Making parquet with your own hands: techniques for making artistic parquet, advantages and disadvantages

Parquet is a durable and durable flooring option, which is why it is often preferred. The easiest way is to buy the material in a store, but some craftsmen decide that making parquet with their own hands is not a waste of time, but an opportunity to get an environmentally friendly and high-quality coating.

Parquet floor installation

Making parquet with your own hands

How can you make parquet with your own hands?

Indeed, you can make parquet yourself, but how expedient will these actions be? In order to understand this, you will have to understand with examples how this is done.

One Russian family in the early 2000s was able to obtain about 4 pallets of small mahogany and oak bars. And at the same time, they became the owners of an apartment that needed major repairs, since it had only bare walls and ceilings. The family decided to do all the finishing work themselves and came to the conclusion that they could make parquet from the resulting wood material. The idea was crazy, but what do difficulties mean to the hardworking and determined?

Is it possible to make parquet with your own hands?

How to make parquet with your own hands

As a base for the parquet, they made a concrete screed from M-300 sand concrete - thus, they were able to eliminate the unevenness of the floor, the differences of which ranged from 3 to 12 cm throughout the apartment. Next, they laid OSB sheets on the bitumen mastic, additionally secured with dowels. The choice fell on OSB, because this material is very durable and not afraid of moisture. Next, the slabs were covered with a special primer.

On a note! To make parquet with their own hands, the family used available tools and the material itself, which miraculously fell into their hands. However, parquet made independently at home can only be made without locking joints, which increase the solidity of the coating. This can be a massive or stacked version of the material. Such parquet can only be fixed to the floor using glue.

Hand-made parquet laid

Parquet cutting was carried out using stationary circular and cross-cut machines. The resulting slats had to have the same size - in that case it was 10x70x500 mm. The moisture content of the wood should be low - about 9%.

The finished boards were fixed to the base using ordinary parquet glue. At the same time, sometimes it was necessary to individually adjust the planks to each other. After installing the floor, the parquet was sanded, the gaps filled with acrylic wood compound, sanded and varnished.

Parquet floor after scraping and sanding

The same floor after varnishing

Parquet floor in the nursery

An example of a finished parquet floor in another room

Master Class. Independent production of parquet floors with a heating system . Downloadable file (click the link to open the PDF in a new window).

Master Class

Laying waterproofing

A waterproofing layer should be laid on top of the prepared concrete base under the plywood. PVC film used for greenhouses is optimal for these purposes.

The layers are laid with an overlap of 10 cm, after which they are secured with wide tape. This stage of work will not pose any problems even for a person not versed in the details of construction.

Laying the manufactured parquet

Laying self-made parquet is done in almost the same way as installing regular store-bought material. Let's look at how this process happens in practice.

Step 1. First, prepare the base - it must be perfectly flat, since the parquet will be fixed using an adhesive composition. To do this, first, if necessary, a cement screed is made from concrete of at least M250 grade. If the old screed is well preserved, then it should be cleared of debris and primed with epoxy. In this case, plywood is used as a base directly under the parquet. Its sheets are cut into equal-sized squares. The thickness of the plywood should be about 12-18 mm. The squares will have dimensions of 50x50 or 75x75 cm. For convenience, appropriate markings are applied to the plywood sheets.

Plywood marking

Advice! If the screed is made from scratch with your own hands, then it is important not to forget to lay the waterproofing material.

Step 2. Next, the plywood sheets are stacked in one stack, after which the material is cut according to the applied markings.

Cutting plywood

Step 3. The next stage is laying the plywood on the base and fixing it. Installation of individual elements is carried out staggered, that is, the seams should not be joined at one point. There is a gap of about 2-3 mm between the individual sheets. The base is coated with adhesive mastic, after which the sheets are laid and screwed for additional fixation to the floor using dowels or screws (depending on the type of base - wood or concrete).

Laying plywood with glue

The plywood is additionally fixed with self-tapping screws

Step 4. The plywood is sanded using a special machine.

Sanding plywood

Step 5. For convenience, markings are applied to the plywood along which the parquet will be laid. It is applied in accordance with the selected pattern.

Marking

Step 6. Next, the base is gradually coated with special glue, which is applied using a notched trowel. It is on this glue that the parquet boards are laid one at a time. They are pressed tightly to the base, and the gaps between the individual elements should be minimal. While the glue dries, the parquet can be pressed down with a weight.

The laid parquet is pressed down with a weight while the glue dries

Parquet laying process

A notched trowel is used to apply the adhesive.

Step 7. The entire subfloor is covered in the same way. Next, the parquet is sanded.

Parquet laid

The parquet is sanded

Step 8. The last stage is varnishing the parquet flooring.

