This article describes parquet flooring.

Page top photo: dancers performing on a parquet floor in Florida in 2010.

Parquet Flooring

Parquet flooring, small thin wood strips fastened to an existing floor or subfloor surface in decorative patterns ranging from simple rectangles to ornate designs, may have been first installed at the Palace of Versailles (McKoy 2018).

That hypothesis is consistent with the French word parquetry - small compartment, and various sources asset that parquet wood floors were indeed used to re-surface or replace marble or stone floors that were costly to repair, or according to McKoy, were just too cold to walk upon in cold weather.

Actually, a visit to Morocco or any country with a thousand years of building floors and walls of ceramic tile mosaics will suggest a much-older source for the idea of parquet flooring, though the substantial difference is that a traditional parquet floor's geometric design will be implemented in wood.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Wood used in parquet flooring is often several different species to give different colors and textures, varying also by geographic location and availability of materials, and the range of wood products may be surprising to some.

Parquet floors have been made using bamboo, various eucalypts, oak, maple, cherry, pine, mahogany, and palm fronds have been used to build true wood parquet decorative flooring. (Eldeeb 2017) (Green 1972)

Of these, in North America by far the dominant wood species used for parquet flooring is oak, or at least it was in 1969 when 95% of parquet was made of oak and was produced in three U.S. states: Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. (Miller 1969)

Leaving wood behind for a moment, marble, ceramics, and plastics have been used to build "parquet floors" too.

Definition of Parquet flooring: a wood floor made of wooden strips or blocks of hardwood, fitted and arranged into a decorative geometric pattern.

Parquet floors are a form of wood inlay design that may involve only a border, only a central designs such as a star burst or medallion, or as widely found in North America, especially in buildings constructed between 1865 and 1950, repeating squares each made of strips of wood placed in alternating patterns of designs.

Above: a traditional and simple parquet flooring installed in Florida - this is a closer fiew of the parquet floor shown under the dancer's feet at the top of this page. Each parquet square is composed of four oak strips. The floor's simple geometric patter is achieved just by rotating each square 90° from its neighbours.

In regular square form like that shown above, parquet flooring is made in 9" x 9" squares, pre-assembled, held together with a wire, mesh, or other backer. Other common parquet floor square sizes are 12"x12" and even 19"x19". In most of the photos shown here the parquet squares are just 5/16" thick, though the flooring may be sold in 3/4" or even greater thicknesses.

Below, we photographed this beautiful and much-thicker "butcher block" style parquet floor in Tlaxcala, Mexico in 2012.

In researching parquet floor construction and producers we found that some images and opinions about what constitutes a "parquet floor" don't look at all like the traditional parquet shown at the top of this page.

Below, from a marketing article from Belcolor, is a photo that the author describes as parquet flooring. (Moser 2014) Current French to English translators render parquet Fr. simply as wooden floor Eng. which can certainly defend Moser's use of that phrase.

We also find "parquet" flooring made of marble cut or formed into traditional wood-parquet floor designs or patterns. Beautiful, but surely in contradiction to the first wooden parquet floors that were specifically installed to provide a warmer surface at Versailles.

Below: two "French Parquet" marble floor designs from Marble Systems, cited in detail at the end of this page.

But in this article we are not referring simply to a nice solid wood plank floor like the one above. We refer more-narrowly to "true parquet flooring": a wood floor surface made up of more-intricately-laid smaller segments of wood, often less than 1" wide and less than 6" long, but varying significantly by design and material.

Below, the parquet floor in the Samuel Morse home in Poughkeepsie, New York was laid in a herringbone pattern with a simple border. The presenceof a few boards whose color does not match their neighbors might be signs of previous resotration or repair work.

For most people, a true parquet (geometric wood designed) floor meant beauty and luxury. The following is Ristilammi's quote of Max Lundgren:

The Swedish writer Max Lundgren describes when his family moved to a modern apartment in the late 40´s:

I had been to Malmö before, yet I was struck dumb when I stood at the vanload of furniture looking up at our house. The apartment was on the fourth floor. The elevator buzzed and I was standing there breathless: with elevators being stuck. I was holding a terrified women by the hand; my mother was in cold sweat./.../The apartment had three rooms and a lounge.

The living-room had parquet-flooring. Before this my mother had only read about parquet-floors. It was considered as a luxury of almost sinful proportions. Even with our shoes off, me and my sister were forbidden to trod the floor.

Not until long afterwards have I understood what happened to my mother that october day when we moved to Malmö.

