Solid Wood Products 2577 



when laid; ends of strips are butt-jointed. It is common practice to lay about six 

 strips of flooring parallel with the wall around the room to form a border; the rest 

 of the strips are arranged lengthwise in the room. Each strip is face-nailed with 

 1-inch brads on each edge, about 6-V2 inches apart, along the length of the strip 

 (fig. 22-7). The nails are set about 1/16-inch below the face surface, the holes 

 filled with putty. Floors are given a light sanding, and finished with sealer, wax, 

 or varnish. 



The thin-strip flooring uses less wood per unit area covered, is easier to 

 manufacture, requires less kiln time, and permits a greater diversity of floor 

 patterns than the thicker tongue-and-groove flooring. Also, the thin strips reach 

 equilibrium moisture content quickly, and because they have square edges, are 

 easy to remove and replace. Because the strips are only 5/16-inch thick, the floor 

 can be sanded and refinished only a few times. As strips are flexible and have no 

 tongue and groove to share loads, the subfloor must be a continuous flat plane. 



Parquet flooring. — Mosaic-parquet oak flooring consists of thin slats about 

 an inch wide and 4 to 12 inches long, assembled into squares (fig. 22-8) or 

 planks. Much of the success in marketing parquet flooring is attributable to good 

 finishing techniques employed by the industry. 



Manufacturing sequences vary greatly; one procedure for making prefinished 

 parquet planks is shown in figure 22-9. Parquet squares and planks can be 

 bonded directly on a concrete slab using mastic adhesives, hot-melt asphalt, or 



M 86774 F 

 Figure 22-7. — Thin-strip, square-edge, face-nailed oak flooring over plywood subfloor. 

 (Photo from Youngquist 1952.) 



