Parquet Floor Maintenance

Upkeep and Repair of Your Hardwood Flooring

Aug 15, 2007

Maintenance, cleaning, and repair of hardwood parquet floors. Touch up individual floor tiles with a touch-up stick or sand, re-stain, and refinish.

Parquet Floor Maintenance

A hardwood floor adds charm and beauty to your home, but like all kinds of floors, such as carpet, they demand maintenance regularly to keep up their appearance. If you're in need of perking up the parquet floor in your home, but you thought you'd need to hire a pro, think again. Read on; these parquet floor maintenance tips are all you need.

Parquet floor tiles are a very popular flooring material. This kind of flooring came of age roughly 30 years ago unlike laminate flooring which is taking market share. It's thin, light, and resistant to abuse. The configuration of the wooden pieces on the individual tile make it difficult to refinish.

Is it Finished with Polyurethane?

The basic thing to discover before doing maintenance on a parquet floor is what kind of finish it has. Parquet floors in old homes generally have a lacquer, varnish, or shellac finish. In newer homes the floors will usually have a polyurethane finish.

Here's a quick way to discover what kind of finish is on yours; get a cotton ball and immerse it in acetone. Rub the ball in a inconspicuous spot. Is the floor tacky to the touch? Does the cotton have a stain? Then your finish is lacquer, varnish, or shellac. Otherwise it's polyurethane.

Wood Floor Maintenance

For general maintenance on any type of floor, timely mopping and sweeping is needed. But since water and wood don't play well together, minimize the moisture when mopping. For added protection, keep rugs at entryways as well as heavily trafficked areas. Also remember that high heel shoes, like boots, are hard on parquet wood floors. Wood is a organic product that can be damaged if subjected to much pressure.

When spills occur on a polyurethane floor, use a soft cloth with a liquid cleaner that's non-abrasive. For shoe marks such as scuffs buff it very lightly using a very fine pad of # 0000 steel wool with a liquid cleaner. Then apply a non-wax finish that the parquet manufacturer recommends.

Cleaning floors with a finish other than polyurethane is different. This requires a special paste wax. Rub the scuff with the paste wax and let it dry. Then buff the spot with a soft cloth. Apply a new coat of wax every 3 to 5 months, depending on the traffic.

How to Touch Up Parquet Flooring

Scratches are part of life when you have parquet floors. However, if you take care of them, you’ll never notice any blemishes. Here are a several hints on repairing marks on parquet floors:

A touch-up stick made from wax can be used to match color in damaged areas . Color a scratch using the stick. Return with your handy putty knife to gently scrape off any excess. Then just buff the spot.

Home improvement centers have products like these markers that contain wood stain. Use these markers to touch up your scratch but remember that wood is made up of various shades of color. You don't have to match the wood's color exactly.

If your parquet floor is damaged badly, put a bit of masking tape around the area. Sand off the finish following the grain. Then re-stain it and put on a new finish.

The copyright of the article Parquet Floor Maintenance in Home Flooring is owned by Kelly Smith. Permission to republish Parquet Floor Maintenance in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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Comments

Oct 6, 2008 4:30 AM

Guest :

I read the section o touching up parquet flooring. What can you do if some battery acid spilled on the flooring and burned it in certain ares?
Bob bobwae@hotmail.com

Oct 6, 2008 8:54 AM

Kelly Smith :

Wow, that's strong stuff! If the damage is very extensive you might want to refinish the entire floor. If it's just small areas, you'll need to sand it down as much as possible to get rid of the stain, then match the stain as close as possible and refinish with the original finish - either polyurethane or varnish.

Matching the stain will be the hardest part. Get the closest you can at the hardware store. If there's nothing exact, go with a bit lighter rather than darker.

Wipe it on with a clean lint-free white cloth and quickly wipe it off and allow it to dry. Too light? Repeat the process and you'll see it's darker by a shade. Repeat as needed.

Oct 12, 2008 9:53 AM

Guest :

I have a parquet floor that must be at least 40 years old. It has never been refinished. We bought our house from someone who said that he was remodeling the rest of the house and never bothered with this floor. Floor seems to have lost all its finish. It is pitted along the grain. Will wood putty fix this? It isn't bad, however, there is quite a bit of it along area near window.

