Reclaimed parquet floor laying questions

Somerset

The main question is, lots of the blocks have the old bituman on the base where they were laid before. Do I need to take this off or not ? I've been researching the internet and some sites seem to say you have to take it off but others seem to say you can lay it as is. So what do you reckon ? Plus if the answer is 'take it off' how ? Is there a product that dissolves it or do I just need to sand it off every block ?

If anyone's laid a reclaimed parquet floor, I've got loads of questions. Like it seems like lecol 5500 is the thing to use, but it's expensive so is there a cheaper bituman alternative ? Also have people used wax, varnish or linseed oil ( or other ) to finish ? It'll need to be hard-wearing. After the amount of work I'm going to have to put into this, I don't want it to be easily scratched or damaged ie well protected.

Thanks

woodbutcher_2

Not done one myself but while i was using a bitumen product last week called aquaprufe,i read the uses while having a tea break.One of the stated uses was that of an adhesive for wood block flooring.I would think that the original floor would have been laid on a hot bitumen layer,which is smelly and potentially dangerous,not to mention requires the use of a large boiler.Removing the old bitumen would be a devil of a job with a sander,would probably gunge up the sandpaper fairly rapidly,which leaves removing by a heat source,again smelly and potentially dangerous.Can you not leave the old layer on,perhaps heat it slightly in some way so it bonds to the new layer?Just some thoughts,good luck.

Somerset

woodbutcher

I've heard of aquaprofe and some people have used it with parquet, but I thought that was because they were laying it on concrete and it has damp-proofing properties. I'm going to be laying this on plywood on an upper-floor flat so thought it wasn't the right product. But I'm asking questions to learn, I certainly need all the advice I can get.

woodbutcher_2

I wouldn't have thought the damproofing properties come into it.An added bonus if you are laying on concrete but it doesn't necessarily preclude it from being used elsewhere.It may of course be the case that because it is laid on timber there will be a certain amount of flexing.In the case of ceramics laid on timber,it is recommended that you use a flexible adhesive to allow for this but i don't know if this would apply to wooden blocks fixed with bitumen.Why don't you try looking up aquaprufe on the internet.It is made by a firm called Laybond.

plumb1_2

http://www.laybond.com/general.html

Somerset

Thanks plumb1

Looks like it'll do the job. Have you used this for laying a parquet yourself ?

plumb1_2

Somerset wrote:

Thanks plumb1

Looks like it'll do the job. Have you used this for laying a parquet yourself ?

No not used it myself, the last time i laid parquet flooring was (cough) years ago and i used a Bituman based adeshive.
The laybond product will be ok for you.