Parquet Pine and a touch of Oak

Some residents of the greater Cambridgeshire area (that’s in the UK, for those folks from the United States of America that got lost on their way to Massachusetts) are quite lucky. Their homes are floored throughout with wood. Now, whether that be Pine, Oak, Ash, Teak, Walnut. Mahogany, Parquet or Ply wood…OK, not Ply (but you get the idea), they are responsible for the general upkeep and fashionable appearance of said wooden floor.

These floors set the tone of a home, they tell the visitor that the house is cared for and maintained, they tell the owner they have a warm and inviting dwelling. The rich colours and the myriad designs available to the home owner when He or She is choosing a floor are sometimes too much to contemplate. Often the previous owner made the decision for you and you can be thankful. Inheriting the upkeep on a floor is a privilege.

Now, sanding any sized area is a task, so when we’re entrusted with a large dining room, hallway and fireplace, we take it very seriously. This particular home ran Pine Parquet throughout, all the way up to and around their fireplace…and then there was a surround of Oak.    

This three day job took the best of us. By that, I don’t mean we were shattered, we simply decided that for this floor, it required the crème-de-la-crème. So we sent Ben, Nathan and Paul.

Sanding any floor is time consuming; you have clean it all over, pull out those stray nails and pins, peel back the layers, remove the old varnish or lacquer and then, only then can you oil the surface to give it that just lain look.

Fireplaces are fiddly. They require a talented technician with a keen eye and a deft touch. Nathan cracked on. His attention to detail meant that the area surrounding the fireplace did not escape out sanding eye.

If you're ever faced with the opportunity to reclaim your wooden flooring from years of abandonment and neglect, you are well advised to find a professional team to do it; one that cares and takes pride in a job, very well done.

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

Unconventional Flooring

When you find yourself in the enviable position of choosing a new floor for your home, variety can be both a joy and a devilment. Just type in 'home flooring' into google and look at the choices available to you. Some people take the traditional route, wood or stone flooring, which lend that air of rustic and or classic style. But others go the odd route.

This particular floor is made of bottle caps. I say 'made', it's layered over, one would assume, a wooden floor, but you can see the painstaking effort that went into this. Reminiscent of a mural or mosaic. Unconventional yet mesmerizing. 

This option is a derivative on the parquet style of wooden flooring. Now, whether you choose to paint before flooring, or after, I'd suggest hiring either a professional, or this could work equally well as a punishment for a artistically skilled, yet naughty child.

Have you ever heard of biomorphism? Outside of the 'Alien' films that is. No? It's the artistic movement that models designs on naturally existing patterns. Case in point, the swirly, wiggly wooden floor you see below. So, even if you go traditional, you can do something different with it.

Of course, if you're fairly wealthy, enjoy a tipple (judging from the photo, every night) and have a willingness to experiment with your flooring, you can always make use of your old champagne and wine cases.

But, at the end of the day, whether you go for bottle caps or bottle cases, coloured boards or wobbly trees, your best bet, as always, is to hire the professionals.

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

What is the meaning of Parquet

Parquet is the laying of small blocks of wood in a geometric pattern for the purpose of decoratively covering a floor.

The word is of old French origin, thought to be a derivative of Parchet - meaning Park, ie. a small enclosed space.  Parquet differs from the generic term of wood floor due to its artistic design and use of small pieces of wood to create a pattern.

There are a number of styles of Parquet that range in artistic design and difficulty.  To lay a parquet floor takes craftsmanship and skill which is why even the most simple of designs prove to be quite a challenge to a DIY floor layer. 

The most notable designs are the Herringbone arrangement and the basket design, however there is a huge spectrum of possibilities that people explore that yield absolutely stunning results.

Here are the basic parquet designs

This is an example of herringbone parquet

Here you can see a creative take on herringbone parquet

Below is a beautiful and seemingly simple miss-match of wood blocks of different size and colour, making a truly stunning take on the herringbone design

Another fantastic take on the herringbone style of parquet

A geometric parquet design

This geometric parquet has cleaverly used different colored wood to create a 3D effect

Below is a feat of true parquet artistry

Art of Clean are proud of their team oh highly skilled technicians who often perform parquet restoration in beautiful old homes throughout Cambridgeshire  See our previous blog here of work carried out on a parquet floor in Cambridge:

 http://artofcleanuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/what-find-beautiful-parquet-floor-found.html

For more information about our services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.

Art of Clean are specialists in: 

Hardwood Floor Cleaning, 

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,
Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning,

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

What a find - Beautiful parquet floor found under carpet in newly purchaced home in Cambridge

 Too often when buying a period house you find the old floors have been removed or seriously damaged and an simply covered up with carpet.

 

But these lucky chaps were lucky enough to find exactly what you'd wish to find under the carpet.......

A beautiful, practically complete parquet wooden floor - running from room to room throughout much of the down stairs - simply beautiful

 There was some damage to some areas, mainly water damage, that required some blocks replacing

Water damage from radiator leak

And oddly there was a section of the floor removed that had been replaced with concrete, but this was taken out and replacement blocks were laid.

Repairs done, the parquet blocks were sanded flat to even them out.

A perfect colour match was achieved, and the finished floor looked stunning

 The floor was oiled with Pallmann Magic Oil to protect the wood and enhance the beautiful colour of the parquet floor.

Art of Clean are specialists in: 

Hardwood Floor Cleaning, 

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,
Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information about our services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.