Q: I have refinished hardwood floors before however I have never done parquet. The house we have just purchased has 20 Year old parquet that has never been touched and is showing the wear of time. I enjoy doing this type of work very much and would like to refinish the floor before we move into the house.I have read much about this but every one seems to have varied opinions. Advice and direction would be very much appreciated.
Mike
A: It is possible to refinish parquet, but it can be difficult. The big problem with refinishing parquet is that you have a floor with multiple wood grain directions, this means you run a larger risks of a sander marring the surface of the wood. Let’s look into what you can do to make this come out right.
First of all, keep in mind that patience is key when refinishing any floor, but especially with parquet. Unlike most wood floors, large drum sanders will get a job done fast, but there are problems with them. Unless you are a real pro and rather experienced with these types of sanders, they have a high potential to mar and even put gouges into wood floors. Big orbital sanders pose similar dangers; however, they are a bit easier to control than a drum sander, so the potential for problems drops some.
Your best bet is to get a smaller, hand-held orbital sander (especially one with the vacuum-like dust collector attachment), and put in a bit more time doing the work. With a small sander you have much more control and you can work to go with the grain direction to minimize chances or marring the flooring. This will add quite a bit of time to your job, but it will give you a much more controlled sanding.
From here, much like with any other floor, start with lower grit papers and move on to finer sanding. 60 grit paper is a good start, then move to 100, then 150 and finally finish with 220 before applying any stains and your coats of finish. Don’t forget to buff between each coat of finish to ensure proper adhesion and a smooth layer and you should be all set.
