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Old Parquet Flooring

| Posted in General Discussion on July 10, 2001 12:45pm

*
Working in an apartment with a concrete sub floor. On top of this subfloor are 3/4 inch solid oak parquet flooring. Parquet is glued to the concrete with old cut back adhesive (tar like). Below the concrete sub flooring, under the apartment, is the boiler room (warm!). Some sections have gaps that are almost 1/4 inch and other sections are really tight. Flooring is generally in good shape and has very nice patina.

It would be a shame to cover this flooring, can anybody recommend a solution for some of the wide gaps between the parquet tiles. Are there any fillers that will work well?

Thanks in advance for any help

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  1. Ian.D.Gilham. | Jul 09, 2001 07:20pm | #1

    *
    Gaps over 1/8" wide are better filled with timber strip.
    Are the blocks tongued and grooved together?
    What is the finish on the existing floor?

    1. Eug_ | Jul 09, 2001 09:11pm | #2

      *Yes, the individual little planks that composed a parquet tile are t/g. and the whole tile is also t/g.I am not sure of the existing finish. It looks like some kind of oil base cover. This floor is original to the building and it dates probably a little over 30 years. Previously, it was covered with wall to wall carpet and what is used to be foam padding, mostly powder now. There are several areas that seem to be water damaged (black, irregular and discolored 'cloud' like areas). I am planning on renting a floor orbital sander and finish with a tung oil/poly finish like Waterlox (read from the other post).Regarding timber strip for the larger gaps, I am guessing that the best way is to buy oak stock, 1 x 6, and cut the wedges that I need with a miter saw, glue/wedge them in and belt sand them?In most doorways and at the entrace of all closets, there are cork strips. I am assuming they are for expansion/contraction. I would like to remove them so I can install properly the track of the sliding closet doors. Will it be a big problem if I remove these cork strips and fill them with solid wood? Remember that the floor is over 30 years old and is glued to the concrete subfloor with cut back adhesive.Any comments about Wood Flour Cement? Or, any tips or other comments will be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the length.Thanks

      1. SHGLaw | Jul 09, 2001 09:48pm | #3

        *sand the floor, take the dust and mix it with glue and use it to fill the gaps. After refinish, it will look the same as the original floor. Maybe. And pray it does expand again, and contract again, etc.

        1. Ken_fisher | Jul 09, 2001 10:34pm | #4

          *30 Year old 3/4" Solid Parquet?Ian, more than likely knows more about that than I. Welcome back dude from across the creek! Eug? What's the size of the parquet pattern? Chances are possible it was installed that way? Hard to tell from my house.

          1. Ian.D.Gilham. | Jul 10, 2001 12:40am | #5

            *Eug,Thanks for the info.Cut timber strips from oak for as many of the gaps as you can and fill the rest with a putty made from a mixture of oak sawdust and oil-base varnish.You have two alternatives for finishing, depending if you want to keep the patina of wear or not.1. Sand the floor right back with a drum sander -- mix some of the FINE dust with varnish and trowel it over the entire floor to fill ALL the gaps that are left after using the timber strips and putty. (This is critical, because if any gaps are left, the finish varnish will run down, disolve the bitumen adhesive and give a black stain to the finished floor)Fine sand the floor and coat with oil-based varnish of your choice.2. Do the filling with timber pieces and putty as before but don't bother with fine gaps. Make sure all the filling is flush. Melt beeswax (a lump about as big as your fist should do 400 sq ft) and when it's melted take it off the heat and stir in twice the quantity of turpentine.Mix in some brown stainers and keep stirring as it cools, -- it should end up the consistency of yoghurt. Trowel it over the entire floor (trowel it on and trowel it off -- if you see what I mean. Try and fill the gaps without putting too thick a layer over the entire surface) with a steel trowel and buff hell out of it with a rotary floor polisher and a black nylon pad. Buff it every day for at least a week without adding any extra wax -- you're aiming to only leave the wax in the gaps.

  2. Eug_ | Jul 10, 2001 12:45am | #6

    *
    Working in an apartment with a concrete sub floor. On top of this subfloor are 3/4 inch solid oak parquet flooring. Parquet is glued to the concrete with old cut back adhesive (tar like). Below the concrete sub flooring, under the apartment, is the boiler room (warm!). Some sections have gaps that are almost 1/4 inch and other sections are really tight. Flooring is generally in good shape and has very nice patina.

    It would be a shame to cover this flooring, can anybody recommend a solution for some of the wide gaps between the parquet tiles. Are there any fillers that will work well?

    Thanks in advance for any help

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