How wood flooring reacts
Traditional or engineered parquet?
Floating or glued?
Varnish or oil finish?

Traditional
or engineered parquet?

TRADITIONAL                     ENGINEERED


There are so many different types of wood flooring on the market today – different dimensions, wood types and finishes – that it can be very disorienting. It is vitally important not to let yourself be guided only by aesthetic criteria. Wood flooring is quite naturally sought after for its beauty and the sense of wellness it exudes. But never forget that it is a major technical component of your home and such factors as dimensional stability, available total thickness and thermal resistance do play a major role. This is why you must make a serious distinction between traditional and engineered parquet.


Traditional parquet

stable
***
long-lasting
***
practical
*
beautiful
***


Every plank of traditional parquet is nothing more than a strip of solid wood, privy of any treatment that might serve to enhance its stability. That which is an advantage in a piece of antique furniture, for example, is a technological limitation for wood flooring,  where the wood is synonymous with tension and movement. This lack of treatment makes traditional parquet especially sensitive to changes in humidity and therefore subject to warping. And as the size of the plank increases, this reaction tends to become accentuated. The risk is unsightly splitting or cracking and even, in the more extreme cases, detachment. This is why it is not recommended for use with under-floor heating systems and in rooms with sensitive environments.


Engineered parquet

stable
*****
long-lasting
*****
practical
*****
beautiful
*****


Engineered parquet is also 100% pure wood. It is, however, a more complex product in terms of construction, and each component is especially designed to perform a specific function. The most attractive side is enhanced and exposed as the top layer. The support layer underneath, the sub-floor, is there to provide the plank with stability and balance. Engineered parquet is not just better in terms of dimensional stability and resistance to variations in humidity, it allows for larger planks of equal thickness. This benefits both the look and the technical performance of the floor. As is evident when used in restoration projects or applied onto under-floor heating systems.