It wasn’t until the 1600’s when most European homes would begin to replace their earthen floors with wood. Until that time, the earth was beaten and pounded until a flat surface was created, and shoes would have to be removed to keep the dirt from being kicked up or mud being created from wet shoes.
The first wood floors were large planks of wood, sometimes two feet in width that were installed directly over joists. Like many new things, hardwood flooring was reserved for the rich and affluent.
It wasn’t until 1625 until the more ornate, finished wood floors would come about in Europe and these were very expensive. This is when we would start seeing extraordinary craftsmanship. Different species of wood would be used to create intricate designs. Wood inlay would be introduced by cutting shapes in to the wood’s surface and the inlaid pieces fitting into place. Beautiful medallions were created, parquetry designs and even three dimensional art installed in the center of a room. Other floors were hand scraped, revealing taking off bits of the strips of the top layer of wood creating a textured effect that’s still very popular today. The floor was then sanded, finished and waxed to create a smooth, glossy surface. As was the case with many things back then, the labor to install a hardwood floor was intensive.
At the same time in North America, hard wood floors were considerably more common due to the sheer abundance of trees. Many built their own homes and wood was very much part of the equation. These floors weren’t finished and simply nailed to the joists. Sometimes they were nailed in defined patterns, while other times made from random length and width boards. In the early 1800’s, parquet would start to be introduced, but only to those who had a lot of wealth.
The advent of the tongue and groove changed everything in hardwood floors, the planks of wood now fitting together like a puzzle. The floors were still nailed to the joists, but the tongue and groove eliminated gaps and made a more level floor. The tongue and groove hardwood floor was usually only found in the nicest homes, while the rest of the country still lived on their random width and length plank wood floors.
Hardwood floors wouldn’t be mass produced until the turn of the century, and this is when parquet would become one of the more popular floors in the country. The first wood carpet was introduced, which consisted of 1 ½” wide x 5/16” thick wood slats glued to a heavy cotton canvas. The floor would be rolled and tacked down about every foot. It came in rolls that were 3 feet wide and the manufacturer offered several installation options that created different designs. The floor then had to be filled, sanded and finished. In essence, this was the first mass produced “do-it-yourself” hardwood floor.
Unfortunately, these floors weren’t all they were cracked up to be. The thin width of the strips and their limited to thickness led to a lot of hardwood splitting, cracking and an annoying creaking everywhere. Even though they were boasted as a durable and easy to install floor, hardwood strips were available for about the same cost (or a little more) that were considerably thicker and longer lasting. Many of the ¾ inch strip hard wood floors from that era (while not the thickest available at the time) are still around and happily restored by lovers of antiquities.