Oct 12, 2008 2:23 PM

Kelly Smith :

I wouldn't bother with putty. Use a drum sander to refinish the floor and that should take care of the pitting problem. When you apply 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane, you'll never notice it.

Oct 12, 2008 3:45 PM

Guest :

We just bought a house that we are remodeling and one room has a parquet floor that we would like to save. The only problem is the floor looks like it has alot of wax build up of some kind and the floor is very dull and lack of a better word "dusty" looking. Do you hve any recomendation as to what will strip this wax off? I scrubbed a spot with vinegar and water and it loosened some of it and then I scrapped some off very gently with a scraper. The room is too big to do this way. I have very little time do this, so I need something that is quick.

Thank You
Becca

Oct 12, 2008 7:57 PM

Kelly Smith :

Hi Becca, there are a lot of "home remedy" recipes out there for stripping wax from the floor, mostly involving ammonia, vinegar, etc. But why risk it? Your best bet is to visit a janitorial supply store and buy a commercial stripper. This usually involves mopping it on, letting it loosen the wax, and then mopping it off. A bit labor-intensive, but well worth it in the long run.

Oct 16, 2008 8:42 AM

Guest :

I just ripped off the bedroom carpet in our recently purchased condo which has 30 year old parquet floors. The floor has a lovely dark color but is scratched in places and has areas of wear where the varnish has come off in blotches. I was considering sanding and revarnishing but I really like the color. Is it necessary to sand it or can I simply remove the varnish with a commercial stripper and revarnish. Or should I sand and restain? Or should I use a wax paste and simply rebuff. It has some shine but needs a revamp.

Oct 20, 2008 9:56 AM

Kelly Smith :

With varnish, you can get away with refinishing individual areas, but with a polyurethane finish, I would recommend refinishing the entire floor.

In either case a complete refinishing is the BEST solution in order to be assured of a uniform coloration.

Oct 23, 2008 7:49 PM

Guest :

HI. I RECENTLY BOUGHT AN OLDER HOME AND DISCOVERED THAT I HAVE PARQUET FLOORS UNDER MY CARPET THAT R BEAUTIFUL, BUT SOME AREAS HAVE WATER DAMAGE. WELL, I WAS GOING TO PUT LAMINATE OVER THE PARQUET TO COVER IT UP BUT MY UNCLE SAID HE COULD REFINISH THEM AND THEY WOULD LOOK GREAT. MY QUESTION IS THE WATER DAMAGE, HE SAID HE COULD SAND AND BUFF,BUT I'M AFRAID THAT I WILL STILL BE ABLE TO TELL WHERE THE WATER DAMAGE WAS.I SPOKE TO A REALTOR AND SHE SAID SHE HAS A HARD TIME SELLING HOUSES W/PARQUET, SO ANOTHER CONCERN IS RESALE, EVEN THOUGH I JUST BOUGHT THE HOUSE, I DON'T PLAN ON LIVING HERE FOREVER AND DON'T WANT TO SPEND MONEY ON REFINISHING THE PARQUET IF IT WILL BE HARD TO RESALE THE HOUSE. WHAT DO U SUGGEST?

Oct 24, 2008 8:15 AM

Kelly Smith :

That's a great discovery that you have a fine floor! I would definitely refinish it; it adds equity to your home. First, are the water stains white or black?

White stains are easy to take care of. They're caused when the water damaged just the finish. Sanding alone will remove these. Black stains are caused when the water actually reached the wood. After sanding the floor, moisten the areas with a sponge, and then apply commercial wood bleach until the stain is gone.

Finally, refinish the floor. That's all there is to it!

Oct 25, 2008 9:29 PM

Guest :

I am having the wet-parquet-tiles problem mentioned here in one of the comments. Mine happens to be black which was said to be the water reaching the wood. I'm very worried about this. This room is situated next to the bathroom. My husband and I cannot afford right now to track down the leakage and have it repaired because we just had a leaking wall fixed and repainted. The spillage seems to come from the inside of the bathroom flooring and not through the wall. We would have to have all the bathroom tiles taken up for inspection. We are contemplating covering the entire parquet floor with plastic matting. What's the worst that could result from this? Will the water damage pass the plastic matting? If the water damage spreads across the room through the tiles, will there be some bacterial/fungus activity happening under the matting because one of our relatives mentioned that wet parquet tiles under plastic matting would breed harmful bacteria. Is this true? Please advise me.