Finally, the parquet floor needs to be varnished.

Advice! You can close the joint between the parquet floor and other coverings at the exit from the room using a sufficiently wide aluminum threshold.

Video - How to lay parquet?

Decorate the headboard of the bed

A decorative technique that will look especially good in rooms whose interior decoration uses natural materials: stone, wood, metal. Dark parquet will highlight the light shade of the wallpaper and ceiling.

The wall at the head of the bed, decorated with parquet, goes well with various lamps and pieces of furniture.

In addition, such a covering will help adjust the space of the bedroom. If you place the planks horizontally, they will visually push the walls apart; if vertically, they will raise the low ceiling.

Excellent wooden parquet floor with your own hands

Excellent wooden parquet floor with your own hands

Making such a floor yourself is extremely simple. To do this, we cut these wooden triangles. The degrees of angles are indicated in the figure. This element is good because it can easily form a beautiful and at the same time beautiful pattern.

Set the required angles and cut

Let's start laying our miracle parquet. The photo shows the installation of the corner

As you can see, you can start from almost anywhere

The more precise the manufacturing of the triangular element, the fewer gaps and irregularities during installation. The photo shows how to trim triangles using a paper sheet

As you can see, it easily fits into the required space

The parquet installation process is in full swing

Our site is almost finished

Doorway

Another interesting option for using parquet is to decorate a wall with a doorway. This design technique works great in rooms that only have one piece of wood. Look how effectively a parquet wall stands out in a very light bathroom - in decorative harmony with the cabinet, it visually makes the room warmer and more comfortable.

Photo:

Working with artistic parquet

Sometimes craftsmen decide to take a completely desperate step and make artistic parquet with their own hands. This is also a type of parquet flooring, but the materials are laid in a special way. In this case, the design is made from several types of wood, and may also have patterns made separately.

Artistic parquet

On a note! Artistic parquet was first used for flooring back in the 16th century. Its production was considered a very complex process, and therefore the labor costs were equal to those required when weaving expensive carpets. Such parquet was used only for decorating halls in castles, palaces, and houses of the nobility.

But to this day, artistic parquet has not outlived its usefulness, although it continues to be a very painstaking type of handmade work, and therefore is very expensive. The work is complex in that it requires care, a sense of taste, responsibility, the right choice of materials - everything, even the most seemingly insignificant properties of the wood used, must be taken into account.

Artistic elements of parquet flooring

Techniques for making artistic parquet

To make artistic parquet, types of wood such as oak, ash, maple, walnut, etc. are usually used. The denser the material is used, the longer the floor will last, it will be easier to repair if necessary, and it will be faster to work with such material. The beauty of the finished drawing will also depend on how the wood was processed. For example, cutting a log can be done in different ways and this will also affect the appearance of the floor.

Prices for Papa Carlo parquet

Papa Carlo parquet

Photo of artistic parquet

On a note! For artistic parquet, cross-cut wood is usually used.

Table. Options for artistic parquet designs.

Also, parquet flooring can be laid with a “rosette” (the parts have an oval or round shape, located in the middle of the pattern), a “border” (a part of the floor with a certain motif that divides the space of the room), modules (in this case, the parquet is assembled from individual panels - original geometric compositions are obtained).

Artistic parquet

Advantages and disadvantages of artistic parquet

It’s not for nothing that artistic parquet is still valued today. It has a number of advantages:

• durability due to the use of hard wood;
• environmental friendliness;
• excellent thermal insulation performance;
• beauty and originality;
• the ability to create your own pattern.

Artistic parquet has many advantages

Disadvantages include high cost, difficulty in manufacturing, low resistance to frequent and strong mechanical stress.

Making artistic parquet at home

The high cost of this parquet and at the same time the desire to still make such floors force home owners to try making this parquet with their own hands.

Step 1. The first step is to draw up a design project, which will mark the dimensions, the place where the pattern was created, as well as the main pattern of the parquet.

Example of a finished design project

Step 2. Next, the parquet floor is made using the usual technology, and plywood templates for the future pattern are also created.

Installation of CNC-made plywood templates

On a note! Work should be carried out at a temperature of +17-23 degrees, humidity - about 40-60%.

Step 3. Using the templates laid on the floor, the future pattern is milled into the parquet base.

Milling the future pattern in parquet

Step 4. Unnecessary elements are removed - gaps appear for installing artistic details.

Removing unnecessary elements

Step 5. The finished gaps are cleaned of any resulting dust, sawdust, or wood chips.

Sawdust and dust are removed

Step 6. According to the sketch, design details are made from pieces of wood of different types, which are then glued into the main parquet in previously prepared places. Gluing is carried out using an adhesive composition intended for parquet. A hammer can be used to force the parts into place.

