I have older (20"s) quarter sawn/mix oak. Some gaps, lots of squeeks.

One contractor says fill in the bigger holes. The other says the joints will swell when the weather warms up and filling will knock the joints more out of fit.

And those pesky squeeks: one guy says "shoot" the nails in and fill holes to tighten. The other says that will split and ruin the wood AND look awful.

These are all professionals. Who do I believe? HELP?

you say this a parquet floor? that means its a wood tile floor not plank.parquet is usually 12" x 12" tile. any way if the wood has gaps normally you would fill them with floor wax(this make the gaps disapear,and when it walms up and the wood swells,the wax is pushed out.)squeeks are another issue,as parquet is glued down,not nailed,any squeeks are from the underlayment or subfloor.if your contractor was to drill a fine hole,before he nailed,then the wood would not split. good luck
p.s. call a few carpet stores,and find out who the best hardwood company in town is,have them give you a bid.

Sounds like a gorgeous floor. Carpetman...they do manufacture solid 3/4" parquet patterns and have been doing so for quite some time. Considering it is a parquet I can't see much movement as the pieces are generally much smaller and won't expand and contract as much as a solid strip or plank floor.

I can see where nailing may split the boards. You could attempt to drill very small holes 1/8" diameter and squeaze(inject) epoxy or a urethane adhesive under the material, then plug the holes. Someone familiar with this kind of repair should be able to make it turn out unnoticeable.

Ken Fisher
Hardwood Installer.Com

[This message has been edited by KD Fisher (edited May 31, 2003).]