Oct 26, 2008 2:23 PM

Kelly Smith :

It would not be a good idea to cover the wood floor with plastic. If moisture is present at all, mold and mildew is a very high risk. The plastic would just trap the moisture, increasing the chance of it, as well as leading to the wood warping.

Unfortunately, addressing the bathroom problem is going to be the first issue to handle. My first guess is that it's a drainage problem, most likely from the tub or shower. Is everything sealed well? In many cases, there is an access panel in the room opposite the bathroom that allows access to the tub plumbing. Check these things before tearing the tiles up.

Oct 27, 2008 5:31 AM

Guest :

Dear Kelly,

I happen to be experiencing the problem described 2 comments above (Oct 25, 2008 9:29 PM). I was thinking of looking for a temporary solution, since my rent tenure of the room will end in a year's time. The bathroom has a shower/toilet and no tub. Unfortunately it has no access panel. Do you think that the chances of the mold and mildew harming my health could be greatly reduced if I shellack the parquet instead of covering the floor with a plastic mat?

Thank you.

Oct 27, 2008 7:55 AM

Kelly Smith :

Ah, I didn't realize you were renting. In that case, you should contact your landlord right away and put the ball in his court. I haven't heard of any place (so far) where a landlord can refuse to make repairs which endanger the occupant's health. Mold and mildew is nothing to mess with.

Yes, you can shellac it if the wood is dry enough to allow the shellac to dry, but the damage will continue. I would go with polyurethane after sanding - just personal preferance.

Nov 6, 2008 8:26 PM

Guest :

I'm in a new apartment with newly finished parquet floor ,but recently had some water damage from a bathroom flood. The wood tiles started warping and breaking off in some sections. It's only a 3 foot area that is effected and seem like a small fix, but it probably isn't. Is there any way to patch up broken pieces of parquet flooring? Where would you get the wood? Thanks for any info!

Nov 9, 2008 7:51 AM

Guest :

I have parquet flooring in all 3 bedrooms, which had some water leakage problems and termites ruining some portions near the bathrooms. The termite problem is eliminated, but the flooring is quite a mess.

Would it be possible to repair sections of the parquet flooring without having to sand and varnish the whole area? All 3 bedrooms are connected by the same parquet flooring and it's a continuous flooring throughout. I would like to just take care of the affected areas, otherwise there's too much work to be done to move out furniture from all 3 bedrooms.

Your valuable advise please!
Vyn

Nov 9, 2008 7:51 AM

Guest :

Nov 9, 2008 12:01 PM

Guest :

Hello,
I have parquet floors that are "molting." There are plastic flakes continually coming off the floor. What created this problem? What can I do about this problem?
Thank you,
Kate

Nov 9, 2008 12:02 PM

Guest :

Hello,
I have parquet floors that are "molting." There are plastic flakes continually coming off the floor. What created this problem? What can I do about this problem?
Thank you,
Kate

Nov 10, 2008 5:11 AM

Kelly Smith :

WATER DAMAGED FLOORING QUESTION: The best thing is to simply take up the damaged section and replace it. If you can find a local flooring store, you can probably find a good match.

Nov 10, 2008 5:15 AM

Kelly Smith :

"MOLTING" FLOOR QUESTION: It sounds like the finish is coming off? In this case, it would be wise to refinish the floor by sanding it and then re-applying the finish.