Gluing artistic parquet parts

Parts are driven in with a hammer

Step 7. Insert the entire picture in the same way.

The whole picture is pasted

Step 8. The parquet floor with the finished pattern is sanded with a special machine.

Sanding parquet floors

Step 9. A primer coat of varnish is applied. It is spread over the surface with a spatula evenly and without leaving empty spaces.

Applying a primer coat of varnish

Step 10. After drying, the varnish coating is sanded using a special machine.

Sanding the varnish

Step 11. The floor is cleaned of dust with a vacuum cleaner - preparation is made for applying the final varnish layer.

Preparing the floor for the final coat of varnish

Step 12. The final layer of varnish is applied with a roller, and in hard-to-reach places and along the walls - with a brush.

Applying the final coat of varnish

Video - Making palace parquet

Select a pattern

The parquet layout involves several ornament options. Most often they are:

• “rosette” pattern - its details are made in the form of circles or ovals located in the middle of the composition. To perform it, up to twenty types of wood are used;
• modular artistic parquet - assembled from individual panels, which, in turn, are assembled from a certain number of tiles. In this case, geometric patterns are usually composed;
• “border” - usually used to divide space; in addition to geometric patterns, animal and plant motifs are used here.

Brushed parquet boards - what is it?

At home, you can also make so-called brushed parquet . This is one of the new technologies for creating artificially aged floors. The material undergoes special processing, during which it acquires an original appearance. By the way, this processing method can significantly increase the service life of the parquet base.

Parquet board Goodwin American Walnut Edinburgh, embossed, brushed

Aging of wood occurs through treatment with a hard metal brush, which removes the soft fibers of the boards, while the hard ones remain in place. This way, the textures on the wood will be clearly visible, and if you cover them with oil, the natural beauty will become clearly visible.

After the soft wood fibers are removed, the boards are covered with a patina (special paint), which helps make the wood structure more obvious, emphasizes its porosity, or other materials. Also, the boards can be tinted - that is, the wood will change its color by a couple of tones. Usually it becomes somewhat darker than it was. Wood can be coated with varnish, wax or oil.

Brushed wood floor

A little about the material

Parquet usually consists of three layers of wood, firmly bonded together. The upper part is coated with oil or varnish and is the largest in terms of thickness. Thanks to this, the product can be restored by sanding if, after years, the floor has lost its attractive appearance. Among the main properties of parquet it is worth noting:

• wear resistance;
• low thermal conductivity;
• withstand temperature changes;
• antistatic characteristics;
• moisture rejection.

Usually only high-quality material is endowed with all of the above characteristics. Therefore, before deciding what to make from old parquet, carefully read its properties.

Removing the old countertop

The old countertop must be removed carefully so as not to damage the cabinets

Before dismantling the countertop, it is necessary to turn off the water, electricity, gas, remove all wires and hoses, remove all contents from the cabinets, remove the siphon from the sink and the sink itself, turn off the hob and disconnect it from the countertop.

Wood selection

Artistic parquet will look expressive in the interior of any room if you choose the right material for its manufacture. Usually hardwoods are used: oak, larch, ash, walnut, maple and others. This choice is explained by the fact that hardwood floors last longer, are easier to repair, and are easier and faster to install.

Wood processing technology also affects the quality of the coating. The beauty of the design depends on how the log is cut. There are the following types of cuts: rustic, tangential, radial and transverse. Artistic parquet is usually made from wood processed using cross-cut technology.

Manufacturing

Is it possible to make parquet boards with your own hands using simple household tools?

Yes, but with certain reservations:

1. Without special equipment, it is possible to produce only stacked or solid parquet without locks for adhesive installation;

It is very difficult to achieve ideal quality at home.

1. The tool will not be hand-held, but stationary. At a minimum, you will need a circular saw and a cross-cut saw.

Handmade production is justified only if you have high-precision power tools and lumber

The production of parquet boards itself consists of cutting noble wood into slats of the same size (typically 10x70x500 mm). They are laid on a leveled base using glue with the most precise fit.

After the board is laid, several more operations remain:

• Cycling;
• Puttying gaps. For it, you can use acrylic wood putty matched to the tone or homemade putty made from sawdust and PVA glue;
• Grinding;
• Applying the final coating - varnish or impregnation.

Repairing a parquet board with your own hands involves scraping, during which the top layer of the board with signs of wear is removed, and re-varnishing. If necessary, in this case, the gaps formed due to the drying of the board can be puttied.

Sanding worn parquet.

Base requirements

Self-installation of parquet of any type begins with preparing the base. The requirements placed on it by dry (floating) and adhesive installation methods are very different.

Floating installation

In the first case, it is enough to simply level the floor. To remove slopes and noticeable differences, a cement-sand screed (on concrete panels) or a dry screed (on a plank base) is used.

