Warm, comfortable, timeless, of great natural beauty, insulating, and adaptable to all decorative styles. Wooden floors have many qualities that make them an ideal option for any home. Although they often carry the (undeserved) fame of being delicate and needing a lot of care, the truth is that there are options suitable for every need. And yes: also for kitchens, bathrooms and spaces with a lot of ‘jogging’. Laura Tomás, responsible for marketing at Gabarró Hermanos, explains everything to us.

In the proposal, a bedroom with a very minimalist aesthetic that is paved with Parador parquet, which is sold at Disclosure.

What wooden floors are there today?

It has never been so easy to enjoy Wood’s beauty on the house’s floor: the range of possible floors made from this material is vast and covers all kinds of natural veneer, plank formats and finishes. Laura gives us a first classification according to its composition: solid or multilayer. Deciding between these two options is important for several reasons, especially regarding the investment required.

This is a Quick-Step multilayer parquet with a sophisticated dark finish that contrasts white furniture with a contemporary aesthetic.

What is a multilayer wood parquet?

“Multilayer parquet is, basically, a type of wooden floor in which each piece is made up of several layers of different materials (to give them greater stability), with the last layer being the only visible one and the one made up of noble Wood. With different thicknesses”.

Among the main advantages is enjoying the exclusivity and authenticity of natural Wood at more affordable prices than solid floors, with a wide variety of designs, types of Wood and finishes.

The one in the image is a proposal from Parador, for sale at Discesur, with a single-slat design that evokes traditional solid flooring and is perfect for both rustic and contemporary environments.

Can multilayer parquets be restored?

Indeed, multilayer wood floors admit restorations of their noble or use layer, which is the one that can be scratched or worn. However, logically, the number of times it can be sanded and varnished will depend on its thickness (generally, 2, 5 to 6 mm), so in practice, they will be limited to a maximum of 2 or 3 throughout the useful life of the floor.

The one in the image is a Listone Giordano proposal with a very resistant surface and a natural appearance enhanced with substances from wine.

What is a solid platform?

Unlike the previous ones, solid flooring (like this one from Junckers) is made entirely from noble woods, which makes them a floor for life which can be restored multiple times. It makes them a very exclusive product. “perfect for true lovers of wood, as it allows you to experience the comfort and elegance of this material in all its extension, including its traditional creaks”, as Laura points out.

Drawbacks? Its higher price, a somewhat more complex installation and the noise mentioned above.

Installation types

Depending on the type of installation, wooden floors can be glued to the substrate or floating.

“Glued parquet is still an option used today, but we must bear in mind that it is a form of installation that requires being more rigorous and exhaustive to ensure that the glue permeates correctly and the slats do not move with each other”, Laura explains to us. Hence the popularity of the floating installation, both for multilayer-type parquets and solid flooring.

Whatever system you choose, remember that patterned designs like this classic herringbone revisited from Pergo are all the rage.

Advantages (and disadvantages) of the floating installation

In addition to being easy to install, floating installation parquets and platforms offer the advantage of being installed on top of the existing floor without removing it, which speeds up and greatly simplifies the work. In contrast, glued installation requires removing the original pavement and having a perfectly level base.

However, the slats glued to the substrate are quieter and more comfortable underfoot than the floating ones while allowing more varied and decorative placement of boards (herringbone, checkerboard, ladder, etc.).

Style differences

The offer of wooden floor designs is so wide today that it adapts to any decorative style in its solid and multilayer versions. That said, it is no less true that the variety of proposals in multilayer parquet is much wider than that of solid flooring. The reasons are various, although perhaps the most important is that the lower amount of Wood required by the noble or use of a layer of multilayer parquets makes it feasible to use even very expensive varieties (which would be prohibitive in solid versions) in different designs, while that the solid platforms prevail the designs of a slat, which allow the Wood to be appreciated in all its extension, like the one in the image, from the Medfloor Raw series, by Gabarró Hermanos.

Which of the two is more sustainable?

Both of them. Laura explains why she is so blunt: “Wood is the most abundant renewable and available flooring material in nature. Sustainable forest management allows Wood to be harvested with minimal environmental impact since trees are a renewable resource that can be constantly replaced. Also, being a natural product, it can be recycled .”

The Hexparquet solid flooring, by Junckers, in the image is inspired by the geometric shapes present in nature, specifically in hexagons that evoke beehives.

Installation in kitchens and bathrooms

The expert is clear: neither parquet nor flooring is the ideal choice. Natural Wood is less resistant to scratches than other synthetic materials. However, it requires special attention if any liquid is spilt, as it can penetrate inside and make it necessary to replace the piece for repair.

What if we want to enjoy the warmth of Wood in these spaces? No problem: laminate flooring offers a natural, wood-like aesthetic range and interesting features.

In the bathroom in the image, a proposal by Haro, a firm that defends the use of wooden floors even in the bathroom, as long as a suitable wood is chosen, with a low level of moisture absorption, and it is carried out a specific installation.

In humid areas, better laminates.

Laura explains that laminate floors, such as those from Gabarró Hermanos Medfloor Line’s collection (in the image), have numerous advantages, including references with moisture resistance properties such as the Hidro+ range and a high level of abrasion wear (class AC5, the highest).

Of course, he warns us: “it must be taken into account that, in this case, it is not natural wood floors, but synthetic ones with a decorative upper layer that reproduces it in a very real way but that does not admit any type of restoration”.