Photos courtesy of Midwest Hardwood Floors Inc.
“It took me three weeks to cut that," he says of the solid white oak and wenge pieces used in the parquet floor, installed in a 200-square-foot hallway.
Because the client didn’t want any stain, Grosu, known as "Marian G." to his customers, chose the white oak and wenge to complement each other and make the parquet pop. He also paired darker and lighter white oak pieces together to produce what he calls a “3D-like” effect, which shifts based on the angle from which the floor is viewed.
"It’s the nature of the white oak that makes them pop out like 3D,” he says.
Grosu used a table saw to cut the white oak, which measured 1 ¼ inches wide and ¾ inch thick, as well as the ¾-inch wenge border.
After the three weeks of cutting and adding grooves with a router, Grosu and his two-man crew began installing the parquet in the center of the narrow hallway and worked outward, taking five days to glue and nail the tongue-and-groove pieces to the plywood subfloor.
Grosu says there were moments in the installation where pieces weren’t fitting perfectly, and they had to do additional trimming to avoid gaps.
“We could have put wood filler stuff in it, but I didn't like that,” he says. “We had to take our time to do perfection cutting.”
When all of the pieces were installed, they sanded four times, ending on 100-grit. They then rolled four coats of oil-based polyurethane.
With 21 years of hardwood flooring experience, Grosu says taking the time to ensure the parquet was as perfect as possible from start to finish was never a question.
"They wanted quality,” he says. “They paid for it."
Suppliers:
White Oak Flooring: Somerset Hardwood Flooring | Sander: Lägler North America | Edger: American Sanders | Finish: Masterline