Small differences (up to 5 mm) can be removed with a self-leveling mixture (self-leveling floor); Defects up to 2 mm high are perfectly compensated by the substrate.

The self-leveling floor will level out all defects in the concrete base.

Please note: floating installation puts an end to parquet repairs. Sanding and sanding over a large area is carried out using power tools and requires reliable fastening of the board to the floor.

Adhesive installation

Adhesive installation is much more demanding on the base:

What effect does the strength of concrete have on the quality of installation? This instruction is due to the fact that during adhesive installation, deforming loads that arise when the linear dimensions of wood fluctuate with an increase or decrease in humidity are absorbed by the adhesive layer and then by the base.

Preparation of the foundation in a typical city apartment-new building is carried out according to the following algorithm:

1. A waterproofing layer is laid on the floor - dense polyethylene with overlapping sheets and gluing them with tape;
2. A damping tape is laid around the perimeter, which will prevent the transfer of shock loads to the walls;
3. A reinforced screed is poured with a thickness sufficient to compensate for differences between the panels;
4. After the concrete has completely dried and gained brand strength (approximately 4 weeks from the moment of pouring), it is primed with an epoxy primer, which further increases the strength of the surface layer.

With a plank floor, which for some reason you don’t want to remove, the preparation procedure is slightly different:

1. The nails are heated with a hammer to 5-7 mm;
2. Curved boards and “propellers” are attracted to the joists with self-tapping screws with a length at least three times greater than the thickness of the board;
3. The remaining irregularities are removed with a scraper or a plane;
4. Wooden plywood 12-18 mm thick is attached to the flooring. The plywood is pre-cut into squares measuring 0.5x0.5-0.75x0.75 meters and laid apart, with the transverse seams tied. A gap of 2-3 mm is left between the sheets, compensating for temperature and humidity expansion.

Plywood is used to level the plank flooring.

Please note: thick moisture-resistant plywood can easily replace a screed or self-leveling floor on a concrete base. In this case, it is attached to dowel screws; For additional fixation of sheets, it is strongly recommended to use two-component polyurethane glue. The glue is applied to the concrete and leveled with a comb spatula.

Floating installation

It is performed on a substrate and is possible if there are tongue-and-groove locks on the parquet board.

On a perfectly flat base (on a self-leveling floor or plywood), dense polyethylene can be used as a film under a parquet board; if compensation for minor unevenness is needed, foam or porous substrates are used:

• Polyethylene foam;
• Cellulose boards;
• Cork, etc.

The procedure is completely identical to that for laying laminate, with the exception that tongue-and-groove locks are coated with glue or sealant:

1. Wedges are installed along the wall, forming a compensation gap of 7-10 mm;
2. Then the first row of boards is connected. The last board is sawn in place;

Tip: To minimize the number of cuts, start laying from the longest wall.

1. The next rows start with a short board (cut from the previous row). Transverse seams should not coincide in adjacent rows;
2. The last row is cut in width so as to provide a compensation gap of the same 7-10 mm.

Adhesive installation

It is done on both screed and plywood using two-component polyurethane adhesive. The glue is applied with a notched trowel, after which the board is laid and loaded during polymerization. And in this case, compensation gaps are left around the perimeter of the room.

Laying boards with glue.

Tip: instead of weights on a plywood backing, you can use self-tapping screws. They are screwed into the bottom lip of the board groove at an oblique angle.

Installation errors

Violations of technology when installing parquet floors lead to the appearance of various defects:

1. Parquet that has come away from the base, which “bounces” underfoot without swelling or deformation, indicates a damaged adhesive layer. Perhaps low-quality cheap glue was used, or sanding and sanding of the floor began before the glue set.
2. Parquet that is swollen by the house - perhaps it was laid on a wet base, the technological gaps were not maintained, or there was a flood.

Figure 13. Swollen parquet.

1. Gaps between the dies appear when laying damp parquet or too low humidity in the premises.
2. Deformation of the dies is possible if varnishing was carried out before the glue had completely dried, a large amount of varnish was applied in one day, or the unstable parquet was covered with film.
3. Failed parquet means that voids have formed under the parquet due to the destruction of poor-quality screed.
4. The curvature of the drawing indicates a low qualification of the master or low-quality material.
5. Cracks in the varnish coating indicate a violation of the varnishing technology. It is possible to apply too thick a layer at one time.
6. Parquet creaking when moving on it is possible if the screed underneath is of poor quality, the plywood is poorly secured, or low-quality glue, plywood or parquet is used.

By following the instructions, following the sequence and installation technology, it is not difficult to create a strong, beautiful and durable parquet flooring with your own hands.