The natural wood floors can have an appealing appearance. It’s warm and welcoming, practical, and long-lasting, which can greatly enhance any home.

There are two ways you can have a hardwood floor in your house. The wood floor can be laid on top of your existing floorLondon parquet flooring.

Either method will result in a floor that is hardy, beautiful, and easy to clean. Wood can be stained with special paint effects (e.g. stenciling) or by adding rugs of color to it, preferably on nonslip mats. Wood flooring can also be bought in specialty shops or department stores. All types of plank floors come with instructions except parquet, which can be hard to find and even more difficult for you to lay.

Wood Floor Coverings

There are four types of wood flooring available: block, mosaic, strip and block.

Strip Flooring looks like a very smooth and tightly packed floorboard. It can be made from a variety woods including softwoods (pine spruce and pine) and hardwoods (cherry ash, ash or maple). Each board has a tongue & groove to ensure that it fits tightly with its neighbor.

The thickness of the flooring may vary between approximately 3/8in (9mm), 7/8in (19mm), or 7/8in (22mm). Some wood-strip floors are solid, similar to floorboards. Others are laminated, which has a thin outer layer and a thicker base layer. This makes the flooring more sturdy than it would otherwise be and less likely that it will expand or contract. A hardwearing, melamine-coated surface layer is available for woodstrip flooring.

You can put any type or thickness of board over an existing floor. The boards are laid on a cushioned, damp-proof subfloor and are held together by clips or adhesive. They are not stuck to the floor below. This is also called a floating floors. It is crucial that you do not leave any expansion gaps.

The thickest varieties can be used for replacing floorboards. Nail each plank carefully through the tongue to attach it to the floor joists.

Block Flooring: Also called parquet, this floor covering is typically used to cover an existing concrete floor. The blocks of rectangular wood measure between 1in (22.5mm) and 2in (50.5mm) thick. They’re laid in a herringbone layout and are then attached to mastic adhesive. Although laying new block flooring requires a professional, you can sand old thick block flooring and reseal them in the exact same way as your floorboards.

Mosaic Flooring – This type of flooring, also called parquet or tongue-and grooved, is made up of tiles with narrow strips from wood. A typical tile is divided up into four squares consisting of four or cinq strips that are attached to each other with wire, adhesive, or both. The backing is a mesh. Each square has a row of adjacent strips that lie at right angles to each other, creating a basketweave effect when they are laid on the floor.

Attach mosaic flooring to your sub-floor using special adhesive. The construction of the flooring gives it flexibility and can handle uneven surfaces. Some floorings are self adhesive.

This flooring is also known as cork/wood. It is composed of cork, a sub-layer made from plastic and then topped by a thin wood veneer. This in turn is covered by a hardwearing transparent plastic. The cork gives it the look of wood flooring but it is quieter, warmer, and more durable underfoot. It is secured in place by adhesive.