While we all may love our oak parquet flooring, there are some issues that can often arise with this type of flooring that you don’t necessarily experience with other floor types. Some of the more common issues include blocks becoming loose, the creation of gaps, or its color turning to gray because of moisture. If you are having any problems with your oak parquet flooring, I might be able to help.
Any repair that you attempt for oak parquet flooring should generally be followed by a treatment of sanding and then refinishing, but if you follow these repair processes, your floor will look just like a brand new floor once again.
The Repair Process
Regluing
Sometimes the blocks on your oak parquet floor can become loose over time, requiring you to have to re-glue them. This process can often feel like a painstaking one, but I assure you it is not a difficult process to complete. First, you need to make sure to remove all of the glue that was used the first time it was installed. For regluing, you can use either tile or construction adhesive, both are strong enough to keep the block in place. You do, however, have to hold the block down with a weight for a time in order to let the glue dry. When you are replacing blocks, gapping is pretty inevitable, so you should be prepared to fill in the gaps where it’s necessary.
Filing/ Sanding
Often times the moisture in a room can cause severe gaps between your floors. The only way to deal to with this, if you aren’t planning to replace the whole floor, is to refill them. This isn’t something a putty knife can take care of, so using your grouting float you should cover the whole floor with dilute latex filler. I would recommend completing this before you try to sand because it will make your job easier as the float will work well with your old finish. Once you have filled every gap there will likely be some reside, but this can be easily taken care of by simply sanding.
Rough Sanding/ Color Repair
If you are going to sand oak parquet floors you need a sander for orbital flooring. Using a drum sander damages the floor, giving it scratches. If you use 50-grit paper you will remove the finish and any filler. If any of your blocks of wood have turned gray due to moisture exposure, you should fix this before sanding with fine paper. To return the blocks to their natural color, you can use oxalic acid to bleach them. When the solution dries, you should use water and baking soda to wash it off. When this is complete you can use your orbital flooring sander.
Fine Sanding/ Refinishing
Once you have adequately bleached the section, you should pass the sander across it at least two, if not three, more times. By this point you should be ready to apply finishing. You should apply a coat of stain and finish right after you complete the process of sanding because it acts as a type of sealer for the floor. When this is done, pass over the spot with your floor buffer as well as a sanding screen that is 150-grit. After this, you should follow up with a few coats of polyurethane that is either water or oil based. Each undercoat from this point should have the same process of screening. In order to get a nice and luxurious finish, you should finish with a coat of lambswool buffer.
I hope these explanations help you with your repairing process. As far as some floor repairs go, this one is fairly easy. There may seem to be a lot of steps, but they are all fairly self-explanatory. Having said that, you want to be sure that you are adequately prepared before you begin the process of repairing the floor. None of it should be too challenging or difficult, but it is good to be sure you have everything you need before jumping into the process.
Keeping your oak parquet flooring looking pristine is obviously a high priority. This floor can become a statement in any type of home, so making sure that it always looks its best is something that every homeowner should be concerned about.
I hope your repairing process goes smoothly and you soon have your beautiful and unique floor restored to its former glory.