Can you successfully sand and re-finish parquet floor that is affixed with bitumen?

[OldKettle]

Hi,
Almost the whole of the downstairs of my house is parquet floor (house built in the 50s). It was underneath thick carpets for decades before we bought it, and so is in really good condition (only one loose tile in the whole house).

I want to sand it and re-finish it, but I am aware (for the one loose tile) that it is stuck down with bitumen.

I had planned to send a sample of the bitumen off to get it tested for asbestos, before starting any work.

However, I have been reading a bit online about restoration, and have seen a couple of articles which seem to be suggesting that any bitumen would need to be removed before restoration. I have seen other comments (here and elsewhere) about the heat of the sanding making the bitumen bubble.

If the floor did need lifting and the bitumen replacing then I think that would be too much of a job (especially if it did contain asbestos), so I was hoping for some advice on whether removal really is needed, or whether it is possible, with care, to sand and restore the surface while keeping the bitumen.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[ray.birch]

Hi @OldKettle, did you ever have any success here please? It would appear I'm in exactly the same situation - 1950s house - lovely parquet floor hidden under some carpet tiles and just the one small block loose that showed the bitumen base!

 

[dazlight]

Will be fine. My wood fitter has sanded and refinished and repaired lots in the Wirral 1900-1980s

 

[robinbanks]

Can't see the sanding process generating enough heat to make it through the block and affect the bitumen (and anyway, bitumen gets more sticky when heated!?) but if you're bothered about it, don't concentrate on one spot; make several faster passes with a delay between (do the whole floor quickly, in a pattern, several times)

 

[ray.birch]

Thank you all for the replies. To confirm current state, I have sanded down the existing floor and it is looking lovely. However, I'm expecting that I should use some sort of varnish or oil to protect it now that it's looking decent - but am concerned about any interaction with whichever product we apply with the underlying bitumen. I've noted a couple of threads on here where people have had issues, but don't appear to have had any obvious solutions!
Many thanks as always!!

 

[Tigercubrider]

My floor is 50’s parquet with bitumen ( that’s the DPC) and my guy had no issues sanding .
To generate enough heat you’d be wearing away the blocks!
They are generally 20-25mm thick.

He used Bona products.

 

[ray.birch]

My floor is 50’s parquet with bitumen ( that’s the DPC) and my guy had no issues sanding .
To generate enough heat you’d be wearing away the blocks!
They are generally 20-25mm thick.

He used Bona products.

Thank you @Tigercubrider ! Do you know if this was a varnish (vs their oil/lacquer products please)?
Many thanks!!

 

[Tigercubrider]

I think it was water based?