reclaimed Parquet with bitumen

[stevejh]

Hi , I need a little advise as to how to lay reclaimed oak tongue and grooved parquet blocks, approx 9"x3".They still have the bitumen on the back having been recently taken up from a school.

Is it absolutely necessary to remove the bitumen from the back of the block or can the loose bits be removed and some sort of special adhesive used that will bond sufficiently with the bitumen and the concrete floor that it is to be layed onto?

did read somewhere about using kerosene to remove the bitumen, but i don tthink it would be practical to do so dur to the tim einvolved in soaking approx 1m2 at a time overnight, ( all we really have the facility to do) as its about 130m2 worth of flooring that needs to go down.


any advise would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

S.

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just another thought, think i read somewhere that this can be laid in a floating method, just applying the glue to the grooves ( as in tongue and grooves) as you go. With a foam underlay to help smooth out any discrepencies from the bitumen.. any thoughts on this method? coul dthis be more practical due to the bitumen backing..

thanks.


S.
________________________
moderator

please note 10 a

 

[WoodYouLike]

just another thought, think i read somewhere that this can be laid in a floating method, just applying the glue to the grooves ( as in tongue and grooves) as you go.

Sorry mate, these blocks have to be glued down, you can't get away with the floating method.

And yes, most of the bitumen must be removed before you can properly install the blocks. It will take a lot of hard work, elbow grease or saw-blades (if you want to try to saw the bitumen of the blocks - watch your fingers !)

Reclaimed blocks can be very nice as an end result, but you'll have the pleasure of preparing them

 

[montyc]

I've been putting mine in the freezer for a couple of days. It makes the bitumen brittle and much easier to scrape off. The longer they're in the freezer for, the easier it is.
Pop them inside a bin bag or something though, the bitumen stains everything. White spirit removes most black marks but sometimes a yellow stain is left.

 

[purplegreenkat]

I have just though of buying the most beautiful reclaimed wood floor myself, but as soon as I mentioned to my father that there is bitumen still on the back part, he told me even if I got it as a present, it would still be too expensive. Anyways, he told me to not use these blocks as bitumen is known to be carcinogenic and should not be inside any house. Even though the bitumen has been removed, the carcinogenic chemicals are in the wood as well...has anyone done some research on this?

 

[WoodYouLike]

He's right about not using new bitumen in the house - that's no longer allowed.
But bitumen stains on blocks don't do any harm, as long as you don't heat them

 

[purplegreenkat]

I have just though of buying the most beautiful reclaimed wood floor myself, but as soon as I mentioned to my father that there is bitumen still on the back part, he told me even if I got it as a present, it would still be too expensive. Anyways, he told me to not use these blocks as bitumen is known to be carcinogenic and should not be inside any house. Even though the bitumen has been removed, the carcinogenic chemicals are in the wood as well...has anyone done some research on this?

 

[WoodYouLike]

are you a parrot??

 

[purplegreenkat]

ha! that happened accidentally. But who knows, I might be a parrot too