Our experts – professionals in the field of construction and repair have analyzed the properties and features of two similar materials for flooring – parquet and engineered boards, made a comparative analysis of their advantages and disadvantages, which will help you make the right choice.
Parquet board
High-tech product, which is made by gluing two or three layers of wood materials. The lower as well as the middle layer is made of coniferous wood, while the upper, front layer is made of valuable wood species. Each layer is placed so that the wood fibers are perpendicular to the fibers of the other layer. This gives the parquet flooring strength and resistance to changes in humidity and temperature variations. The thickness of the top layer can vary between 0,5-6 mm with an overall thickness of up to 22 mm.
Parquet standard sizes: length within 1.8-2.5 m, width 140-200 mm, thickness from 14 to 22 mm.
According to the norms of the State standard flooring is classified into three types:
Type PD-1 – has a base of one layer of wood, which is recruited from individual slats, formed in rectangles or squares, which are arranged perpendicular to each other. Along the longitudinal edges of the base are passed long slats;
PD-2 type – with a base of one layer of long slats, arranged along the length;
PD-3 type – with a double-layer base, made of laths or veneer, with the fibres of each layer perpendicular to each other. The bottom layer is placed with the direction of the fibers along the length, the middle layer is perpendicular. The thickness of the layer may be up to 8-9 mm, in it make grooves and ridges for locking joints.
The most common and widely used is the three-layer parquet type PD-3. Manufacturers produce parquet fully ready for use, the front layer which is coated in several layers of lacquer, which does not require finishing work after installation, such as piece parquet. Also the front layer of the products can be subjected to different methods of treatment – impregnation with oils, varnish toning of different shades, brushing (artificial aging) to give special color and texture to the products.
If the products are cut tongue and groove made at the sides, then the parquet can be laid like a laminate – with the formation of locks at the junction of adjacent products, that is, “floating” method without gluing to the base. If the tongue and groove is not present, it is glued to the subfloor at the joints.
Engineered planking
Engineer board is relatively new in construction practice. Is a product of two layers of glued wood materials, in which the base is made of multilayer waterproof plywood (usually birch), the upper, front layer – of precious wood species. In the plywood base layer make notches and combs to create lock joints when laying. For the upper layer solid wood plates are used, in contrast to the parquet block, in which the front layer can be selected from individual boards.
The sizes manufactured by manufacturers: length varies from 50 to 600 cm, width 120-450 mm, thickness in the range 12-20 mm.
The face layer can be subjected to the same finishing operations as parquet – oiling, varnishing or brushing.
Table advantages and disadvantages
NAME | VALUES | DISADVANTAGES |
PARQUET FLOORING | + EASY AND FAST LAYING IN COMPARISON WITH PARQUET; + NO ADDITIONAL POST-LAYING FINISHING WORK IS REQUIRED; + ECO-FRIENDLINESS – FULLY MADE OF NATURAL WOOD; + AESTHETICALLY ATTRACTIVE APPEARANCE, ALLOWING YOU TO CREATE RICH INTERIORS; + HIGH DURABILITY AND RESISTANCE TO CHANGES IN HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE INDOORS; + GOOD REPAIRABILITY – IF DAMAGED, IT IS ENOUGH TO REPLACE ONE OR MORE BOARDS WITHOUT CHANGING THE ENTIRE COATING; + THE POSSIBILITY OF DISMANTLING AND USE THE COATING IN ANOTHER ROOM; + DURABILITY – SERVICE LIFE CAN BE COUNTED IN DOZENS OF YEARS. | – RELATIVELY