Nov 12, 2008 1:17 PM

Guest :

Our parquet floors are molting. Being new to the house, I am not sure what was put on the floor or how to take care of parquet flooring.
Thank you for your help,
Ruth

Nov 19, 2008 12:03 AM

Guest :

Great info. Thanks

Dec 21, 2008 1:46 PM

Guest :

Tiles from the parquet floor in our entrance hall are very loose in the most heavily traveled areas and some easily pop out - the adhesive bond is broken. This floor has been here a minimum of 30 years. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Jean

Dec 27, 2008 10:23 AM

Guest :

I am trying to refinish a parquet floor and so far I have not had good results. I have sanded the floor and mistakenly (thanks to home depot) applied a water based natural urethane. Now the floor has patches of the old lacquer all over the place which they weren't visible after sanding. I am wondering what will be the best step to follow the fix the messy floor? Sanding the floor again and stain the floor or just re-coating it with dark stain over the patches without re-sanding? I am not too sure if an oil base urethane will do the job. Please any info will help. thank you

Dec 28, 2008 9:27 AM

Kelly Smith :

Water-based urethanes are indeed fairly common on hardwood floors. Probably some of the old finish was embedded in the grain. The best thing at this point is to re-sand completely and then refinish with an oil-modified urethane. This will amber as it ages for a warm look.

Dec 30, 2008 8:01 AM

Guest :

I have a question about real wooden floors. A pair of my high heel staletos dented the floors because the plastic broke off and there was a rounded nail sticking out, but my question is do ALL high heel shoes ruin wooden floors, for example, square heels , wide heels, etc. or just pointy stiletoes? Please reply, thank you.

Dec 30, 2008 10:08 AM

Kelly Smith :

In theory, no heels are bad for the floor. It's made of hardwood. But as you say, a nail will surely damage it.

Dec 30, 2008 10:22 AM

Guest :

Jan 4, 2009 3:20 PM

Guest :

My apartment has a small room 10' x 12' with a parquet floor. I previously used this room as an office and put down a floor mat where my desk chair was. I later realized the mat was intended for carpeted floors - so the small grips on the mat created pockmarks in the wood.
Is there a way to fix this without having to refinish the entire floor? I will be moving soon and did not want the landlord to have to pay for this if I can fix it myself. If I do have to fix it, is it expensive?

Jan 9, 2009 5:07 AM

Kelly Smith :

Without seeing it, it may be possible to repair the pock marks close enough to pass muster. Try sanding the spots and putty the pocks with a putty with one as close as possible to the original color. No exact match? Got with a shade lighter and darken with a Mohawk touch op pen. Then finish with a urethane product.

Jan 11, 2009 6:45 AM

Guest :

my parquet flooring is not doing well. i rent this house and dirt is collecting along the many slats. i vacumn reg. and sweep 3 or 4 times a day. i waxed the floor before i moved in and wash it once a week, due to heavy traffic. the floor in the less used area is fine. some of the tiles are lifting. i think its a new floor. should i call the landlord? what type of cleaner can i use to get the dirt out of the grains of the tiles? the floor i had in ms. was wonderful and low maintance. we put a polyurethan coating on top. it was the bomb. i dont know why im having all these problems with this one. help!

Jan 26, 2009 3:37 PM

Guest :

Kelly,

I am doing some cleaning of my brother's house in TX, including his master bathroom which has parquet floors. After sweeping and dust mopping, I used Murphy's Oil Soap mixed with water per the directions to mop the floors. I used a sponge mop squeezed out well, and left no water sitting on the floors at all, but now some of his parquet tiles seem to be coming loose. I must add that he keeps the bathroom quite warm, with a towel warmer and an oil heater going all day, in a house that is already kept at about 75 degrees, due to some personal issues. I noticed all the wood surfaces in the bathroom seemed very dried out, I suspect due to the constant heat. Is it possible that the adhesive underneath has just dried out, and my damp mopping the floors simply gave the tiles enough moisture to loosen them further? If so, any suggestions for re-moisturizing the parquet tiles, such as a wood restorer that is oil based, or re-guling the loose tiles?

Thanks,

Laurie

Jan 27, 2009 4:28 AM

Kelly Smith :

I would suspect that all the heat took its toll on the adhesive. If they come up, certainly you can reglue them down. The parquet tiles can be sanded and refinished with a urethane product. In a bathroom, I would probably just install tile, if that's an option.

Mar 1, 2009 7:24 AM

Guest :

After my mother passed away last year, I moved back into the house that I had grew up in. All the bedrooms have parquet floors in them. However, my mother had carpet installed over two of them, and one of them had carpet from the 60's, When I ripped it up, the padding crumbled, and the combined dirt, sand and padding had to be scraped off with a huge putty knife.