She took the step from one age of time to another; precisely in the same way as thousands of other women at the same time. (Lundgren in Carlström 1985:10f, translation by author) - (Ristilammi 2018)

Parquet Flooring Trouble: Cause & Cure

...

Having inspected buildings where parquet flooring is installed, and having restored a few parquet floors and repaired others, naturally one forms opinions about parquet floors, their installation, care and repair.

Older parquet floors may need attention to address the following:

• Loose parquet flooring sections that need to be re-glued.
  
  Watch out: if you start nailing down parquet flooring segments you may find you cause more to come loose, and the nail heads become an eyesore as well.
  
  I prefer to remove,clean, and re-glue loose parquet floor segments.
• Damaged parquet floor surfaces such as gouges or wear in heavily-used areas.
  
  Watch out: don't be in hurry to sand a parquet floor to restore its surface. You may find that you cause more harm than good, loosening parquet floor segments or making the floor so thin as to become ever more fragile.
  
  I prefer to use more-gentle liquid cleaners designed for wood flooring, or if necessary, a finish stripper, followed by steel wool buffing and refinishing.
  
  Watch out: some parquet installation glues and chemicals may be hazardous to your health. (Tammaro 2013)

...

Above: parquet flooring damage from leaks at a steam radiator and from decades of watering plants directly onto the wood parquet.

• Pet stains - shown below, have pretty much ruined this area of parquet wood flooring. More about recognizing, preventing, or trying to salvage pet-stained floors is
  
  at ANIMAL STAINS & MARKS in BUILDINGS

• Water damage from spills, radiator leaks, or other plumbing leaks that has resulted in stains or gaps between flooring segments like those shown in my photo above.
  
  Gaps in wood parquet flooring may occur for several reasons, but the common underlying cause is a moisture problem.
  
  We've also found parquet flooring and other wood floors suffering gaping or warping damage when installed over radiant heat floor systems that were not quite designed for that finished surface or that were run at a too-high temperature.
  
  WOOD FLOOR RADIANT HEAT has details.
  
  Watch out: don't just push wood filler into these parquet flooring gaps. If you do that the gaps will simply become larger as the wood moisture level increases, then dries out the flooring may become detached from its glued-on fabric backer and have to be nailed down - as was done to the antique parquet wood floor we show below.
  
  Details are at GAPS BETWEEN FLOOR BOARDS
• Health concerns: a review of the history of parquet flooring lurches into a number of research articles describing building occupant health hazards to flooring installers or building occupants, generally focused on the chemicals used in those coatings or treatments or adhesives, not on the nature of wood or parquet designs themselves. (Pavlič 2021 and others)
  
  In fact, moving from living quarters dominated by wall to wall carpeting to spaces whose floors produce and hold far less dust, including parquet floors, may be associated with a reduction in asthma and allergies in those cases. (Deng 2021)

Antique Wood Parquet Flooring

This photo wood parquet flooring and a wood inlay parquet border is installed in a Poughkeepsie home built ca 1900.

This floor had been sanded so thin that only the most gentle, non-destructive re-finishing was feasible.

Where parquet sections had come loose a previous owner had secured them with many tiny wire nails.

These were removed by the author [DF], loose pieces were cleaned, and the repaired sections were re-glued to a backer and replaced in the floor.

Below: another butcher-block style parquet floor that we found in Mexico City in 2015.

Now let's look at some wannabe parquet flooring products made of vinyl or other plastics.

Parquet Pattern Vinyl Floor Tiles & Sheet Flooring

On 2018-01-08 by (mod) - asbestos found in 1963 parquet pattern vinyl floor tiles

Tim

You should be able to type a comment and click the picture frame to bring up a menu that lets you select an image from your computer or phone.

I see your faux parquetry image below.

Some of those floor products did contain asbestos.

On 2018-01-03 by Tim

Hi. My text re faux parquetry tiles seemed to disappear when the picture uploaded. I'll try again.

The tiles are approx 1963 vintage, measure 300 mm X 300 mm X 1.6 mm, have no backs and where lifting due to water damage they crack cleanly without dust of crumble.

Can you advise, please? Cheers, Tim

Re faux parquetry floor tiles - try this photo. [Image above]

On 2018-04-27 by (mod) - early 1970's gray-green parquet pattern vinyl tile flooring asbestos

If that is in fact a vinyl tile it looks like a faux parquet from the 1970s

On 2018-04-27 by amyeverett99

My home was built in 1968. These are the tiles under the top peel and stick tiles.

Under these old tiles the concrete is black.

