Reclaimed parquet flooring

Mrs6653

Hi, 

has anyone here laid/restored reclaimed parquet flooring? I really love the look and would like to give it a go. I’ve had a look at my floor and it looks to be pretty solid, even concrete. 

I love to hear of others experiences? 

EssexExile

The first thing I'd do is make sure that the parquet goes everywhere you hope it goes. When we lifted the carpets in our house we found that the centre of the lounge was chipboard, presumably where a rug was supposed to cover it, and a couple of rooms  had been extended with just screed for floor. Luckily I don't like parquet!

daivid

I patched up a bit about 30cm x 30cm with a box of bits a friend had given to me. It was a bit of a pain trying to keep it all near and make it blend - the floor and bits were the small rectangular bits that go in 4s to make a square. Not the ned of the world, especially compared to re-flooring the whole room. I assume when new it came/comes in sheets ready to lay as a section. I would not want to lay a whole floor from a box of bits. If it's the bigger parquet that may be less of an issue, though whatever the size you want to be sure it is consistent - even a few mm gap looks ugly IMO.

FreeBear

daivid said: I assume when new it came/comes in sheets ready to lay as a section. I would not want to lay a whole floor from a box of bits.

Traditional parquet comes as a box of wooden blocks that one lays on a bed of bitumastic. Getting the first row right is critical otherwise the pattern ends up being "off" by the time you are finished.

I'm sure stuart45 can give you a step by step run down on how to lay the stuff.

mi-key

One thing to be aware of is after laying, you will need to sand it all level which is a lot of work. Unless your floor is totally level, and all the blocks are cleaned off to the same thickness then it will be uneven. There will also be colour variations so sanding off the top few mm will help to even this out

stuart45

With reclaimed floors, you usually find that certain parts of the floor are much more heavily worn than others, so worth checking them first.

travis-powers

FreeBear said:

daivid said: I assume when new it came/comes in sheets ready to lay as a section. I would not want to lay a whole floor from a box of bits.

Traditional parquet comes as a box of wooden blocks that one lays on a bed of bitumastic. Getting the first row right is critical otherwise the pattern ends up being "off" by the time you are finished.

I'm sure stuart45 can give you a step by step run down on how to lay the stuff.

This brings back memories of going home covered in black!
 All joking aside there are modern adhesives specifically for floors which would help with the levelling, as with any floor the more time you spend setting out the better lay dry and when happy draw round them and off you go!
I feel that I’m in the minority here but I love the look of a distressed floor however if you do refinish the floor it’s a lot of work but would look fantastic and last a lifetime.

Mrs6653

stuart45 said:

With reclaimed floors, you usually find that certain parts of the floor are much more heavily worn than others, so worth checking them first.

Thank you. I was planning on buying a fair bit more than needed to ensure I cleave a good selection to choose the best quality pieces.  I’ve never fitter a floor before but have a lot of patience. I’ve heard lecol 5500 recommended for use without having to remove all of the bitumen. Have you used this product before ? 

stuart45

I've used Sika 5500S, which is also good for reclaimed blocks. 
The blocks come in different sizes, so make sure you don't get palmed off with ones of odd sizes from different jobs.