Additionally, the dirt, mixed with wax would only come off with hard scraping with a putty knife. So I tried sanding the floor, I was just trying to get the dirt/wax off, not the stain, However, because of high/low spots in the tile, some of the stain came off too.

I then rented a huge buff sander, and because no one told me that the really rough sand paper would not hurt the flooring, I started with stuff too fine. No one could give me any info on what to use and I ended up sanding for 3 days. The floor came out white and is beautiful.

However, because the rest of the house, trim and pocket doors are that orange color, I have not decided what color to refinish.

I am wondering whether polyurethane or wax is better, especially if I want it to remain a lighter color.

Also, in the bedroom closet, I pulled up some tiles that were black with water damage. I had found oak wood, just the right width at Lowes, that I cut into the strips to make the parquet tile, and used mastic to glue them into place along the edges of the closet. Worked beautiful.

Mar 12, 2009 2:37 PM

Guest :

Kelly, I have a 1970's vintage burch plywood/parquet floor which over the years has some wear, some black spots, some tears and has been waxed I am sure. Still it has help up well and is a beautiful amber color. Io have cleaned off a few squares by hand with a dull putty knife and steel wool and found a shinny surface come to life. The floorman said he would not sand because the wax would gunk up his sander and that a commercial stripper scared him because it might get under it and loosen it. He does not sound like he knows what is is doing.
Do you think a commercial stripper would loosen it? Could you tell me (1) how to remove the wax myself, and work on the damaged area myself, and I would do the job without sanding the whole floor down and refinishing.

Mar 18, 2009 1:27 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly
We have recently moved into the house that I grew up in. It is carpeted, but I know there is parquet flooring underneath. I can also hear some loose blocks. Once I rip the carpets up, where do I start? Obviously the loose blocks need to be glued down (with what) and then sanded (can these sanding machines be rented - and what type should be used) and then what is the best to seal the flooring with. Gosh, what a mouth-full - but I have contacted some companies to do it and it just is not in my budget. I really want to save the floor!
Regards
Diana

Mar 25, 2009 12:11 PM

Guest :

Kelly,
Thanks for the great website. I am refinishing my Mom's house to sell, which was built in 1956. It has the 9" parquet flooring (about 5/8" thick). One of the rooms was carpeted, so I want to install the same type of flooring in this room. Do you know where I could find about 160 sq ft of this type of flooring (it is multi-shades, like pecan and oak), at a salvage warehouse?
Thanks,
Bert

Mar 29, 2009 3:05 PM

Kelly Smith :

Hi Bert, if you can find a place like that, do so. Otherwise you could try some ads in a local paper?

Apr 1, 2009 12:33 AM

Guest :

Hi Kelly,
I have parquet flooring for my 3 bedrooms, I had just resanding it by my contractor. And notice some of the parquet tiles have loosen filling and is not sticking to the ground.
I will like to know how can i repair those loosen tiles? And is it normal to has loose tile after sanding it?
Hope to have your soonest reply.
Thank you
Alvin

Apr 4, 2009 6:30 PM

Guest :

help! have parquet floors, 40 year old, installed new when building house. in closet, a bottle of 409 cleaner leaked and left a dark brown spot appr. 12"x12". i have tried vinger, baking soda, olive oil and only made it worst. any suggestions.
thanks
ben ray

Apr 5, 2009 6:02 AM

Guest :

I pulled up the dinng room carpet and found nice parquet floors but some serious pet urine stains in several areas, some are years old. What can I do, short of replacing the sections?

Apr 17, 2009 6:18 AM

Guest :

Hi,
I have an oak (floating) wooden floor done about 6 month ago. It has got an UV protection lacquered finish. It is very good as small scratches are not so noiceable but i have a big scratch in the middle of the lounge. I was informed that i have 2 options to correct it.
1.Change that piece of wood which has got the scratch. It requires quite a lot of work as the skirting boards need to be removed, etc. In that case i will have the same protection and colour, etc. It's quite expensive as well.
2.Sanding down the entire floor and oil it instead of the lacquer finish. I was explained that they can put lacquer finish after sanding down the floor but i will see the mark of the roller on the floor as it won't be the same (in the factory they spray it on the wood so that's why it's so smooth and shiny.)
My problem is that i chose lacquer finish over the oil at the beginning because small scratches are not so noticeable.
Is there a chance that i can repair the floor and have lacquered finish and not have the roller marks on my floor?

