Parquet Flooring
For a floor that's a work of art, consider parquet flooring. Wood parquet flooring has been used for centuries in finer homes around the world, and can be in your home today. One concern you may have is how to repair parquet flooring after you've had it awhile. That's manageable so shouldn't stop you from installing this beautiful floor.
Parquet flooring is wood flooring that has an inlaid pattern in it. This type of flooring is quite extraordinary in that it is often found in older homes in which the inlay work was done by hand. This type of wood flooring allows for detail and intricacy. It's one of the most difficult flooring type for someone without the skill and training to undertake. Nonetheless, it is an amazing beautiful piece of art when it's finished and adds value and an unparalleled beauty to any home or business.
You can buy pre-made parquet squares that make a simple pattern installation possible by a novice do-it-yourselfer. Parquet flooring is often used today in homes and business that are designed after older homes as well as in brand new homes by individuals with a passion for detail and character.
Parquet flooring can be made from a wide range of wood types including oak, maple, cherry, walnut, beech, and birch. It is laid in a pattern that can be virtually anything like ornate stars, a simulated carpet patter, a simple pattern of rotating pieces of wood, or even a basket weave. Often, the various types of flooring can be stained in different colors to better enhance the design and enhance the pattern's appearance. A protective coating or finish can be placed on top of parquet to keep the wood in superb condition.
It's available in a wide array of colors and can be laid many different patterns, limited mostly by your imagination. You’ll find that it is often easy to find in a lumber yard, home improvement store that carries wood flooring or you can purchase it throughout the web. It is wise to look at several options before committing to one choice as there are many to choose from. Often the patterns that are more complex should be completed by a professional, but a handy person can lay parquet flooring on their own.
If you currently have parquet wood flooring and are looking for information on how to repair parquet flooring, the process is relatively simple. If you have missing pieces in your wood parquet flooring, you need to remove a piece and take it to the local home improvement store, or better yet the lumber yard, that sells wood flooring products. You want to find the best match in color and grain to use in in the repair. When the piece of wood is cut to the right size and shape, use a polyvinyl glue to hold it into place. If you have dents or scratches in your parquet flooring, you should use a simple wood filler to fill in the damage. Finally, you need to sand and refinish the flooring to preserve it.
Parquet flooring is quite beautiful. For those who would like to try their hand at installing this type of flooring, it won't much problem if you have the tools, some skill, and lots of patience. If not, look for a professional in parquet flooring to handle the job so that it is absolutely amazing.
Please send me a quotation with rate per square feet for repairing & polishing a Parquet flooring in a Condominium apartment in Mississauga, Toronto. It was damaged & spoiled while moving.
Thanks
Subhash Nage at November 17, 2007 8:25 PMSubhash
This is an information site. We don't repair, clean or install flooring. You'll have to get those kinds of quotes from local people.
The Flooring Lady at November 18, 2007 9:51 AMWe installed a parquet floor in our home yesterday and managed to sort of botch the job such that there is a fairly sizeable crack between the tiles for about 3 feet where they don't line up. We are absolutely frantic, any suggestions on how to fix this type of problem?
Lindsey at June 15, 2008 9:17 AMWhat is the flooring made of? Hardwood, engineered hardwood, laminate..........?
Based upon the information you've supplied, the only suggestions I can think of is to take it back up starting on one side or the other of the separation or fill it in with wood putty. It's obviously going to look better if you take it back up.
The Flooring Lady at June 15, 2008 9:57 AMAfter sanding our boat's solid teak parquet floors, we find small crevises between some of the blocks and within some blocks. Before we urethane, what should we fill these crevises with?
Ellen at July 20, 2008 12:41 PMPS After the 220 paper, the wood looks fabulous!
Hi Ellen!
Some wood putty should do the trick. Glad the parquet looks so good after you sanded it - I'll bet you're tickled!
The Flooring Lady at July 21, 2008 12:15 AMduring the wet summer, the parquet floor in 2 rooms buckled and broke apart. we have dried out all but how do i put the pieces back in place as the squares came apart and now the last strip of each square will not fit.
Lori at September 6, 2008 6:58 AMFirst off, how is the floor constructed? Is the parquet glued down or what? Were these parquet tiles or literally individual hardwood strips?
