Flooring — parquet or massive board?

History moves in a spiral. This thesis found its confirmation in the seemingly unusual field — in construction. More precisely, in the materials for the flooring. In ancient times, both peasant huts and in palaces on the floor were laid down simple strogue wooden boards. Then a parquet, linoleum, laminate appeared … Today, among the materials of flooring, a massive board is becoming increasingly popular again. But now it is an incomparably better and more beautiful board. Not so long ago, a massive board was used only for the draft floor. People, receiving apartments, immediately covered the floor with a parquet or linoleum. Today the floor covering of a massive board is a sign of quality and respectability. But do not put an equal sign between a massive board and parquet — these are different coatings. A massive board is a wooden beam, necessarily solid, with a width of at least 80 mm, with a length of 600 mm and a minimum thickness of 20 mm. The density of the joint of the boards is achieved through special crests and grooves. The parquet board has the form of a three -layer glued beam with a top layer of a more expensive wood and with two lower layers of less valuable. Such a board is more resistant to temperature differences and moisture: it does not swell and does not deform. But a massive board wins from the aesthetic side. Hard criteria for the characteristics of a massive board have not yet been developed, there are no general rules that all manufacturers would adhere to. But large players of this market set their own TU, guided by their corporate criteria. The Russian market is great in the share of foreign manufacturers of a massive board. But large domestic enterprises are also present in this industry. For example, the St. Petersburg enterprise «Ecopol», or the Russian-German «Ubninsky Parquet Plant» («OPZ») and the Russian-Gollandic Siberian Forest. It is likely that the OPZ massive board and the Ecopol board will have a different type of sawing or contain a different percentage of crumpling. The accompanying information of both items will indicate that the goods are manufactured in accordance with the established quality norms. And both manufacturers will be right. A simple buyer often has difficulties with choosing a massive board. It is difficult for him to independently understand the disunity of the criteria for choosing. The different lengths of the boards, the presence of some natural defects, a wide range of prices may embarrass. In this case, it should be borne in mind that the tree, unlike laminate, is a living material, and the same measurements when choosing these materials are not entirely correct. Imaginary defects in a homogeneous surface of a tree (annual rings, stains, etc.) for a massive board — this is not flawless, but advantages.