Parquet Peel-and-Stick Floor Covering

Below, in a photo from a reader asking about asbestos floor tiles, the "... first layer is newer peel and stick dark brown. under that is the gold diamond pattern and underlayment over wood floor."

Wood Parquet Flooring History, Suppliers & Products

Illustration: more details of the South Grand Avenue home parquet flooring, Poughkeepsie, NY.

• American Cork Products Co. www.amcork.com Prefinished parquet tiles and floating floor planks
• Arlanova, Maria, Sergey Pavlov, and Leonid Yablonskii. "Restoration of historical mansions built in Russian province at the beginning of XX century." In MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 193, p. 04016. EDP Sciences, 2018.
  Excerpt:
  It is necessary to restore parquet flooring by removing the old remnants, sanding and ...
• Danu, S. "Economic analysis of radiation surface coating of parquet flooring." Majalah BATAN 22, no. 3/4 (1989): 37-49.
  Abstract:
  The surface coating of mosaic parquet flooring has been done using electron beam and UV irradiation in a pilot scale and technically successful. Economic analysis of the coating process will be discussed in this paper.
  
  Four kinds of irradiated parquet flooring were used for comparing costs and important factors on the analysis such as capital, production cost, selling price, break-event point, payout time and internal rate of return. The results showed there the higher quality of the products, the higher are its production cost and selling price.
  
  The selling price of irradiated parquet flooring per m2 for process A, B, C and D were Rp. 20,700; Rp. 23,900; Rp. 24,500; and Rp. 25,000 at the lowest profit level of 10% and RP. 25,500; Rp. 34,700; Rp. 35,500; and Rp. 36,400 at the highest profit level of 150% of the fixed capital. The total capital required were Rp. 1.9 billion up to 3.3 billion.
• Deng, Xinlei, George Thurston, Wangjian Zhang, Ian Ryan, Connie Jiang, Haider Khwaja, Xiaobo Romeiko et al. "Application of data science methods to identify school and home risk factors for asthma and allergy-related symptoms among children in New York." Science of The Total Environment 770 (2021): 144746.
  Excerpst:
  ... The top contributing factors identified for asthma were family rhinitis history (relative … , while those having carpet in house, having parquet flooring in the bedroom, being exposed to
  Conclusion:
  Family rhinitis history, bedroom carpet, and pollen triggers were the most important risk factors for both asthma and allergy-related symptoms. Our new findings included that hot-water radiator was related to reduced asthma symptoms, and the combination of young age, rhinitis history, and bedroom carpeting was related to increased asthma symptoms.
• Eldeeb, Ayah. "Recycling Agricultural Waste as a Part of Interior Design and Architectural History in Egypt." (2017).
  
  Abstract excerpt:
  This research examines the problem of palm fronds (agricultural materials) as a wasted renewable source in Egypt. It will attempt to find methods to link these materials with Egyptian handicrafts using new treatments in manufacturing with the cradle to cradle idea to produce compressed panels, wallpapers and other objects used in interior design.
  Excerpts:
  Palm frond parquet tiles in the flooring industry is a great victory for this raw material that is … Photographs of (a) Palm frond parquet Flooring (b) Room with Palm frond parquet Flooring …
• Green, W. R. Wood plastic composite parquet flooring production experience and economics. No. EURISOTOP--55. 1972.
• Gustine, Andrew D. THE COMMON WOOD FLOOR: INTERPRETATION AND TREATMENT OF WOOD PLANK FLOORING IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS [PDF] (2002). Thesis, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved 2021/04/12 original source: https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1458&context=hp_theses
• Hagan, Susannah. "Parquet Floors: the natures that architecture imitates." Architecture and Culture 2, no. 2 (2014): 193-204.
• Jandl, H Ward, REHABILITATING INTERIORS in HISTORIC BUILDINGS [PDF] U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, Perservation Briefs (un-dated) , retrieved 2022/06/29, original source: https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/preservedocs/preservation-briefs/18Preserve-Brief-Interiors.pdf
• La Mantia, Emanuele. RESTORATION OF KIMIS TIS THEOTOKOY MONASTERY Requalification and “new normality" [PDF] - retrieved 2/22/06/29 origial source: http://www.sustainablemediterraneanconstruction.eu/SMC/The_Magazine_n_13_files/1323.pdf
  Excerpts:
  The first floor is divided into eight rooms, all with wooden floors and parquet flooring. ... . All rooms are paved with parquet on a wooden floor. This last floor was rebuilt after the collapse caused by the 1886 earthquake.
• Marble Systems, 2737 Dorr Avenue Fairfax, VA 22031 USA, Phone: (703) 204 1818 Web: https://www.marblesystems.com/contact-us/ - source of the marble parquet image cited above on this page. The company has offices in New York, Maryland, California, Florida, New Jersey Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
• McCoy, Katharine. "The Political and Revolutionary Implications of the Mysterious History of Parquet Flooring." In Inquiry@ Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings. 2018.
  Abstract:
  This presentation seeks to ask about the potential political implications of the history of parquet flooring. This is to prove that while politics indeed shape art, art also has a hand in shaping politics; and it is more symbiotic than generally assumed.
  
