Parquet Flooring in Cary, NC

Cary Hardwood Flooring lays new parquet flooring and repairs old parquet in homes across Cary. We check the floor underneath, measure each room and plan the pattern before the first piece goes down.

What parquet flooring is

The parquet floors we lay are made of small pieces of wood set in a repeating pattern, instead of long boards laid in straight rows.

The National Park Service says historic flooring can be highly decorative, like parquet floors with inlaid wood in the front room of a row house or a hotel ballroom. The Wood Handbook from the U.S. Forest Service says parquet flooring is sold made to be laid with mastic, along with the more common long boards.

The mastic we use is a thick glue that we spread on the floor underneath, and then we press each piece of parquet into it.

The patterns we lay

We lay parquet in squares, where short strips of wood sit side by side to make a block and each block is turned the other way from the one next to it. We also lay basket weave, where pairs of strips cross over and under each other like a woven basket.

For a zigzag, see our herringbone floors page. We bring samples of each pattern, so you can set them on your floor in your own light before you choose.

Repairing an old parquet floor

We fix old parquet where blocks have come loose, cracked or worn through. We lift the bad blocks, clean out the old glue and set new ones that match the wood, size and pattern of the rest.

The National Park Service says that when an old floor is being looked at for repair, one thing to weigh is whether it has been contaminated by hazardous materials such as asbestos mastic. The EPA says you generally can't tell whether a material contains asbestos just by looking at it, unless it is labeled. It also says asbestos materials may release fibers when they are sanded, scraped or cut.

So if we find old black glue under your parquet, we stop before we scrape or sand it. The EPA says that if you are making changes that might disturb material with asbestos in it, the repair or removal needs a trained and accredited asbestos professional.

Moisture in a Cary house

The Forest Products Laboratory says wood takes on moisture from its surroundings. Its Wood Handbook says cracks can open in a wood floor if the boards take up moisture before or after they are laid, then shrink when the house is heated.

The handbook says to check the moisture of random pieces with a meter when the flooring arrives and before it goes down, and to open the bundles so every side of the wood meets the air inside the house. We do both before we lay any parquet.

What changes the price

We price parquet flooring for your house once we've measured, and you get that quote in writing.

We set our price by the size of the rooms, the pattern and wood you pick, and how many doorways and corners we cut around. We also count in taking up an old floor, repairs to the floor underneath, any border, and sanding and finishing in your house if the parquet comes unfinished.

What to get in writing

Ask for these in writing, whoever you hire:

• The pattern, the wood species and the size of each piece.
• Where the pattern starts in each room, and whether there is a border.
• The glue that will be used to hold the parquet down.
• How the moisture of the wood and the floor below will be checked.
• What happens if old glue under the floor turns out to need testing.
• The stain and finish by name and the number of coats, if the floor is finished in your house.
• Whether moving furniture, taking up the old floor and hauling it away are in the price.

Questions about parquet flooring in Cary

Get a quote for parquet flooring

Call us, or send the quote form with your ZIP code and the rooms you want done. We'll measure, go through pattern, wood and finish options with you, and give you a written quote. To see the other flooring work we do, go to the Cary Hardwood Flooring home page.