How to Fix Common Parquet Issues？

Unlike other types of wood flooring, they are made up of solid wood blocks (also known as strips or tiles), with fixed dimensions that are laid in various geometric or regular patterns, such as herringbone and chevron. These pieces of wood are typically rectangular, but also come in squares, triangles and lozenge shapes, along with feature designs such as stars.

Parquet flooring is now available in engineered wood, although originally it would only have been made from solid wood.

Common Reasons For Parquet Floor Restoration

There are several reasons why a parquet floor might need repairing. It is important to be aware that steaming ahead without professional advice, pulling up damaged blocks, can spell further damage to the floor, causing something of a chain reaction and meaning more blocks get taken out than was originally necessary. As such, it’s good to get the input of a professional first.

Some of the most common issues faced by owners of an original parquet floor include:

• Missing blocks
• Unstable or loose blocks
• Gaps between pieces
• An uneven surface or raised sections of flooring
• Damage such as scratches and stains

 

Replacing Missing Parquet

There are several reasons why you might find missing individual sections of parquet. Perhaps electrical or plumbing work was carried out, or walls were removed. Sometimes, parquet will be missing where there was once a fireplace hearth, while other times, water damage may have left individual tiles beyond repair.

If you find missing blocks, or those that cannot be saved, it is best to try to find reclaimed blocks to match the originals. Providing they are of the same size and thickness, they can then be fixed down to the subfloor using a suitable adhesive.

Fixing Loose Parquet Blocks

Water damage, an unstable subfloor, age and old bitumen adhesive can all cause individual parquet blocks to become loose over time and leave parquet flooring in need of restoration.

The most common solution for loose parquet is to remove the affected blocks, and clean off old adhesive, before fixing them back into place using a suitable flexible floor adhesive.

If the subfloor is found to be causing the issue, perhaps because it is uneven or has been affected by movement, you should call in the professionals to assess and advise.

Filling Gaps in Parquet Flooring

Central heating can cause old wooden floors to expand and contract so is a common cause of gaps in parquet flooring. Water damage can also be a culprit.

Although very small gaps shouldn’t be a problem, larger ones will need to be filled. Thankfully, there are ways to put this common parquet problem right.

The usual solution is to fill the gaps with a mixture containing the fine dust produced when the floor is sanded and resin fillers or a cellulose hardener. This paste will be trowelled and pushed into the gaps. The excess filler should then be cleaned and lightly sanded off the surface.

How to Fix Uneven Parquet Floors

In some cases, you might find sections of your flooring have lifted causing the surface of your parquet floor to look bumpy — and to become a trip hazard.

There can be several causes of this, including a damaged subfloor, or one that has worn away in some places, structural movement and flooding.

In these cases, more than parquet floor restoration is required. The affected areas of parquet will need to be lifted (they are usually numbered to ensure they go back in the same place they came from) before the subfloor is repaired.

If large sections of the subfloor need levelling it might be necessary to lift the majority of the parquet to ensure the blocks are not damaged. Even if you know how to level a floor, removing the parquet floor without causing damage can be difficult, so it’s a job best left to those who specialise in this task.

Restoring Damaged Parquet Flooring

Scratched, stained and dull parquet flooring are common in old properties. It is often just a case of general wear and tear that causes this kind of damage, but sometimes a bad sanding job or an inappropriate finishing treatment might be to blame.

A damaged parquet floor will need sanding with a specialist orbital sander. It is important that the correct equipment is used when it comes to restoring parquet flooring as the angle at which the blocks are laid can cause issues if the wrong type of sander is employed.

After sanding has been carried out, the floor can be finished with a suitable lacquer, wax or oil.