Is it feasible to lay parquet directly on top of floorboards?

Joined
12 Dec 2014
Messages
101
Reaction score
2
Location
Birmingham
Country
United Kingdom
We're looking to take up the carpet in a room in our house that's going to become a nursery. We're strictly limited on the budget and will be putting down reclaimed parquet. My question is, is it feasible as long as the floorboards are in good condition and level to lay the reclaimed parquet over the top?

I know that ideally we would have a concrete floor or put down boards, but that is significant added expense and complication, so I was just wondering if anyone had a good experience doing this.
 
Sponsored Links
I'll try to elucidate for you: planked wooden floors not only move with loading (of the joists, mores so if the boards are square edge not T&G) but they also swell and shrink with changes in atmospheric humidity as the seasons change. The boards themselves can also be uneven. All this makes planked timber an unsuitable sub floor for use directly beneath any type of parquet, which requires a flat stable sub-floor beneath it with minimal joints, and is why you rarely find parquet above the ground floor on historical buildings unless it was being laid onto concrete or stone flags (often with mortar on top). However, you can produce a similar flat, highly stable sub-floor by either fixing 6mm cement fibre board on top of your planked sub-floor, or possibly by nailing 6mm plywood (at 100mm centres) or screwing it (at 150mm centres / 100mm centres nearest the board edges). BTW that 6mm figure only applies if your planked floor is flat - if it isn't your sheet material will need to be thicker - 12mm or even 18mm.

You say you are on a limited budget, but have you factored in the necessary tools (or hire thereof) to install and sand the floor? All the recovered parquet I have dealt with has come in slightly randomly sizes as well as some of it having bits of bitumen still attached. So it takes a table saw to sort it out. And after it has been laid you'll need a floor sander to flatten the floor. Even if you are laying the modern plywood-backed "recovered" parquet sections you still need a flat, stable sub-floor to work from

And on the subject of cost, have you factored in the high cost if parquet adhesive?

Sorry to be a naysayer, but good results always require good preparation - and you seem to be prepared to scuttle your boat for lack of adequate sub-flooring prep
 
Thanks, makes sense. I might check to see if the boards are hardwood (it's a 60s house, so they might be) and look into whether I could recondition the boards as a stopgap solution until we have the budget for parquet all the way through the house.
 
Sponsored Links
Thanks, makes sense. I might check to see if the boards are hardwood (it's a 60s house, so they might be) and look into whether I could recondition the boards as a stopgap solution until we have the budget for parquet all the way through the house.
Unlikely to be hardwood unless your house is very upper end of the market (i.e. detached, 4 to 5 bed, etc). The 60s was the time when better quality houses started to get planked softwood or maybe hardwood ply floors, but the houses for the hoi-poloi like me got chipboard

Nothing wrong with a nice sanded softwood floor, maybe with a golden pine or antique pine or medium oak stain. At least 1960s pine was a bit nicer than modern stuff - not so knotty
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Back
Top