HIGH COST; – IT DOES NOT ALLOW STRONG HUMIDIFICATION, THEREFORE IT REQUIRES OBSERVANCE OF HUMIDITY MODE IN A PREMISE; – THE NEED TO USE FOR ONE ROOM OF ONE MANUFACTURER’S BATCH OF PRODUCTS WITH THE SAME COLOR AND TEXTURE OF THE FRONT LAYER; – THE LIMITED NUMBER OF SCRAPING OPERATIONS DURING THE REPAIR BECAUSE OF THE SMALL THICKNESS OF THE SURFACE LAYER; – HIGH REQUIREMENTS TO THE SUBSTRATE; – IT CANNOT BE USED IN THE SYSTEM “WARM FLOOR” AS THE PROBABILITY OF WARPING OF WOOD IS GREAT; – THE CONSIDERABLE THICKNESS OF THE PRODUCTS CAUSES DIFFICULTIES AT JOINING WITH OTHER TYPES OF FLOORING – FOR THE TRANSITION REQUIRES THE DEVICE THRESHOLDS; – CAN ONLY BE LAID IN A “DECK” METHOD, THAT IS, IN ONE DIRECTION; – WHEN SMOOTHING THE FLOORING, LAID BY THE “FLOATING” METHOD EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT (NON-VIBRATING SANDER) AND HIGH QUALIFICATION OF OPERATORS ARE REQUIRED |
ENGINEERED BOARD | + HIGH STRENGTH, GEOMETRIC STABILITY; + HIGH RESISTANCE TO TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY FLUCTUATIONS; + GOOD SOUNDPROOFING PROPERTIES; + CAN BE USED FOR THE FACE COATING IN THE SYSTEM “WARM FLOOR” AS IT IS NOT AFRAID OF TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS; + THE SMALL THICKNESS OF THE PRODUCTS DOES NOT CAUSE DIFFICULTIES IN JOINING WITH OTHER TYPES OF FLOOR COVERINGS; + AESTHETIC APPEAL OF THE APPEARANCE; + POSSIBILITY TO LAY IN DIFFERENT WAYS – WITH THE FORMATION OF PATTERNS, HERRINGBONE, SQUARES, ETC.p.; + ECO-FRIENDLINESS – THE PRODUCTS ARE MADE FROM THE PRODUCTS OF NATURAL WOOD PROCESSING; + DURABILITY – SERVICE LIFE – 30-40 YEARS; + THE POSSIBILITY OF INDIVIDUAL ORDERING BY COLOR AND FORMAT; + THE POSSIBILITY OF MULTIPLE SCRAPING AND VARNISHING DUE TO THE SIGNIFICANT THICKNESS OF THE FRONT LAYER; | – COMPARATIVELY HIGH PRICE; – MORE LABOR-INTENSIVE INSTALLATION IN COMPARISON WITH THE LABOR-INTENSIVE INSTALLATION OF FLOORING; – DIFFICULTIES IN THE CASE OF REPAIR, BECAUSE IT IS MORE COMPLICATED TO DISASSEMBLE THE COATING THAN, FOR EXAMPLE, PARQUET; – THE BONDING METHOD SHOULD ALWAYS BE USED WHEN LAYING SINCE THE FLOORING IS PRONE TO WARPING WITHOUT BEING BONDED TO THE SUBFLOOR. |
The main differences between the materials
The main differences between the materials are as follows:
Parquet board can be assembled from individual slats and planks, in the manufacture of engineering board uses solid lamellas of wood for the front layer and solid plywood blanks for the base;
engineering board is less sensitive to changes in humidity indoors, it can be used in systems “warm floor”;
When covering with engineering board does not need to leave a deformation gap around the perimeter of the room, it is also easier to design joints with other floor coverings;
when laying engineered boards it is recommended to use adhesive fastening to the substrate, unlike the parquet board, which can be laid in any way.
What are the similarities of the materials
The similarities between the materials are as follows:
Both materials are multi-layered natural wood products for front flooring;
the upper, front layers of both materials are made of precious wood, subjected to the same treatment;
Both materials can be used to make floors for the same purpose;
When laying the flooring is used locking joints;
Both materials are environmentally friendly because they are made from natural wood;
products are durable, do not lose their texture and do not fade under the sun’s ultraviolet radiation during the entire service life;
Coverings made of both materials have about the same attractive appearance with the texture of natural wood.
Conclusions: The materials are very similar in their properties and appearance, but the engineered board has some advantage due to a wider area of application, resistance to moisture and temperature fluctuations, a variety of laying methods.