Jun 3, 2009 5:10 PM

Guest :

HI Kelly--
I am considering purchasing a 35 year old home. The formal living room, family room, and foyer have gorgeous parquet floors. After reading the threads below, I still can't figure out whether or not they have ever been finished. The color is gorgeous, quite a dark, nearly charcoal brown, but they are absolutely dull. I am terrified to guess at it, but I will try your cotton ball test and go from there. Good tip.
Also, someone, obviously in a temporary fit of insanity, put this god-awful white 3in thick carpet in the formal dining room. I have a feeling there is parquet under there, but if not, what are the odds that I can find someone to put in parquet and have it transition seamlessly to the foyer? The carpet has got to go, but I refuse to put down hardwoods in a room that connects to parquet, and carpet repulses me. I am also concerned about matching the shading between the two rooms.
Last but not least, there are about 6 tiles missing in one section of the formal living room...is there a standard size the tiles are cut or can it vary? I wouldn't be afraid to try replacing those myself. I would appreciate any resources you can share with me. Will likely make an offer on the house next week, just trying to figure out if my expectations are realistic, and flooring is the most important feature to me, so I want to know that I can do this floor justice!
Thanks!!!
Cat

Jun 8, 2009 8:25 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly,

We just have our parquet floor refinished by the contractor about a year ago. But recently we found that certain pockets of the parquet have the joints sticking out a bit thus creating a coarse feeling when you walk over them (especially with our bare feet). What could be the reason causing this problem and how to fix it. Many thanks!

Jun 8, 2009 10:56 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly, I just moved into a brand new apartment with parquet flooring. Although it's only been 2 months, I noticed that my pet Westie has left his nail marks on the floor. Is there a way to repair the scratches?

Jun 17, 2009 2:55 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly, we have a home built in 2001 with parquet floors. I am just wondering what kind of products to use to clean them, so they don't leave a film and I just need to clean the floor once and not have to go back to rebuff them
Thanks

Jun 18, 2009 6:48 AM

Kelly Smith :

Hi, for general cleaning, I'm a big fan of just sweeping and damp-mopping when needed. I also like using a real floor wax and a buffer periodically, not one of those mop and glow kind of products. Parquet floors are beautiful floors when well-maintained.

Jun 29, 2009 10:41 AM

Guest :

hi kelly,

my tenant has left small dents/pock marks in my parquet floor from a bar stool with rounded feet on the legs. i was wondering how to go about fixing this myself. or failing an easy DIY solution how much to charge her to refinish the 6x6 area that is affected. i'm not sure if it is polyurethane or lacquer finish, yet.

Jun 29, 2009 11:56 AM

Kelly Smith :

Ah, the joys of being a landlord. How deep are the indentations? This isn't a job for wood putty or anything like that. You would likely have to replace the individual parquet tiles. The problem with that is getting a good match.

If the 6 X 6 area is stand-alone, the best solution is to just replace the whole section. Otherwise, if the damage is minimal, I would just refinish the bad spots.

Jul 23, 2009 3:16 AM

Guest :

Dear Kelly.
Thanks to your wonderful wisdom, I have established that my parquet flooring was origionaly finished in a thick laquer or high gloss varnish. After a recent renovation, there is one area (high traffic of coarse)that has surface scratches in the finish(scratches dont extend down to the wood. My question is, how do i remove and revarnish just the top coat.
Any information will help
I live in South Africa and the information i can get on the floors is pitifull.
Please help
Candice

Jul 23, 2009 8:02 AM

Guest :

I bought a house, built in '74. Took down a wall in the dining room and now need to put a "matching" parquet floor in the 12'x 3' area. I could use some help when it comes to matching the pattern, I see so many options, and am unsure of what is the best match. The color is a darker reddish brown. Any help would be much appreciated. thank you, Bonnie

Jul 23, 2009 8:06 AM

Guest :

Jul 23, 2009 9:57 AM

Kelly Smith :

Bonnie, if it was me, I would look for the closest pattern in unfinished parquet tiles. Then, I would stain/finish them to match the existing floor.

