Parquet Floor Sanding, Restoration & Repair
Herringbone – Basket Weave – Brick – Ship’s Deck – Finger Mosaic – Strip
Owners of properties built between the 1930s and 1970s are often pleasantly surprised to discover a parquet floor beneath old carpets they have pulled up. It will look dull and sad – but sanding can quickly transform it back to its original beauty.
A parquet floor is a valuable asset to your property. An equivalent new floor may cost up to £195 per square metre for supply & install. And this can be just for the basic herringbone or basket weave pattern.
Parquet Floor Sanding procedure requires use a variety of specialist sanding and buffing machines, including small handheld models, to restore the floor and finally produce a high gloss, satin or matt finish. It is quite a task a the grain of the wood runs in all directions, especially when it comes to staining it.
Parquet Floor Treatment
Parquet Floor Repair
Parquet floors are among the most durable of all wooden floor types. The blocks require little maintenance other than to reglue any that have become unstuck. This is usually straightforward but sometimes we will need to level the subfloor – especially when bitumen removal has damaged the concrete.
Blocks are most likely to have been glued with black hot bitumen emulsion. As this is a product no longer permitted, all traces have to be removed and modern glue is used to reapply the blocks.
We can replace blocks with those in secluded areas of another room that is not being restored. Or we source those of similar vintage and quality from our extensive national network of reclaimed wood suppliers.
Sometimes this can be a challenge. An office building in London had a floor with an area of blocks missing. We eventually found the right blocks to match in Nottingham.
Parquet blocks in the old imperial sizes vary considerably. These were twice the size – so we had to cut each block in half! The effort proved worthwhile – as the restored parquet floor is the perfect complement to the modern glass-partitioned offices.
Gap Filling Between Parquet Blocks
This is a personal preference, but gaps can be filled by mixing dust from the second sanding with a resin wood filler.
The final sanding smooths down the whole floor including the recently-filled gaps.
Parquetry Sealing With Lacquer, Hard Wax or Ol.
Hardwood floors not only look inviting but feel warm and comfortable underfoot: Laminates tend to feel cold and a little ‘plastic’. Wood is an excellent insulator, with its thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch holding in heat.
Regular Cleaning & Maintenance of Your Parquet Flooring.
Parquet floors are very easy to clean. Just brush and mop with a damp mop when necessary.
Upright vacuum cleaners are best avoided – as grit particles in the spinning brushes can scratch the surface.
Materials & Types
Parquetry is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effects. It parquet floor sanding of all types and patterns: basket, square, main uses lie in veneer patterns on furniture (i.e. marquetry – with curved and natural shapes) – and block patterns for floors.
The patterns of parquet flooring are entirely geometrical and angular -squares, triangles, lozenges. Herringbone is the most popular parquet flooring pattern.
Timber that has a strong contrast in colour and grain, such as oak, walnut, cherry, lime, pine and maple, is sometimes used. Richly-coloured mahogany and other tropical hardwoods also occur in the more expensive parquet. Bamboo is a popular material for modern floors.
Origins
Parquet flooring dates from the late 17th century in France at the Palace of Versailles. It developed as a response to the problems caused by marble flooring. Its need for constant washing tended to rot the wooden joists beneath the floors.
