Solid wood parquet on underfloor heating

Lately, I've often been occupied with how "tidy" a house has to look for the residents to be satisfied. NEW these days is virtually the ultimate, and if you see signs of wear and tear, that's considered bad.

But when I look at, for example, an old castle, I see the charm precisely in its age and its consequences. I love iron-bound oak doors and especially the discoloration of the wood around the iron. Or a city like Prague, with so many beautiful old houses. People travel there on purpose because the (used ;)) appearance is just great.

My conclusion from this observation: There is a widespread misunderstanding about what contributes to a good life.

Our parquet floor laid 4 years ago is not preserved but cared for ... and when a new scratch annoys me, I think of Prague :).

In the attic, we are planning a thin, glued oak parquet floor on the underfloor heating, and I hear even such an 8 millimeter thick floor can be sanded multiple times. Sanded? For what, actually? I think that's being exaggerated a lot. Some modern floors are brushed intentionally with metal brushes to make them look used and cared for ...

I mean, especially when it comes to taste and personal preferences, there's always a lot that should remain flexible and something to learn.

I have often been occupied lately with how "neat" a house has to look for the residents to be satisfied.

I think this is very individual and one should be careful to stick to their own taste. There is a societal pressure that ultimately affects all of us, more or less. The art is to be inspired from outside but not to be dominated by it. We have just finished laying our hallway floor, and because of the applied color pigments, every scratch and the smallest sanding mark comes to light. Viewed in detail, one could call it "worn," but seen as a whole, it looks like a pub floor where a new mark is never noticed; it belongs there. I was curious and also uncertain, but now I am quite satisfied. Nevertheless, this is probably not for everyone. And yes, it sometimes creaks and will also develop gaps, even though we secured it well. But I know and like it because I know I’m walking on 30mm solid wood, which I personally like very much.

Both previous speakers write a lot of truth. I feel similarly about my floor, but I really annoyed myself for half a day over the first big totally visible scratch (caused by someone else who did not report it). Afterwards, I caused smaller dents myself and didn’t get upset about it anymore :cool:. My floor (15mm click oak parquet on 18mm OSB, with 1.5mm impact sound insulation in between, underneath wooden joists insulated with rubber granulate mats) creaks and makes noises but swings extremely softly. Fortunately, it turned out exactly as desired and when I put my feet out of bed onto this great floor in the morning it causes "an extremely good feeling."

Regarding underfloor heating... I decided on wall heating because of the somewhat poorer compatibility of floating floors/wood + underfloor heating. Except in the bathroom under the only tiles in the house.

We screwed the floorboards onto floating joists with 5mm insulation strips and wood fiber insulation in between. Often we would have liked to wish away the stubbornness of the wood, because wide and long solid softwood boards do not always like it when you lay a straightedge next to them for inspection. The good thing about it was that in some places we simply screwed a screw from above directly into the board and everything looks as intended (to us ;)). Basically, it’s like with my old car. When a truck recently bumped into it, we talked briefly and parted ways amicably without any claim for damages from me. With a nicely polished new car, I would certainly have felt and reacted differently. In that respect, a rather rough floor relaxes a bit. We had moved our refrigerator on furniture casters and later realized that the casters had made dents in the floor. The solution.......the dining table is going there anyway-:) Furthermore: After a few days the dents disappeared again; apparently the room humidity helped, but the slight dents are indeed gone, at least I don’t see them anymore and that’s what counts!

I have often been concerned lately about how "tidy" a house must look for the residents to be satisfied.

I am also concerned about that. I think that the intentions of builders can be caught up by the reality of living in the house, and most can ultimately live much better with it than they initially thought.

How does the recommended layer thickness for parquet with underfloor heating look? I read that without underfloor heating 8 mm would be good, so that you can also sand it...

I once heard that parquet is very durable – longer-lasting than the inhabitants. Therefore, you can safely sand it down after 20 or 30 years if you feel like it. Sanding every few years is not what's meant when they say: sandable. My thoughts are rather to be found here:

Lately, I often wonder how "neat" a house has to look for the inhabitants to be satisfied.

The pictured story in life in a piece of furniture or house… We have bamboo parquet floor in one room, 1 cm. By the way, I would not do it again because it is very slippery. Our tiles are more practical for everyday use with socks or barefoot. Since it is also the gym room, I often slip barefoot :(