Parquet Floor - Sanding and varnish/polish advice

[Mike-H]

I have several downstairs rooms with parquet floor that need a bit of TLC. My questions are-

1. We are looking for a nice shiny finish. What is the best type of polish or varnish to apply to get a good finish.
2. I have repaired a small area where we removed an under stairs cupboard. Where the repaired blocks are a few of the blocks sit proud by about 1-2mm. Will these just sand down easily using a drum sander? Or should I do something first.
3. The blocks used to repair the gap are a different wood. I searched for weeks to get a suitable size so the wood is slightly different (I got to a point where I thought 'that will do'). A couple of the replacement blocks look a tad too cherry in colour. Is there a stain I could apply to make them look dark brown.

Thanks for any help.
Mike

Thanks for any help.

 

[ree]

Mike,

I've only done a bit of sanding etc. but i've laid plenty of floors, and been around the finishers.

So FWIW, i'd say get a professional in for a number of rooms.

Sanding Parquet can be a troublesome business.

However, you can easily take a few mm's off with a drum sander - have you ever used one before?

Go to a professional flooring store, and you'll find all kinds of coloring, putties, stains and finish etc. and maybe good advice.

There's also a couple of posters on here who give good, sound advice on floor finishes.

 

[Mike-H]

Thanks for the reply ree. From what I have seen the charges for sanding and polishing floors looks quite high and could cost a couple of thousand pounds. I cannot afford that amount of money so DIY is the plan.