Is parquet floor....Traditional or trendy/tacky?

[Freshlasagnesheet]

Dh and I have finally saved enough money to change floors and paint etc.

We have kids and dogs, so I want something low maintenance and something timeless and traditional. I don’t want a passing trend as I won’t be able to change floors again in a long time.

I mentally settled on light wood parquet, as was told light wood is less likely to show scratches. But now seeing parquet all over Instagram?

Has herringbone parquet become trendy to the point we will look back and think it’s become tacky? Should I just go with classic dark wood planks?

Help please!

(Also not a jab at anyone with parquet, I obviously love it too)

@GrumpyHoonMain

I like it but in my opinion it’s only good when coming in tile form and even then just in the corridor (and even then only if you don’t wear shoes in the house). Proper parquet scratches like fuck and is so difficult to maintain - still remember how untidy school assembly floors looked.

But not many people have three or four hundred pairs of feet going over their floor every day. I used to work in an old school with fabulous original flooring, it was always a joy to see it in September when the caretaker, whose pride it was, had spent the summer polishing and sealing it.

And ok, after a week it looked a mess, but hey, all those feet, daily, for a hundred years, and it still polished up a treat.

Depends on if you like it or not. I loathe it - just hate the look of it. I might buy a modern house with parquet (but would tear it up and put down non parquet hardwood floors). I would never buy an older house with parquet because I would feel too guilty tearing it up but couldn't live with it. Our house has the original hardwood floors from 1911.

[quote user27378]@EmmaStone do you have a Vlog? I used to watch a vlogger who had reclaimed gym flooring complete with random coloured floor markings and it looked amazing.[/quote]
Haha, no but sounds fab. The floor markings all came off as part of the sanding process :)

I think it’s classic

@Freshlasagnesheet

Thanks all!

Positive comments and my house is 1930s so hopefully will suit its character. (unfortunately no original parquet flooring, that would have been amazing!)

I’m rethinking the floor in the kitchen though, as so many have advised against it. So may have to rethink what to do there, problem is it’s open plan.

A house I went to recently had wood effect tiles in the kitchen that matched amazingly well with the wood flooring on the rest of the ground floor - I had to bend down to check it wasn’t wood.

I have a yearning for a 1930's house just for the parquet. I couldn't put it in a house that didn't already have because I'm obviously entirely insane I would consider it cheating.

Go for it, it will look wonderful. (But only herringbone, I'm afraid the square parquet always reminds me of church halls).

@Susannahmoody

Almost 40 years old and still going strong!

This is identical to my lounge floor, which was there when we moved in, I love it.

There is parquet in the school I work in and as a PP says, it polishes up like glass every year, despite less than ideal treatment the rest of the year (looking at you, Bradley in year 9 who decided to surf down the corridor on a Wet Floor sign)

Enough of the laminate hate though! We don't all have £££ to spend on real floors, and decent quality laminate is an inoffensive beast

I have always had wooden flooring. As a child we lived in a big old Victorian vicarage with wooden floors and then moved to a 1970's house with proper parquet flooring. As an adult every house I have owned has floorboards, restored and sanded professionally because I have always loved it, probably because it is what I have grown up with rather than because of trends. Proper wooden flooring is not really a trend, some people just chose to cover it in carpets for a few decades.

The thing about wooden flooring is it can be timeless.Cheap laminate, immitation Herringbone etc dates very quickly and I suppose that is tacky. I lost count of the number of houses we looked at which should have had period floors but were replaced with cheap alternatives. The same applies in modern properties, no reason for a wooden floor to look out of place but only a quality one will really age well. If you plan to stay and want it, go for it!

Also to add, a properly treated wooden floor is bomb proof. A quick amateur sand and a coat of varnish and it will look crap and will not last. Professionals to repair and sand and then they apply the hundreds of coats of varnish. Our ground floor took days but it was worth it.

I think "classic dark wood planks" are far more trendy. Parquet is timeless.

Nc as my sister will recognise but here's my new herringbone. No Hague Blue here, it's too dark for my smallish dining room.

I really love it, I appreciate others may think it's tacky etc but it's my first home and I like it!

It's from direct wood flooring OP, may not be what you are looking for but it was a great price and the floor man commented that it seemed really good quality.

Just RTFT and can see that's it's not what you're wanting OP, but still a good recommendation for other posters who might come across this thread

I can’t imagine fo one moment our floors would ever be considered trendy. Wobbly bits of wood with many decades of bleaching and staining.

@diningroomfloorlady

Nc as my sister will recognise but here's my new herringbone. No Hague Blue here, it's too dark for my smallish dining room.

I really love it, I appreciate others may think it's tacky etc but it's my first home and I like it!

It's from direct wood flooring OP, may not be what you are looking for but it was a great price and the floor man commented that it seemed really good quality.

THat's lovely!

@1starwars2 where did you get your bamboo one from please?

Our bamboo came from The Bamboo Flooring Company.

I have always had stripped and varnished floors, but recently they needed resanding and varnishing, I like things to look natural, and never wanted laminated flooring, however as I am all for an easy life I went for Karndean flooring, over the whole ground floor, with a 25 year guarantee, it should see me out! Their parquet selection is lovely.