Fake parquet
First, measure your floor and work out how many 8’x4’ boards would be needed to cover the floor. The plan is to buy sheets of pale plywood (birch or poplar usually), without too many 'plugs' or repairs (Be fussy). Some builders’ merchants sell pale as standard, but many only sell dark, hardwood-faced boards - you need to look around. Also, prices of ply at the moment are changing rapidly due to supply problems, so even more reason to shop around. You can use any thickness of ply, from 3mm upwards, just be aware that if you use 3mm, it would probably be a good idea to lay a cheaper board underneath it for strength. It's probably still very cheap compared to most floor coverings.
Next draw up a pattern that you like to fit the floor. The real parquet I was copying was made of 2.5in. by 5in. blocks, which I think was standard. It doesn’t have to be parquet, it’s just that that fits the aesthetic well and straight lines are easiest to scale up and cut).
The internet has a wealth of samples of parquet designs, but you could also look up inlay patterns or marquetry designs. It is a rather enjoyable rabbit hole, I found.
So once you have your design, scale it up. You can do it from measurements, printing out a jigsaw of rectangular sections or however you think best. Mark up the board in pencil then, using a Stanley knife or similar (with a sharp blade - and change the blade often, this blunts them quite fast), cut along the lines. You only need to cut through the top layer of ply and into the glue between it and the next in the board. But you need to do this for every line and for there to be no gaps, even at the corners.
For further authenticity, you can go over the lines with something slightly thicker like a pen knife or a sharp-edged trowel, to thicken the grooves and make the pieces look more separate.
When that’s all done and your arm and shoulder have healed, dye the different pieces in a set of slightly different coloured stains. Five or so should give a good random effect.
When all the stains are done and dried, it’s time for varnish or floor wax. It is important to use a different medium for the stains and the varnish/wax or the pieces will bleed into each other. In other words, if you want to wax it or use yacht or other solvent-based varnish then use water-based stains. Conversely, if you want to use polyurethane varnish (water-based) then use solvent-based stains.
I hope that made sense. Any questions, ask away.