  Using empirical quantitative and qualitative research, I traced the origins of parquet flooring to the Palace at Versailles. This is where wood and the techniques of marquetry were first used to replace a marble floor in the King’s bedroom.
  
  The marble was too cold, and as the King’s Bedroom had a number of issues with drafts, it added to the health risk to keep the marble floor. Changing the marble to wood, but keeping the pattern of a marble floor allowed for the aesthetics of marble without the hazard.
  
  This presentation will look at the history of parquet flooring and apply it to the political climate of pre-revolutionary France. It will first address the research required to find the origins of the flooring. It will then argue the necessity of parquet flooring, along with other later features of the palace, as symbolic of the flaws of absolutism. Finally, the presentation will how this symbolic art fits into the complicated relationship between politics and art.
• Miller, William Clarence. DISTRIBUTION of PARQUET FLOORING during 1969. Vol. 218. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture, 1972.
  Excerpt:
  Data were obtained on shipments by manufacturers of 22,2 13,900 square feet of hardwood parquet flooring. The parquet flooring data collected included hardwood unit block and mosaic parquet block floorings; it did not include hardwood laminated block flooring. There are no formal statistical data on parquet flooring; however, the author, in consultation with industry sources, estimated the total U. S. parquet flooring shipments to be 27,200,000 square feet during 1969.
• Moser, Roger, Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy, and Tom Callarman. ... market entry of Belcolor Ltd Flooring into China [PDF] (2014). Roger Moser / Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy (Asia Connect Center, University of St.Gallen) Tom Callarman (CEIBS) -retrieved 2022/06/29, original source: https://acc.unisg.ch/-/media/dateien/instituteundcenters/acc/acc-hsg-belcolor-final.pdf
  Abstract except:
  Belcolor Ltd Flooring needed to open up new markets for its niche manufacturing activities focussing on parquet flooring solutions.
• Pavlič, Matjaž, Marko Petrič, and Jure Žigon. "Interactions of coating and wood flooring surface system properties." Coatings 11, no. 1 (2021): 91.
• Ristilammi, Per-Markku. A SPACE OF SWEDISH ALTERITY IN TIMES OF AUSTERITY [PDF] (draft) In 14th International Conference on Urban History,“Urban renewal and resilience: Cities in comparative perspective”, Rome, Italy (August 29th-September 1st, 2018). European Association for Urban History, 2018.
• Ruiz, Federico, and Gustavo Lopez. "Review of cultivation history and uses of eucalypts in Spain." In Conference of Eucalyptus species management, history, status and trends in Ethiopia Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 15th‐17th September. 2010.
  Excerpt:
  in Spain we can find historical references to the use of solid eucalypts wood for the manufacture of parquet flooring ...
• Tammaro, Antonella, Giorgia Cortesi, Alessandra Narcisi, Claudia Abruzzese, Francesca Romana Parisella, Gabriele Ermini, and Severino Persechino. "Occupational contact dermatitis from pyrocatechol in parquet flooring." Occupational and environmental medicine 70, no. 1 (2013): 71-71.
• Valenti, Micheal. "Restoring a piece of history." Mechanical Engineering 121, no. 04 (1999): 62-66.
  Abstract excerpt:
  This article discusses that the French have traditionally maintained the appearance of their historic buildings by using the same materials and techniques used by the artisans who originally constructed them.
• Van Trump, James D. "The Sutton-Elkin House, Breezedale, in Indiana, Pennsylvania: A Historical and Stylistic Analysis and a Program for Its Restoration. [PDF] Western Pennsylvania History: 1918-2018 (1973): 107-128.
  
