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Braintree · Essex

Parquet Flooring in Braintree

Parquet is a floor built from short blocks laid to a pattern: herringbone, chevron or a Versailles panel, in engineered oak with a 3 to 4 mm wear layer in this range. In Braintree 87% of homes are houses, most of them semi-detached houses (35%), so the questions are the subfloor and the underlay rather than impact sound.

Parquet in Braintree

Parquet flooring in Braintree: what the housing says

The Braintree district counts 64,986 households in the 2021 census, and the mix of houses and flats in that count is what decides how a parquet floor is specified here.

Semi-detached houses are 35% of the homes in Braintree, and the semi's knocked-through living room is the room most often floored in herringbone across Braintree: a pattern floor gives a long room a centre. Set out from the middle of the room, not from a wall, and where the room crosses from timber onto the concrete of an extension the two bases are levelled to each other first, because a glued pattern shows every step in the base.

Detached houses are 29% of the Braintree stock, and their larger rooms are where the bigger formats belong: the 125 x 600 mm Oxford blocks, the Knightsbridge chevron, or a Versailles panel in a dining room. A large pattern floor is also a large glue-down job with a border to plan, so the setting-out drawing is worth doing before the order, not on the day.

Owner-occupation is 69% in Braintree, and a pattern floor is an owner's floor: it costs more to fit than a plank, it is planned around the room, and it stays. The Oxford herringbone and the Knightsbridge chevron in Braintree go into the rooms that are lived in and shown, the hallway and the living room, and the 3 mm wear layer keeps a refinishing cycle in reserve.

of households rent privately (13.2% in 2011)
15.1%
live in a flat or maisonette
13.4%
postcode districts we deliver to
CM7, CM77
parquet floors in our range
15

Source: ONS, Census 2021, Braintree (E07000067) · Postcode districts: postcodes.io (ONS geography) · Range: our product catalogue

Compare the parquet range

The Oxford Herringbone blocks come in two sizes, 90 x 450 mm and 125 x 600 mm, in natural, light, dark brown, fumed and whitewashed oak; Oxford Herringbone Light Oak is the one most often chosen for a hallway. The Knightsbridge Chevron Natural Brushed Oak cuts the block at an angle for the arrow pattern, and the Montpellier Oak Versailles Panel is the 800 x 800 mm panel for a dining room. All are engineered, tongue and groove, and listed for underfloor heating.

ProductFormatWear layer / thicknessFittingUnderfloor heating
Oxford Herringbone Oak Brushed UV Oiled Wood Flooring 14 x 90 x 45014mm x 90mm x 450mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Oxford Herringbone Oak Lacquered Wood Flooring 14 x 90 x 45014mm x 90mm x 450mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Oxford Herringbone Dark Brown Oak Wood Flooring 14 x 90 x 45014mm x 90mm x 450mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Oxford Herringbone Whitewashed Oak Wood Flooring 14 x 90 x 45014mm x 90mm x 450mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Oxford Herringbone White Oiled Oak 14 x 125 x 60014mm x 125mm x 600mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Oxford Herringbone Light Brushed Oak 14 x 125 x 60014mm x 125mm x 600mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Bordeaux Oak Versailles Panel 20 x 800 x 80020mm x 800mm x 800mm4mmTongue & GrooveCompatible
Knightsbridge Chevron Natural Brushed Oak Wood Flooring 14 x 90 x 51014mm x 90mm x 510mm3mmTongue & GrooveCompatible

Local fact sheet

Braintree's homes, by the numbers

Braintree in the 2021 census: 64,986 households, 86% houses, 13% flats.

Braintree covers CM7 and CM77 — Bocking North, Bocking South, Bocking Blackwater, Braintree Central and Beckers Green, Braintree West and Braintree South. It is a district of Essex, so a two-tier authority. Ownership was 67.8% at the 2021 census and barely moved from 2011, down eight tenths of a point; private renting rose under two points to 15.1%. This is one of the steadiest markets on this list, and steady markets reward the floor you will not replace. Braintree's older centre around Bocking is period stock on suspended timber, needing levelling first; the estates towards Great Notley are later and solid. Which you have determines the underlay as much as the floor.

Bocking’s older streets are period stock on suspended timber, and they need levelling before anything goes down; the estates built later towards Great Notley sit on a solid base. Ownership across CM7 and CM77 has barely moved between censuses, so floors here tend to be bought once.

The layer under the board decides as much as the board does. A ventilated void beneath period floors wants an underlay with a vapour check; a solid CM77 base wants a membrane, and it takes up heat slowly, so warm it before laying.

Delivery times and options depend on the delivery postcode. See Delivery & Returns for the applicable estimate.

Guides

Before you choose

Before you order in Braintree

  • Flat enough for glue A pattern floor is glued and every hollow in the base shows as a rocking block. A straightedge over the base is the first check; a levelling compound is often the second.
  • Set out from the centre The pattern is laid from a centre line so that the border cuts are equal at both walls. The drawing comes before the order, because it decides the quantity.
  • The pattern allowance Order 15 to 20 percent over the room area, the figure the manufacturers give for a herringbone or chevron, and order it in one batch.
  • One pattern over two bases A herringbone running from the timber front room onto the concrete kitchen needs both bases brought to one level and one flatness before the adhesive; the join is where it fails.
  • The border in a big room A large room takes a border and a centred field comfortably. The drawing decides both, and the quantity follows from the drawing, not from the room area.
  • A floor for the long term A glued oak parquet is sanded and refinished in place for decades. Keep the batch number and the adhesive name with the invoice; a repair years later starts there.

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Questions

Parquet flooring in Braintree: questions, answered

Which parquet pattern suits a Braintree house?

Herringbone in the 90 x 450 mm block suits the hallways and front rooms of terraces and semis; the larger 125 x 600 mm block and the chevron suit longer rooms; a Versailles panel wants a square room with the space to show it. The guide on herringbone against chevron sets out the difference in fitting as well as in look.

Can a herringbone floor be floated?

The engineered blocks in this range are glued down. A pattern floor holds its geometry through the adhesive; floated, the blocks drift. The rigid-vinyl herringbone is the click-together alternative where a glued floor is not wanted.

How much extra should I order for a pattern floor in Braintree?

Manufacturers' guidance puts the waste allowance for herringbone or chevron at 15 to 20 percent, against 8 to 12 for a straight plank, because every cut at the perimeter produces an unusable offcut. The calculator on the site works with the real pack sizes.

Can I order flooring samples to my Braintree address?

Yes. Samples go to any CM7 or CM77 address. Carry one board from the hall into the back room and then the kitchen before you decide: north light, south light and a downlit worktop each make a different colour of the same plank.

Do you deliver parquet flooring to Braintree?

Yes. We deliver across Braintree and Essex from our UK warehouse, including the CM7 and CM77 postcode districts. Delivery cost and timing depend on the delivery postcode and are shown at checkout, and samples come by post first so the floor can be seen in the room before the full order.

Can I see a parquet sample before ordering in Braintree?

Yes: cut samples are £1.99 each, up to two per product, posted to your Braintree address. Two or three side by side on the floor, in the room's own light morning and evening, settle the colour faster than any photograph.

The same range nearby

Parquet flooring nearby

Distances are straight-line miles from Braintree. Each link opens the parquet page for that town.

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United KingdomEssexBraintreeParquet

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