Any experience on restoring parquet?

jonnydeppiwish!

Hi

We have Parquet (around 55m2) in our downstairs, on concrete flooring. Previous owners have carpeted over the top and where we’ve lifted the drips, the parquet has come up (quite easily!).

Is parquet easy to restore/repair? I think it’s mahogany.

Thanks in advance! 

pramsay13

If they are in reasonable condition it shouldn't be too hard to put everything back together and glue them to each other / existing floor. 

If they are damaged you could maybe think about some kind of decorative edging strip of wood. 

Again this shouldn't be too difficult. Are you planning on doing the work yourself? If not get a handyman / joiner in to discuss and see what they suggest. 

jonnydeppiwish!

pramsay13 said:

If they are in reasonable condition it shouldn't be too hard to put everything back together and glue them to each other / existing floor. 

If they are damaged you could maybe think about some kind of decorative edging strip of wood. 

Again this shouldn't be too difficult. Are you planning on doing the work yourself? If not get a handyman / joiner in to discuss and see what they suggest. 

I was planning on getting someone in to repair, strip and reseal but after pulling it up with the carpet grip, I was left a bit apprehensive of the cost. I can get a decent engineered oak for the entire ground floor for (75m2) for just over 2k and fit that myself.
thanks!

twopenny

It's an unusual parquet, looks like bespoke or hand done. I'd ask round of carpenters etc as to what sort of wood. That would be interesting. Take photos and a couple of varing pieces.

 Any idea of the age?

I would think you could clean and glue as it's mainly on the sides which won't take any heavy traffic.

It will look spectacular when done

nofoollikeold

1. Just be aware that old style parquet was usually stuck down with a bitumen based adhesive, which sometimes contained asbestos.  
2. I've managed minor repairs (< 10% of floor) using double sided adhesive tape.  Need to clean the old adhesive off blocks and floor using old chisel.  Don't attempt if stuck with bitumen. Repairs were in non-traffic areas, otherwise wouldn't expect it to last.
3. You can get specialist adhesives (e.g Everbuild Black Jack) but I don't know how effective they would be unless all old adhesive cleared first.  

jonnydeppiwish!

twopenny said:

It's an unusual parquet, looks like bespoke or hand done. I'd ask round of carpenters etc as to what sort of wood. That would be interesting. Take photos and a couple of varing pieces.

 Any idea of the age?

I would think you could clean and glue as it's mainly on the sides which won't take any heavy traffic.

It will look spectacular when done

Thanks - we hope so! Original to the house we believe so 1961

Slinky

That looks like what we have under our carpets. I think it's actually teak rather than mahogany.  Ours is stuck down with bitumen. We had some of it taken out in an area which was being changed to a shower room, and it was a b*gger to get out and get the bitumen off the floor. Around the edges of the room the concrete below is a bit on the crumbly side too which means it wouldn't be easy to relay to the skirtings where the gripper rod has come out. I considered having some of it removed and relaid in our new lobby but I think it would have been too expensive. I'd always thought that pattern was made up of premade squares, but apparently every single piece is separate and is laid by hand.  We left most of it as providing a layer of insulation below the carpet.

inthedepthsofthesea

Definitely fixable. I found doing ours a bit like a jigsaw - takes some time but very satisfying when done.

I used Sikabond 5500S which bonds bitumen to concrete, so there's no need to remove the bitumen from the blocks.

Phil4432

I found the same, after lifting up the old carpets when I bough my property.  Had it restored, am happy with it.  However, I gave the refinishing job to a friend who botched it.

So its worth getting a pro in to do a good job.  Should work out much cheaper than a new floor.

jonnydeppiwish!

Thanks very much for your comments. Refurbishing it has been quoted at £2.2k, and whilst we’d love to do this, because it’s not in the kitchen we’re knocking through to, it would cause a big lip approximately 20mm when new flooring goes on the concrete.

Probably going to have to re floor it all with engineered oak.

subjecttocontract

We have exactly this in an entrance hall. Easy to lay/ repair. Circa 1990. Mahogany. Id get some more quotes before writing it off.