  Numerous references to requirements for restoration of parquet flooring.
• WHS, PRESERVING WOOD FLOORS in YOUR HISTORIC BUILDING [PDF] Wisconsin Hstorical Society, 16 State Street, Madison, WI 53706 USA, Tel: Library- 608-264-6535, retrieved 2022/06/29, original source: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4162

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2021-01-10 - by (mod) -

@Jay

That flooring is typically called a parquet pattern and was produced in versions that contained asbestos - so your floor may contain asbestos; as you suggest the best course of action is to leave it alone, in place, covered over with new flooring; Where there is a bit of debris to clean up use damp wiping and if vacuuming is needed use a HEPA-rated vacuum.

On 2021-01-10 by Jay

Recently purchased house, 1970 construction. Pulled up carpet in lower bedroom and found this flooring.

Couldn't find a match, as I didn't see anything on the website that had asbestos tiles with fake wood grain. These are 9x9 tiles.

Do these appear to be asbestos? If so, is there any issue putting peel&stick vinyl planks directly over top of them? I'm setting the room up as a gym.

The existing tiles are in good shape, surface is smooth. The only issues are a few places along the edges of the room where they nailed carpet tack boards and split some of the tiles. Any issues with those splits?

On 2019-11-30 - by (mod) - asbestos in faux-wood parquet vinyl floor tile?

@Erin Brown, Yes, depending on age and country of manufacture, some vinyl parquet-pattern floor tiles contain asbestos. To make an educated guess, see details at

DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

Or should demolition become necessary, you'd want to test a sample for asbestos.

On 2019-11-30 by Erin Brown

Hello! We are replacing the floors in our kitchen and under the first layer, came across this vinyl tile. It’s a faux wood parquet pattern, laid on top of a plywood subfloor, and a 12x12 measurement.

Don’t have much info about the date, somewhere between 1930-2000. Is this likely to contain asbestos?

On 2019-07-09 by (mod)

Sharon, I'm not sure what visual cue you are asking about.

I see

- a dead fly

- filler used between what may be parquet flooring

- a bit of shrinkage between floor boards

- very fine straight line scratches as if someone moved a dirty flat-bottomed object over the floor

On 2019-07-07 by Sharon

Hi,
Could you kindly advise the cause for damage shown in photos below:

On 2018-09-22 by (mod) - composition of 1979 vinyl asbestos parquet-style floor tiles

Vinyl with a backer, considering age

if in the U.S. or Canada, good chance of containing asbestos.

On 2018-09-22 by jamusky11

Can anyone tell me what this flooring is made of? It was installed circa 1979.

On 2018-03-12 by (mod) - wire across the back of my parquet wood squares

Dan

Thank you for an interesting question.

I have seen cord-bound parquet floor squares and wire-bound squares but don't have a differentiating date - yet. Parquet flooring was also sold glued to a canvas or other backer.

Please use the picture frame icon next to the page bottom Comment button to post here some photos of the floor as well as closeups of the front and back of the flooring.

Those details will help us to research the question further.

On 2018-03-12 by Dan B

The small strips of wood in the parquet floor squares in my house are held together by two strips of wire run across the backs. Does that manufacturing method indicate an approximate age of the floor?.

On 2019-12-25 by (mod) - possible asbestos in 1983 Armstrong Solariam Parquet pattern flooring

Max, at

DOES THIS FLOORING CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

we see that

In North America

if asphalt or vinyl floor tiles or sheet flooring were made or installed before 1986,

treat the floor as presumed to contain asbestos.

On 2019-12-21 by Max

Does this tile have asbestos? It's Armstrong custom solariam dated 1983

Question: repair procedures for cat urine stained parquet floor and damaged subfloor

4/28/2014 Elizabeth said:

I am pulling up wall to wall carpeting due to cat urine staining. Under the padding I found that the original flooring is parquet wood flooring from the 1970's.

For the most part the parquet is okay. However, there are a couple spots around the edges by the wall where the damage looks pretty bad; the wood looks moldy and rotten.

In those spots should I just pull up the rotten floor, and put a new subfloor down? Also is it true that if I paint the parquets floor with Kilz mold resistant paint, it will prevent the cat urine odor from being detected?

I do not want the cat to go back to the same spot and pee again after I have put new flooring down. By the way, I am replacing the carpeting with tile.

Reply: how to fix the floor and convince the cat to pee elsewhere

Yes Elizabeth what you suggest sounds reasonable. Replacing bad flooring, sealing the new surface, are good steps, though if there is even the smallest remaining cat-peed material the cat will find that area attractive for a new visit.

I'd seal the whole area with a clear sealant or polyurethane before installing the new tile.

The tile will make an additional seal.

The tile mastic and polyurethane odor won't smell that great to the cat and will be discouraging to him or her.

