Parquet of long-lasting beauty

Wood is nat­ur­al, ver­sat­ile and provides a good indoor cli­mate. This makes it an excel­lent floor­ing mater­i­al. But only a well-pro­tec­ted and main­tained sur­face makes the par­quet floor a real gem of long-last­ing beauty. Mod­ern par­quet var­nishes provide the strongest pro­tec­tion against mois­ture, dirt and daily expos­ure to count­less steps. On top, the seal­ing product gives the floor a beau­ti­ful shine. To ensure that res­id­ents can live in a healthy home free of pol­lut­ants, build­ers and ren­ov­at­ors should use high-qual­ity water-based var­nishes that are not harm­ful to human health. When choos­ing the right sur­face fin­ish, it is there­fore advis­able to look out for the EMICODE^® seal.

Wheth­er oak, wal­nut or maple: a wooden floor always con­veys a warm and cosy atmo­sphere. But neither par­quet nor floor­boards like the pen­et­ra­tion of water or dirt. It causes the floor to age pre­ma­turely and to lose its shine. In the worst case, it may need to be refin­ished, which causes unne­ces­sary effort and cost. This is why prop­er sur­face treat­ment is so import­ant after installing the wood floor. Par­quet var­nishes are ideally suited for this pur­pose. Applied in sev­er­al coats, they provide the best pro­tec­tion because the wood is com­pletely sealed from above. This not only makes the floor insens­it­ive to water but also easy to clean. In most cases, a damp cloth is suf­fi­cient. The beauty of it: Par­quet var­nishes are avail­able with dif­fer­ent gloss grades – from nat­ur­ally matt fin­ishes that enhance the char­ac­ter of the wood to high-gloss fin­ishes that provide a mir­ror-like shine. This means that the res­id­ents can per­fectly match their home fur­nish­ings to the floor­ing.

Usu­ally, one- or two-com­­pon­ent var­nishes are used for sur­face treat­ment in liv­ing areas, because they are par­tic­u­larly dur­able and abra­­sion-res­ist­ant. Three-com­­pon­ent var­nishes addi­tion­ally pro­tect the par­quet from sun­light, so that the wood retains its nat­ur­al col­or for a very long time. Mod­ern par­quet var­nishes are highly elast­ic (no rigid lay­er), hard-wear­ing and have a high filling capa­city. They also dry very quickly so that the floor can be walked on after just two or three days.

Sur­face pro­tec­tion for hard­wood floors has a long his­tory: In the Middle Ages, sand or straw was spread on the floor to pro­tect it from wear and tear. When this nat­ur­al cov­er was dirty, it could be quickly replaced. Anoth­er meth­od was to rub the floor with a bacon rind. Also lin­seed oil and heat­ing oil were used for main­ten­ance. How­ever, mod­ern sur­face treat­ment only began with the intro­duc­tion of solvents. Mean­while, these have been replaced by envir­on­ment­ally friendly solu­tions that are not harm­ful to human health. As a res­ult, many man­u­fac­tur­ers have long since switched their pro­duc­tion from solvent- to water-based