Wooden Flooring Installation in Kenya: Solid, Engineered and Parquet

Timber moves, and Kenya moves it twice a year

The long rains and the dry season swing humidity enough to matter. Timber laid at the wrong moisture content will either shrink and open gaps at the joints, or expand and lift at the edges.

So we acclimatise the boards in the room they will be laid in, and we measure moisture content in both the timber and the slab before laying anything. It adds days to the programme and it is the single thing that separates a floor that stays flat from one that does not.

Solid, engineered or parquet

Solid timber, a single piece throughout. Can be sanded many times over its life, so it is effectively permanent. Moves the most with humidity.

Engineered, a real timber wear layer over a stable plywood core. Moves far less, which in Kenya’s humidity swing is a genuine advantage, and it can still be sanded a limited number of times. Usually the sensible choice.

Parquet: small blocks in a pattern, laid in mastic. Common in Nairobi’s older houses and still beautiful. Labour-intensive to lay new; frequently better restored than replaced.

Expansion gaps are not optional

Every timber floor needs a gap at the perimeter for the boards to move into, covered by the skirting or beading. It is invisible when done and it is why a floor laid tight to the wall lifts in the middle of the room during the rains.

We leave it, and we will not lay a floor without it.

Over what

Timber can go over a screed with a moisture barrier, over battens, or over an existing sound subfloor. What it cannot go over is a slab that tests damp: that is a floor that will fail, and we will test before quoting rather than after laying.