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FINISHING AND MAINTAINING PARQUET

For the love of natural elements like wood we hereby continue with our examination of parquet, exploring the subject from the points of view of finish and maintenance. With the exception of pre-finished parquet, which is ready to walk on just a few hours after being layed, all other parquet floors need a series of treatments before the surface of the wood is ready for the final finish.
After having planed the parquet, the cracks must be filled and then the whole floor must be sanded. At the end of this process you have a compact, perfectly smooth surface without any cracks. At this point there's nothing left to do but choose your type of finish: paint, wax or oil.

Paint finish
Once the paint is dry and hardened it forms a thin film over the surface of the wood. This protection makes the parquet impermeable and tougher with respect to external forces. It is important to lay down more than one coat of paint (and remember to sand each layer between laying down the next); this will make the paint tougher. Maintenance of painted parquet can be done with a rag dampened with water and a neutral detergent for wood floors. You can also periodically use protective products based on a water soluble resin self-polishing or not.

Wax finish
A wax finish allows the wood to "breathe" because it doesn't create an impermeable film on the external surface. For maintenance, you can use water and neutral detergent for parquet applied with a soft cloth, whereas deep cleaning can be done with a solvent for the wax. Then the wax will be reapplied and polished.

Oil finish
An oil finish like the wax finish allows the wood to "breathe". The oil impregnates the wood saturating its pores; it protects well without however forming a film on the surface. From the aesthetic point of view oil accents the tones of the wood.
Here again maintenance can be carried out with water and neutral detergent for parquet. Then you can apply a liquid wax suitable for oil finishes. To polish the parquet you can use a polishing machine or a cloth with natural fibers.

Whatever finish you choose, remember that paint is generally the easiest finish to maintain. Oil and wax treatments permit you to have a parquet floor which is warmer and has richer tones, but requires more care. For this reason these two types of finish work better in rooms where foot traffic, or external forces in general, are less frequent.

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