We removed all of the old laminate flooring on our own throughout the entire home and are now left with concrete floor. We have underfloor heating.
We picked a parquet we liked after numerous painstaking visits to different showrooms, fumbled through several samples delivered to our home and made a date for installation with our local installer.
We were informed, while on Holiday, the parquet we chose is not available anymore until next year. We went on Holiday with the assumption that the floor would be done while we were gone.
Our installer is quite upset with the company and canāt really help with new ideas. He will install any floor we wish but doesnāt have any others that are similar to the one we liked. He also informed us that his installer is now on holiday for the rest of the month of August and has a full schedule for September.
Weāre at our wits end as almost all of our furniture is in storage and must live in our home now.
Have any of you recently renovated your floors with parquet and can recommend a higher quality flooring that is not DIY?
Our wish is for a calm natural oiled oak floor (with as few knots as possible).
Thanks Phil, I may in fact have to go down that route but itās quite daunting for me to put a temporary floor in only to repeat the process of moving all my furniture in and out again. That makes me want to cry.
Itās not the end of the world but I was hoping to end this project sooner rather than later.
Thanks for your suggestion, though, appreciate it.
Lucy.
Thanks Tom, the floor is produced locally but I have been looking for alternate options everywhere, Germany, Austria, here in Switzerland.
I think im just tired. There are so many finishes to consider and very difficult for me to know which is best for me. I wanted to get a floor that last as I donāt want to do this again. The laminate that the previous owners installed was absolutely finished, it lasted about 12 years ,which I guess is about right ,but Iād really like to not do this again in another 12.
I may have to wait but was hoping someone had a recommendation of a company or floor they are happy with.
My furniture is in two tents on the balconies so will need to be brought back in . I really dont have a lot of furniture anyway so itās not a problem. I have, however, found out through this whole renovation project that Iām really not very good at any of this! I will not be doing another one. Ever. god bless all of you handy people out there. Youāre amazing to me.
This. I would not rely on your specific parquet being available next year. What kind of parquet takes 6-18 months (could be December next year, right?) to produce? Sounds more like itās pulled from the store to me.
When I renovated the house 20 years ago, I - like you - agonized over the choice of parkette. (Coming from the US where we use solid wood flooring, switching to parkette already was a compromiseā¦)
I spent too much time searching, and paid an extravagent price for, the ābest qualityā parkette available. Beautifully oiled, the thickest outer layer available so it could be sanded many times. It was gorgeousā¦
ā¦ and once my furniture and rugs were in place it looked just like any other floor youāll see in Switzerland.
I could have spent a fraction of that money and ended up just has happy with the result. A floor is, afterall, utilitarian.
Next time, Iāll go for something āgood enoughā.
So my suggestion: Since it is not available, flush your ādream parketteā from your mind. Now go to three more retailers, ask what is available - guaranteed - now. Chances are if you look at what is available now with fresh eyes, youāll find something you like.
Oh, and another suggestion: When you do buy the parkette (or tile) buy extra.
20 years on, weāve just had a pipe leak, resulting in needing to drill holes in the floors for the drying machines. That drilled parkette and tiles will need replaced - and of course they are not available anymore. Luckily I had extra parkette and tile stored in a dusty corner of the cellar, otherwise Iād have to replace all the flooring in the houseā¦ and insurance likely would only cover replacement of the drilled pieces.
Why did you? You can get solid wood flooring here, in Switzerland itās called Riemenboden, in German itās Massivholzdielen. Wonderfunl stuff, Iāve only seen it in very old houses.
I was very surprised to learn here (sorry German) that solid wood planks are even cheaper than parkette. As they last much longer and can be renovated many times I donāt understand why landlords donāt lay these in flats.
Because all the experts insisted that Riemenboden would be unsuitable for underfloor heating because it is more likely to warp from the direct heat. Parkette, because it is constructed crosswise (sorry, donāt know the technical term) is more stable with underfloor heat.
That was 20 years ago - who knows if that is still true with current technology.
My old houses in Chicago had 100+ year old solid wood. And 100+ year old iron wall radiatorsā¦ In contrast, I love the comfort of underfloor heating, but it does require some esthetic compromises.
Edited to add:
In hindsight, putting such importance on parkette that can be sanded multiple times was perhaps an unnecessary expense. I could see that being a factor in a rental house, where renovation between tenants would be expected. But in a house you own, how often will you, really, be willing to pack up everything in a room and store it, so that the floor can sanded? In all likelihood, my parkette will be sanded only onceā¦ by the new owners, after I am dead.
yes, that makes total sense and Iād say itās still the case.
Renovation between tenants is not regularly done but when you read the āhelpā posts in here and learn what people do with their parkettes ā¦
In my own place I donāt think I would sand mine either (unless of damage by water or fire) as I actually think a wooden floor may well show itās been lived in.
Having that said, I do have a plastic mat under my office chair and my stokke to avoid the nasty marks.
I would never dream of putting parquet or wood flooring into a rental property.
In one rental, I recently refurbished the floor and the agent was very resistant to me going for LVP over wood or laminate as he was concerned that not going for the premium wood look/feel would adversely impact the rental value.
In the end, he was pleasantly surprised by how much vinyl plank technology had improved in the last few years.
Apart from one flat that had āLaminatā - looked okay but felt unpleasant, Iām a barefoot walker at home, and soundes horrible when not barefoot - I had parkette in every flat.
I read āvinyl flooringā in an ad on homegate and move straight on to the next ad. So we shall never meet irl, Phil
Thanks for this. I have definitely spent too much time agonizing.
I didnāt know the amount of finishes that were out there and most of the sales people of course said that their finish was āabsolutely the bestā as they make their own special mixtureā¦ La di de la de da. I got a headache. Even if it was true.
I was also confused a bit with the huge importance of being able to sand multiple times. If I choose a brushed finish then isnāt t that going to be gone after the first sanding? When I asked the l guy he agreed that it would. Perhaps itās a selling point, whatever, I assure you I donāt want to sand more then maybe once I like a patina worn effect anyway.
I wanted a quiet floor with as few knots as possible. I donāt have a lot of furniture or rugs-the less things to clean for me the better so the floor will stand out a bit more than most peoples home with beautiful furnishings and rugs. This is why I was taking a lot of time choosing.
I thank you for sharing how you spent a ton of time and in the end anything in the range of what you like is āgood enoughā
. I really dont have a lot of furniture anyway so itās not a problem. I have, however, found out through this whole renovation project that Iām really not very good at any of this! I will not be doing another one. Ever. 
god bless all of you handy people out there. Youāre amazing to me.