Ask The Expert

Three strip oak floorings usually come with 3 mm top layers and unless it has been sanded before it should be possible to restore. Once the existing sealant is completely removed through the sanding process, is perfectly fine to change the sealant from lacquer oil.

Before you make the final decision on the most appropriate type of sealant for your engineered wood flooring restoration, bear in mind that oiled floors require more frequent maintenance and re-oiling to ensure long lasting protection.

Hi,

This example is shown on oak timber. This type of finish is achieved by application of Active Stain on top of oak timber, flollowed by application of white hardwax-oil on top - buffed in and sealed with another clear coat of oil on top.

Some active stains are available from Woca (Active stain 1, 2, 3 and 4) and white oils are available from Osmo, Fiddes, Treatex (and other brands). 

The process of active stain is slow - takes about a day and oils are slow-drying. It may be worth looking for a pre-finished product with similar appearance, instead of starting from scratch on bare wood.

Hope this helps.

Installation of reclaimed parquet blocks, particularly those that have been previously fitted using black resin are very difficult to re-use and re-fit. Cleaning the black resin residue is difficult and time consuming and therefore it makes the whole process very expensive.

As our fitting services come with service guarantee and we cannot be sure of the durability of reclaimed parquet blocks, we do not provide this service. Also, bear in mind that installation of reclaimed parquet flooring may not result in a smooth and uniform appearance which you get with new parquet blocks.

Should you consider parquet floor installation of new, rather than reclaimed blocks, please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be delighted to help and provide a free quotation.

Having timber herringbone parquet flooring over underfloor heating is possible with any engineered flooring product. Such products, go with glue-down installations and will require smooth and solid subfloor with UFH, which is laid within screeded subfloor. As part of our parquet floor fitting service, we will check moisture levels of the subfloor, make sure new UFH system are tested before install and apply liquid DPM membrane, when required.

Thank you for contacting us regarding parquet flooring restoration.

Fireplace hearth removal and extension with reclaimed parquet blocks is one of our regular services accompanying parquet floor repairs and renovation. We are able to supply additional reclaimed parquet blocks, matching the size of your flooring and use them to re-stich the parquet flooring once the fireplace heart is removed.  After the floor extension, a complete sanding and re-varnishing will provide a beautiful and new look to your parquet flooring and there will be no trace of the fireplace heart.

Hi Craig,

I assume the flooring was fitted with a floating installation (over underlay), as after a glue-down installation this would not be possible at all.

To be able to answer what amount of the flooring can be salvaged and reused, we would need to know if the planks are tongue-and-groove or click system.

On a click-system floating installation the plank would not normally require use of any glue, and most of the flooring can be salvaged. But, tongue-and-groove flooring is glued between the planks and none of the planks should be used after removal, because the residue of adhesive in the groove will prevent new planks to slot in properly.

I guess approx. 70% of the flooring on click system plank can be reused if carefully disassembled, but this really depends on various factors.

Subfloor preparation should be an essential part of a site survey and if proper assessment of the subfloor level is not possible (covered by another flooring or furniture), an initial indication of cost as always handy for the client.

Hi Amy,

Before it is sealed, the unfinished teak timber looks quite similar to oak, but once it is sealed it will go to dark brownish colour. 

Like other exotic timbers, the teak can be difficult to seal with normal waterbase primers and lacquers. It will leave darker shaded streaks in areas where the roller has overcoated the previous pass. To avoid this, a solvent-based primer is used, e.g. Junckers SP Primer. Although this type of primer, provides the best base and approach to finishing exotic timbers, it will make the original wood colour stand out even more with a rich, deep tone.

If you prefer to keep the unfinished look of the teak or make it lighter, the only options available will be to use invisible / raw lacquer, like the Bona Mega Natural lacquer (or similar) or stain the floors with whitetinted primer (whitewash), such as Bona White primer or Junckers Prelak White. 

The challenge here is how to apply these products on teak timber and avoid roller marks during the application, and if this option is considered it is best left to a professional with experience.

Ideally, timbers like teak, merbau, mahogany, walnut, jatoba should be left in their natural look.

Parquet flooring can be sealed with both lacquer or hardwax-oil. There are some advantages and disadvantages to both that you need to be aware in order to make an informed decision. The most appropriate product usually depends on the type of flooring and the intensity of its use as well as the desired appearance effect.

For floors exposed to high level of foot traffic, we always recommend floor laqcuer as they provide better protection layer. For our floor sanding projects we always use water-based lacquers such as Bona Mega or Bona Traffic HD, Junchers HT700, which are hard-wearing and long-lasting finishes.

Alternatively, oil-based wood finishes provide a more natural feel and appearance, but they require more frequent maintenance in order to maintain the protection of the timber. We recommend Osmo Polyx hardwax-oil, which is a popular choice for our dust-free parquet restoration service.

Whether you choose hardwearing laquer or oil-based sealant for your floors, make sure that you give it a good and smooth finish before the sealant is applied.

Sanding stairs and banisters is not an easy task and it requires a high level of skills and craftmanship. Most of the work involved is done manually and therefore it is very time consuming. We at FloorWorks would love to assist you with your stairs and banisters restoration as we have the required tools and the necessary skills and knowledge to bring their shine back. Stairs are usually exposed to higher levels of foot traffic, so hardwearing varnish is a recommended type of sealant.

It is perfectly fine to do staining on any solid wood areas, including wooden stairs. For our wooden stairs staining and stairs restoration projects, we use Morrells stains, which come in various shades and colours, which we apply on the sanded surface. This is then followed by the application of multiple layers of hard-wearing water-based wood floor varnish.