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Refinishing Parquet Flooring

| Posted in General Discussion on March 4, 2003 07:48am

My daughter wants me to sand and refinish a parquet floor.  If I use a drum sander like I have used on oak plank flooring I will sand half of each parquet tile across the grain.  How do I avoid this or do I just use a fine finishing sand paper and live with it.  What is the best way to apply finish to parquet.  Thank you for your help.

BJ

Gardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
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  1. luvmuskoka | Mar 05, 2003 03:58am | #1

    Parquet floors are very challenging to re-finish, they are best left to a pro who knows what he's doing. Lot's of guys finish floors on a professional basis and have never sanded parquet.

    I don't put the drum or belt to any parquet or patterned floors, I sand them with my orbital machines.

    An OMU sanding sealer or non-waxed shellac MUST be used as a first coat. Depending on the species, you may experience tannin bleed with a water-borne sealer. This bleeding will create streaks where you crossed the grain.  Quality OMU top coats should also be used unless you're experienced with water-borne finishes.

    Ditch

    1. bobhallsr | Mar 05, 2003 06:58am | #3

      Ditch and Greg, Thanks a bunch.  I can see that it's a good thing that I'm retired and have all the time in the world to fix my mistakes when I start this job LOL

      BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland

      1. User avater
        BillHartmann | Mar 05, 2003 06:07pm | #4

        This sounds like it would be perfect for the new random orbit floor machines.

        AndyE said that he used one on his new house. It was slow, but easy to control.

        1. IanDG | Mar 05, 2003 08:27pm | #5

          The random orbital (square pad) machines are slow but they'd be ideal for this job.Once you've finished sanding, test for rejection by coating a small patch first and once it's dry, stick a piece of duct tape across it. Rip off the tape and see if any of the coat comes with it -- you could have problems if the floor has ever been waxed or finished with one of the 'Wash and Shine' products.IanDG

  2. Floorman | Mar 05, 2003 04:44am | #2

    Drum sand one direction with 50grit. Drum sand the other direction with 80grit. Drum sand the first direction with 120grit. Sand the floor next with 100 grit sandpaper on a buffer. On a 16" buffer you can cut a 32" piece of drum paper (100g) and fold 8" in on each side into the center, then tape that seam. Cut off each corner of your paper on a diagonal so that the ends are not square (they tend to leave scratches). Place the paper on a white buffing pad under your drive plate which attaches to your buffer and sand out the cross grain scratches. Vacumn up from time to time and check to see if the scratches are all gone. You may need multiple 100g paper cuts to get through this process. When you are satified that the cross grain scratches are gone, buff the floor with 100g, 16" buffer screens to remove and 100g sandpaper buffer scratches. Apply the first coat of poly in one direction and the last coat in the other direction. A third coat in the first direction. The poly cross grain lines will fade out over time. It is not hard, it is just a process which requires more eye inspection. GW

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