The Flooring Lady at September 6, 2008 11:11 AMI have the same problem as Lori, my floor is literally individual hardwood strips. I'm still drying one room.
Fernanda at September 7, 2008 11:48 AMPretty much the same questions then...... what is under the flooring (what is it laid on?) and is it glued, nailed, a floating floor??
The Flooring Lady at September 7, 2008 8:31 PMI'm having the exact same problem with the squares "coming apart" and not knowing how to get the last strip of each square to fit. In my case, the parquet flooring is fixed to a concrete floor with an adhesive. Any suggestions?
emile at November 27, 2008 3:22 AMHello Emile,
The Flooring Lady at November 29, 2008 12:44 PMI'm not sure what you mean by getting the last strip of each square to "fit". Could you clarify a bit please? The squares shouldn't come apart if they were joined together properly and glued down correctly. Are the squares on the edges of the room or???
Dear Flooring Lady
Jay at February 10, 2009 10:52 PMA new cleaning company used a steam cleaner on our oak parquet floor. There are now streaks where it appears some of the finish was removed. Can you recommend a repair process? We don't have enough spare parquet tiles to replace most of the floor, so repair in place is our first choice.
Hi Jay,
The Flooring Lady at February 19, 2009 8:43 AMSome more information would be helpful. Is the parquet solid wood? If so, you can strip and refinish. You may be able to get by with just using another coating of sealer (lightly sand the streaked areas first) - just be sure it's the same type as what is down now - probably water based. If you have an engineered wood floor, it may have a special factory finish that won't be compatible with regular sealers. My next though is why did they use a steam cleaner on a wood floor? I would think that since they damaged the floor, they should have to bear the time and expense of making it look like it was before. If you approved cleaning the wood with a steam cleaner though, you're out of luck there.
I need to know the best way to remove parquet flooring that has been glued down.
John at February 25, 2009 12:44 PMHi John,
The Flooring Lady at February 25, 2009 10:22 PMHow thick is the flooring and what is under it?
Dear Flooring Lady, I need to know if i can just mop the parquet floor with ordinary water (no special solution specially made for the wood) without drying the mop extremely try, and what are the consequences to the wooden floor if i do that (mop with a damp mop). I dont mind if the color does not look good but i do mind if they start to pop up and grow termites...what about using ordinary floor detergent meant for ceramics tiling? I just got a house with parquet and have absolutely no idea how troublesome it is to maintain and clean it compared to the ceramics i am more familiar with.
james at June 4, 2009 4:39 PMHi James,
The Flooring Lady at June 6, 2009 1:04 PMWood floors in general usually only need to be gone over with a dust mop - Microfiber mops are good for this as well since they grab dirt. Other than that, just fill a spray bottle with a solution of 1 part vinegar to 15 parts water to clean when needed - after using a dust mop. Only do a smallish section at a time - don't spray the whole floor. Be sure to use the microfiber mop with you cleaning solution and invest in another microfiber mop or cloths to go over it again to make sure it's completely dry and avoid streaks.
help needed!!.. i have paint stains on the parquet flooring... bow do i get rid of the stains and how can i restore the original look of the floor??.. Will the paint stains damage the lacquer on the floor?
suzanne at June 7, 2009 12:31 AMHello Suzanne,
I don't really have enough information to answer your questions. The age of the floor finish will make some difference to the depth of the damage. You may need to get a local flooring expert to come in and take a look to see what you are facing.
The Flooring Lady at June 13, 2009 1:45 PMIt might be as simple as gently washing and scrubbing at the paint to remove it. Your use of the word "stains" leads me to believe the paint is embedded in the wood, which means it's going to be much more challenging to remove.
I have parquet flooring and would like to know if these steam mops are good for the flooring. If it is all right, could you recommend a good steam mop. Haan? h20? shark? Bissell? or others
Donna at June 14, 2009 9:41 AMCould it damage floor? Thanks for your advise in advance.
Hi Donna,
I do not recommend using a steam mop for any type of hardwood flooring.
The Flooring Lady at June 18, 2009 11:23 AMMy parquet floor is popping up in a couple of places. How can I secure them back to the floor? Is this something that I can use a finish nailer for?
John at June 23, 2009 1:38 PMHi John,
Do you know why they are popping up? If they are popping up because of water, that problem needs to be addresses first.
How do you have the pieces attached presently? What is your subfloor made of?