Finally, If it won't be a trip hazard I'd leave a few mothballs in the area for a few months after the job is complete. Cats are even less likley to enjoy sniffing mothballs and so less likely to pee there.

(June 11, 2014) Elizabeth said:
Hi Daniel,

I have been pulling up the wall to wall carpet in sections, cleaning the area, then applying three coats of the Kilz paint. (As you may remember the flooring underneath is the old parquet wood flooring from the 70's) Well, the section where I found some rotten wood, I pulled it up completely.

But there are a few spots where the wood seemed okay, but even with three coats of Kilz paint I keep getting this light yellowish brownish stain that is pulling through the Kilz paint.

Should I just keep trying to cover it with the Kilz paint? It is not wet, and I waited for the floor to be completely dry before I started painting as well as in between each coat.

(I'm pretty sure I don't live in the Amittyville Horror house so the stains are not evil - Just kidding!) My plan is to finish the whole floor with the kilz paint, then put the sealant over the whole floor, then put down the tile.

What do you think about these random spots?

Thanks for your help again,

Elizabeth

Reply:

E.

Try a lacquer primer/sealer such as Bin or Enamelac if you want no stain bleed-through.

Question: can floor refinishing lead to buckled parquet flooring?

(June 19, 2014) Gina said:

Hello. My fiancé and I purchased a 3 bedroom duplex apartment over a year ago that needed major renovations. It had beautiful parquet floors that were scratched, few loose tiles, and water damage in a few corners. We were told that it was in the Brazilian cherry family when we were searching for replacement tiles.

Also told that we should rip up the closet floors instead as these were impossible to find being from decades ago.

That being the said, the floors were in pretty good shape. We had them repaired and refinished this April.

They looked fantastic. Then mid May we noticed some buckling on both levels of the apartment. The flooring company was immediately called. Floors were evaluated.

They were taking no responsibility. The floors have gotten progressively worse.

There are mountains in every single room where there is parquet. This led to another phone call and evaluation.

Now the floors are unsalvageable. It has to be torn out and a new floor has to be put in. The parquet was glued directly onto the cement floor, its dry.

It's been humid and we've had some severe rain these past few months. I understand that these can be major causes for buckling. We spoke to the super of the building and he's as shocked as we are.

Those floors have never given the previous owner any problems. Nor has anyone else in the building had any issues in the past few months.

Nor did we have any problems during the past year while we were DIYing the apartment.

What caused this major uprising of the floors?

Reply: diagnose the parquet flooring problem cause before trying to fix it

Gina, indeed the problem you describe would be upsetting.

I'm unclear on how repair or refinishing a floor would cause later buckling unless the procedure trapped moisture below OR the repair job failed to leav free expansion space around the floor perimeter. You need an onsite diagnosis by an expert.

Only if something were spilled or there were a burst pipe that flooded the floor or flooded beneath floor would I expect the major floor buckling that you describe.

Or if the floor has been removed ,possibly a detailed examination of installation photos might suggest the cause.

On 2014-10-21 - by (mod) - asbestos tiles that looked like wood parquet that are six inch size?

Yes as well as in other odd and custom-cut sizes and strips.

On 2014-10-21 by Anonymous

Is there any asbestos tiles that looked like wood parquet that are six inch size?

Question: how to remove milky white cloudy spots on a finished parquet wood floor

(Aug 21, 2012) kc said:

i have parquet flooring in the bedroom. there are two types of patches one white. one is small white spots that became bigger.

one is distinct rectangular shaped white patch which is likely caused by the steamer. what could have caused the small white spots? and can a steamer cause white patches to appear? :(

(Nov 28, 2012) Marlene said:

Has anyone a solution for engineered wood floor bleeding through? We have had many experts examine floor with no answers. Not water. Not mold. Ty

4/5/2014 janethompson@dorseyalston.com said:

I have walnut flooring in my home of 6-7 years. Now I am noticing milky or cloudy spots throughout the floor.
what has caused this and can I cure it without refinishing the floor?

This Q&A were posted originally

at WOOD FLOOR DAMAGE REPAIR

Reply:

Jane we need some diagnosis here.
Try scraping or scrubbing the white area gently with a green 3M scrubby sponge - if it is easy to remoe you can probably clean off what is a surface deposit.

If, as I suspect, floor finish was placed over humid boards, the moisture bloom is underneath the coating and the fix would involve sanding and re-finishing as well as checking that there's no ongoing moisture problem.

Check the boards for cupping that will also be a moisture-exposure clue.

...

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