectangle pieces at 45 degrees to the walls and frame everything with a nice hardwood around the perimeter.
Alternatively, you can confine little squares inside rectangles. This gives an impression of incrustation.
No contractor will let you know about the price until the final design is present. Both the material and the design will influence the final price. Here, you will pay around $80-$100 per meter square of parquetry using an average quality timber. Circular designs and the hardwood material will further inflate the cost.