If the pieces are damaged, you should consider replacing them although they will look different even if you get the new pieces from the same lot as the original ones.
The Flooring Lady at June 24, 2009 10:17 AMYour options for putting the originals back in place are gluing and stapling (or finish nailing). Personally, I wouldn't nail (as in standard nail) the pieces.
We have a wood parquet floor which is currently popping some tiles when it becomes very humid. It is about 20 years old. The adhesive has obviously dried up. How should I handle this? Glue them back down? Nail them? Sand some slightly to allow for expansion and allow them to float? Not sure what to do. Thanks for your time. I look forward to your reply.
Jerry Fagley at July 31, 2009 6:13 PMJerry,
I would consult a professional who is familiar with the humidity in your area. It can make a difference in how you go about fixing the tiles.
The Flooring Lady at August 3, 2009 7:55 AMWe bought an older log home and the kitchen and dining room have parquet flooring. It will be a shile before we can replace it and it has terrible scratches in the kitchen. I have tried every type of wood refinishing product I can find but it does not do anything to improve the look of the flooring. What can I do?
Pepper at September 9, 2009 2:04 PMPepper,
Is the floor hardwood, engineered hardwood, or laminate?
If it is hardwood you can sand them, fill the scratches in with wood putty if they are deep and then stain again and seal! Another thought you could try is to oil your floor, or
The Flooring Lady at September 11, 2009 11:45 AMapply Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane; it might disguise the scratches. Remember to test in a small are first, best to err on the side of caution.
We have a large room with parquet flooring. This section of the house was built in 1969. The flooring is 1/4" tongue and groove pieces, each measuring 6"x6". Nothing extraordinary, but it's in decent shape. (Actually, there was some water damage, but I was able to replace the damaged pieces with good ones from another room that is being remodeled.)
Anyway, I would love to refinish this wood. It's oak, but has a walnut finish. The finish is rather thin and the stain appears to be a coloration in the finish rather than the wood. (Probably why I dislike it.) I'd like to lighten it up a bit since the room is somewhat dark and we just had a vinyl patio door installed that has medium oak woodgrain on the inside.
If I rent an orbital floor sander, is this doable? I did try some sandpaper manually on an extra piece and the finish seemed to come off fairly easily.
The folks at HD weren't particularly encouraging since it's parquet, but I'm not very happy with it the way it is and don't have a lot of money to replace it. Any thoughts?
diana at October 2, 2009 11:28 PMDiana,
Yes, you should be able to either sand or screen the floors and then refinish them. If the color is in the finish only this should work well.
The Flooring Lady at October 6, 2009 10:36 AMMy mom-in-law had a plan to lay a carpet over parquet flooring as she is slipping a lot. She pulled up a 2 square meters of beautiful dark parquet flooring and then stopped - now the carpet people say that it needs to be cemeted over to make the floor level as it was the wrong idea to pull up the flooring. She has kept all the prices pulled up..is it possible to repair and do you know people who can do this?
Katherine at October 23, 2009 4:29 AMKatherine,
It probably is possible to repair. Try calling local flooring stores and ask if they can recommended an installer in your area who can advise you.
The Flooring Lady at October 26, 2009 8:52 AMKatherine,
It probably is possible to repair. Try calling local flooring stores and ask if they can recommended an installer in your area who can advise you.
The Flooring Lady at October 26, 2009 8:52 AMWe removed carpet in our home, underneath, much to our pleasure parquet throughout house. We never touched it except to mop. In many areas the finish is gone and the dirt is ground in-how do I get wood clean so I can refinish(by hand, 1 square at a time)? Since I have not been able to find a stain that matches original, would it be OK to use a darker stain and just put that over old stain or do I need to strip finish off all?
Marti at November 7, 2009 9:51 AMMarti,
The old finish would need to be removed in order to stain or refinish.
The excess dirt should be removed with the sanding. Then you would also be able to use whichever color of stain you'd like.
The Flooring Lady at November 12, 2009 12:11 PMOur older Parquet flooring (a very grainy oak) has a very bad scratch about 4 feet long and about 1/8" wide and about 1/16" to 3/32" deep. It goes both across the grain and with the grain. Any ideas on how to repair it? No one seems to sell this any more. It's a grainy oak and all HD sells is Birch.
Gerry at November 16, 2009 12:46 AM