t is true that
the styles and types of block and parquet flooring as well
as the recommended procedures for application vary somewhat
among the different manufacturers. Detailed installation
instructions are usually provided with the flooring
or are available from the manufacturer or distributor.
This section applies only to 3/4in tongue-and-groove
parquet flooring where tongues and grooves are engaged.
DOES NOT APPLY TO SLAT-TYPE OR FINGERBLOCK PARQUET
Lay both blocks and the individual pieces of parquetry
in mastic over a double layered wood subfloor or a
concrete slab with a moisture retarder as described
earlier.
Use a cold, cut-back asphalt mastic spread at the rate
of 35-40 sq. ft. per gallon. Use the notched edge of the
trowel. Allow to "flash off" overnight or as directed by
the manufacturer. The surface will be solid enough after
12 hours to allow you to snap working lines on it. Use
blocks of the flooring as stepping stones to snap lines and
begin the installation.
There are two ways to lay out parquet. The most common
is with edges of parquet units (and thus the lines
they form) square with the walls of the room. The other
way is a diagonal pattern, with lines at a 45° angle to walls.
Square pattern. Never use the walls as a starting line because walls are almost never truly straight.
Instead, use a chalk line to snap a starting line about
3 ft. or so from the handiest entry door to the room,
roughly parallel to the nearest wall. Place this line
exactly equal to four or five of the parquet units from
the center of the entry doorway.
Next find the center point of this base line, and snap
another line at an exact 90° angle to it from wall to wall.
This will become your test line to help keep your pattern
straight as the installation proceeds. A quick test for
squareness is to measure four feet along one line from
where they intersect, and three feet along the other. The
distance between these two points will be five feet if the
lines are true (Fig. 8).
Diagonal pattern. Measure equal distances from one
corner of a room, along both walls, and snap a chalk
line between these two points to form the base line.
(This pattern need not be at a precise 45° angle to
walls in order to appear perfect.) A test line should
again intersect the center of the base line at an exact
90° angle (Fig. 10).
Special patterns. Most existing parquet patterns can
be laid out with these two working lines. Herringbone
will require two test lines, however; one will be at the
90° line already described; the other crosses the same
intersection of lines, but at a 45° angle to both.
If such elaborate preliminary layout preparation seems
a bit overdone, keep in mind that it is wood we are
installing. Each piece must be carefully aligned with all
of its neighbors. Small variations in size, natural to wood,
must be accommodated during installation to keep the
overall pattern squared up. You cannot correct a "creeping"
pattern after it develops; the more carefully laid out
floor causes less problems during field work.
Wood parquet must always be installed in a pyramid,
or stair-step sequence rather than in rows. This again
prevents the small inaccuracies of size in all wood from
magnifying, or "creeping" to gain an appearance of misalignment.
Place the first parquet unit carefully at the
intersection of the base and test lines.
Lay the next units
ahead and to the right of the first one, along the lines.
Then continue the stair step sequence, watching carefully
the corner alignment of new units with those already
in place. Install in a quadrant of the room, leaving trimming
at the walls until later. Then return to the base and
test lines and lay another quadrant, repeating the stairstep
sequence.
Install the last quadrant from the base line to the door.
A reducer strip may be required at the doorway.
Most wood floor mastics will allow the tiles to slip or
skid when sideways pressure is applied for some period
after the open time* has elapsed. You avoid this sideways
pressure by working from "knee boards" or plywood panels
laid on top of the installed area of flooring. For the same
reason no heavy furniture or activity should be allowed
on the finished parquet floor for about 24 hours. Some
mastics also require rolling the flooring after installation.
Cut blocks or parquetry pieces to fit at walls, allowing
3/4in expansion space on all sides. Use cork blocking in 3in
lengths between flooring edge and wall to permit the
flooring to expand and contract.
With blocks, a diagonal pattern is recommended in corridors
and in rooms where the length is more than 11/2
times the width. This diagonal placement minimizes
expansion under high humidity conditions.
Flooring Installation Guide :: Index
1) Installation Introduction
2) Handling & Storage
3) Job Site Conditions
3.1) Installing over Concrete
3.2) Testing Concrete for Excessive Moisture
3.3) Concrete Slab Preparation Prior to Installation
4) Laying & Fastening
5) Plank Flooring
6) Laying a New Strip Floor Over an Old Floor
7) Parquet, Block Herringbone & Similar Flooring
8) Special Construction Situations
9) Tips for Easier & Better Flooring Installations
10) Strip Flooring on Walls & Ceilings
11) Installation of Gymnasium Floors over a Concrete Slab
Installation content courtesy of NOFMA. FloorMall.com is a Proud Member of NWFA.
