Mosaic - definitely back in fashion

And then the search is on when parts are missing, due to whatever building works done previously (central heating installed, or fireplaces changed). Hallway cupboards are know to have mosaic floors too and there often the missing original blocks of fingers can be "reclaimed" from.
If you are out of luck there, measure one block of 5-fingers to get the size you're after to make your search and enquiries easier. The size of most readily available 5-finger mosaic species in our secure webshop is: 12cm by 12cm, 7.5mm thick.

Teak

 

In bungalows built (or renovated) in the 1950's upto the 80's tropical species such as Mahogany, Teak and Merbau were most common, preferred - then - even over Oak.

The mosaic comes on mesh-backing (tiles), simple to install tile after tile with parquet adhesive (F.Ball B91 for instance) on dry and level concrete or onto level plywood. Finishing the floor - after a light sanding - with a natural oil will bring out the species character best in our opinion. For tropical species we recommend the "tropical combo": one coat of extra thin oil, followed by one coat of HardWaxOil (in the sheen of your liking). Oak should be treated with two coats of HardWaxOil to give the best result.

New sample boards

 

Here's Ton, in his workshop at home, applying Saicos Wood Wax Clear extra thin to the brand new 5-finger Mosaic sample boards. In front you can see the Mahogany and the Teak board is just receiving the first coat.
If you look closely you can see two other boards hiding underneath: Merbau and Oak - which will be treated to their own finish once the top boards have received the final coat and are dry enough to be turned round. All 4 (2 double-sided) boards are now on grand and vibrant display in our showroom.

Ton and Barry - our professional installation and restoration team - have the world of experience installing all types of parquet floors, from mosaic to design patterns. If you live in Kent, give us a call on 01233 713725 to discuss the option of supply and install in one complete package.

Diagonal (Oak)

And who said you have to install straight? Add some spectacular (but simple to achieve) difference to your room by going diagonal.
Normally this would create much more saw-waste, but because the mosaic consists of a whole load of little fingers which can be individually used, this is not the case here.

In a way, going diagonal could be your solution when you have extended a room which has an original mosaic in an old size. Make the mosaic floor in the new extension a feature by installing it diagonal, it will look the same "pattern" even though the blocks of fingers have a different - modern - size. And none would be the wiser, the human eye is not really equipped to detect small size differences when it has to compare different "shapes".

Diagonal (Merbau)

Unfortunately we couldn't find representative images of 5-finger mosaic floors, therefore - if you'd noticed - we used images from our Design Parquet manufacturer's 7-finger mosaic examples. 16cm by 16cm, 8mm thick if you are interested, packed per 4.1 sq m and in many wood-species available.

Different sizes

Not all old (or new) mosaic floors have to contain 5 or 7 very small fingers. Another rather common size and pattern is the 3 fatter finger mosaic: 46 x 138mm per block (and 3 times 46 makes 138, a square of three fingers). Not a standard size, but with help from our Design Parquet Manufacturer we have already been able to supply new blocks of this specific size in Iroko and Oak Prime.

So if you discover an odd size fat finger mosaic floor, don't despair, just give us a call on 01233 713725 (maximum thickness of these blocks is 10mm though).

Creative

 

And who's to stop you from using regular size blocks to form a large mosaic pattern? If you look at the size of one individual block you can determine how many fingers will make a square - in most cases that is.
Many of the standard size of the so-called herringbone blocks are based on this: 10 x 71 x 284mm (4 x 71) or 10 x 70 x 280mm (4 x 70), 10 x 60 x 300mm (5 x 60) 10 x 71 x 355mm (5 x 71) or 10 x 70 x 350mm (5 x 70) - depending on the manufacturer's specifications of the blocks.

On their side

Vertical mosaic - also known as hogh-kant mosaic - is a different method of putting the fingers on the mesh backing: on their side. You have plenty of FSC certified wood-species to choose from in this very hardwearing and filled with colours product.
Vertical Mosaic (22 x 8mm) or Commercial Parquet (14 x 22mm) - more information on both can be found here

Mini herringbone

 

Another way to group little mosaic fingers is in a mini-herringbone pattern. This product comes in single, double and even triple pattern. Again, on mesh backing for simple installation on a dry, level concrete floor (or plywood subfloor). Call us for up to date prices and lead-times or request the Full Colour Online Wooden Floor Ranges Brochure - using the form on the right higher up on this page

Plenty of choices in the Retro Mosaic Wooden World!