Seasons Greetings n all that & Happy New Year....
Some specialist flooring advice needed.....I had posted this on the Skew-whiff forum with not one response !?
Am planning on restoring our parquet floors soon (have been planning to for the last 11 years !?) The building's about 1850, the parquet is the finger type parquet in a square basket pattern (5 individual fingers per square)....it's about 6 or 7mm thick, I think it's teak, originally laid using hot bitumen on top of concrete. I've repaired different areas using a cold-set flooring adhesive which has been fine.
The floor finish is patchy through out, some bleached areas from old plant pots, some areas varnished, some areas waxed (over the years). Now I'm wanting to sand and re-finish the whole lot.
I'm apprehensive about using a commercial drum floor-sanding machine because firstly, I think it could pull up the parquet, and secondly, because it's parquet floor, the grain is changing direction at 90 degrees all the time.
1/ Would a random orbital sander be better ? If not, what would you advise ? A commercial machine would be quicker I know. Has anybody used these on this type of flooring ?
2/ What finish would you recommend ? Bearing in mind I don't want to upset the bitumen underneath, so am thinking it would be best to avoid spirit/alcohol/thinners based finishes ? I don't want to use varnish either, so can you recommend a good suitable wax or oil for teak parquet ?
3/ Does the floor need 'sealing' before applying a finish ?
Questions.....questions......
Thanks.......Mike.
Some specialist flooring advice needed.....I had posted this on the Skew-whiff forum with not one response !?
Am planning on restoring our parquet floors soon (have been planning to for the last 11 years !?) The building's about 1850, the parquet is the finger type parquet in a square basket pattern (5 individual fingers per square)....it's about 6 or 7mm thick, I think it's teak, originally laid using hot bitumen on top of concrete. I've repaired different areas using a cold-set flooring adhesive which has been fine.
The floor finish is patchy through out, some bleached areas from old plant pots, some areas varnished, some areas waxed (over the years). Now I'm wanting to sand and re-finish the whole lot.
I'm apprehensive about using a commercial drum floor-sanding machine because firstly, I think it could pull up the parquet, and secondly, because it's parquet floor, the grain is changing direction at 90 degrees all the time.
1/ Would a random orbital sander be better ? If not, what would you advise ? A commercial machine would be quicker I know. Has anybody used these on this type of flooring ?
2/ What finish would you recommend ? Bearing in mind I don't want to upset the bitumen underneath, so am thinking it would be best to avoid spirit/alcohol/thinners based finishes ? I don't want to use varnish either, so can you recommend a good suitable wax or oil for teak parquet ?
3/ Does the floor need 'sealing' before applying a finish ?
Questions.....questions......
Thanks.......Mike.