Jul 23, 2009 10:06 AM

Kelly Smith :

Hi Candice, if you just have a few small scratches you might get away with hand sanding and touching up. If it is more extensive, you might need to use a floor sander and do the entire area.

That would be more work, of course, but it would all look uniform.

Aug 12, 2009 3:51 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly,

I have a 22 year old parquet floor that lifts up in winter. In the heat of summer, it expands and stays down. I wondered about putting a polyurethane (or other) coating on it to bind it into one piece so that it would not lift up anymore. Have you ever heard of anyone doing this? What do you think?

Aug 12, 2009 8:00 PM

Kelly Smith :

The question is what is making it lift and lower? The tiles are usually glued to the subfloor so I wouldn't think the glue would be doing that movement.

You might be having subfloor issues; check on that first.

Polyurethane is a common finish for parquet and hardwood floors so that would not be a "solution".

Sep 8, 2009 11:05 AM

Guest :

I hope you can help me with this. I have parquet flooring throughout my flat with a cherry colored border in most rooms and a decorative cherry colored border in the dining room. The border is in the same wood, it seems, and the whole plank is colored. Once we sanded the dining room, I realized that the cherry color had disappeared. Is it possible to stain the wood before varnishing? It seems no one wants to do this. Once varnished, is it possible to strip the decorative border, stain it and varnish again?

Sep 8, 2009 12:20 PM

Kelly Smith :

Possibly the reason no one wants to do it is that they don't want the responsibility if the stain bleeds across to the non-stained wood when the wet finish is applied.

I've never tried it but I suspect you could finish the non-stained right up to the edge of the stained, let that dry, and then finish across the stained.

Just guessing here, but I imagine that might eliminate the bleeding. Maybe you could test it on a small area.

Sep 26, 2009 7:15 AM

Guest :

Hi
thanks for the insight. After 15 years of enjoying my parquet floor it started to buckel in a certain area. The area is heavily traveled. The problem has now spread across the room. Can humidity cause this to happen? Can I save the floor?

Sep 27, 2009 6:50 AM

Kelly Smith :

Not having put eyes on it, I can't say for sure, but it sounds like it might be time to replace the floor. For floors that are that old, it's usually hard to find replacement tiles.

But the important thing is to find out why the buckling is happening to begin with.

Oct 28, 2009 12:12 AM

Guest :

Hi kelly, I have scratches that run across my parquet floors caused by the dragging of a washing machine. The scrathches are about 1mm deep and the run across severl tile. What do you suggest I do, should I use a wax stick.

Oct 28, 2009 4:43 AM

Kelly Smith :

Yes, I would try the stick first. When moving something across the floor like that, It's helpful to pull it on a blanket or on those little coasters sold at Home Depot for that purpose.

Oct 28, 2009 10:05 AM

Guest :

Oct 28, 2009 1:21 PM

Guest :

Hi Kelly,
We have our office set up in a room with parquet floors. We have office chairs with wheels, and unfortunately, we didn't think to put a rug or mat under the chairs. It's been this way for about five years now, and we've noticed that the floor underneath the chairs has been worn away to a lighter color. There doesn't seem to be any damage, just the stain is worn off to a lighter color.

Is there anything we can do to fix these spots ourselves to make them match the rest of the floors, or do we need to have the entire floor refinished or replaced? The office area is part of a larger great room, so refinishing the entire floor would be costly, replacing it even more so. There are two spots, each is about 2-3 feet in diameter.

Thanks very much for your advice!
Wendy

Oct 30, 2009 8:14 AM

Kelly Smith :

Hi Wendy, it would be very hard to blend in a stain so that it wouldn't be noticeable. If it's not in the budget to refinish the floor right now, why not put down a small area rug. Not a perfect solution but it would hide the problem and avoid further damage.

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