Having proven its durability and thermal insulation qualities for centuries, creating coziness and comfort in the room, natural parquet is the most preferred flooring for our climatic conditions. Its maintenance is not complicated if it is timely and with the appropriate preparations.
The cases when the parquet needs repair and care are: Scratches and worn areas. Depending on the finishing treatment of the parquet (lacquered or oiled), the ways to remove the damaged areas are as follows:
With lacquer: with lacquered parquet, it is not possible to sand individual sections. Parquet must be fully cycled and varnished, with three coats recommended and intermediate sanding required for each coat.
With oil: only the damaged areas can be partially sanded, then two coats of oil with hard wax are applied without sanding in between. For smaller scratches, use a deep cleaner and a coat of oil.
Creaking parquet: creaking occurs when two pieces of wood rub together: with uneven screed, parquets deformed by changes in air humidity, three-layer parquets with floating installation. With solid forged floors, an unpleasant creak can always appear. The parquet creaks when it is not glued to the floor, the screed on the floor is uneven, and when wood rubs against wood, an unpleasant creak occurs. This problem is solved by dismantling the parquets and making a self-leveling screed on the floor. The parquets are then cleaned one by one and glued onto the new solid, dry and level screed. This is followed by cycling, fine sanding (if necessary) and finishing (varnish or oil). When choosing a finishing oil, it should be taken into account that there are only natural oils and natural oils with hard wax (hard natural wax), which leads to significantly higher wear resistance.
Swelling or opening of joints: Wood as a material is extremely sensitive to changes in air humidity. At high humidity, the parquet expands and swells, which is very unpleasant. No less unpleasant is the opening of large joints between parquet floors at low humidity. It should be taken into account the fact that with engineering parquets (two-layer and three-layer) the expansion is reduced to a minimum and is about 40-45% compared to massive ones. To solve this problem, we must monitor the humidity in the room and use humidifiers during the dry periods and drying during the wet ones.
Restoration of the parquet: When the parquet is badly damaged, but has a high aesthetic value or is made of expensive wood, it can be restored. Parquet restoration is a complex job, especially if some pieces are missing and their replacement is required, but in practice it is possible to return the original appearance of the parquet.
Parquet toning: By tinting the parquet, we can get a new, more modern look for the interior. If we want our light furniture to stand out against the background of dark parquet, it is not necessary to buy expensive exotic wood, this can be done by tinting oak parquet. Colors range from red-brown woods through modern Scandinavian pastel tones of blue, green, yellow, orange, ivory and white, right through to gold and silver. The tones are transparent to show the grain of the wood. Specialists claim that it is easiest and most evenly toned by oiling. Flower oil can be applied equally well and easily by hand or by machine.
Another interesting way of toning is to dye the pores of a structured (the grain of the wood has been removed) parquet in one color, and the rest of the wood in another contrasting color.
Care for the oiled or varnished parquet: The maintenance of an oiled parquet in everyday life does not differ significantly from the maintenance of a lacquered parquet. After vacuuming, both coatings can be wiped with a damp cloth. The difference is in the cleaning products. Cleaning with chemicals is not recommended. It is a myth that oiled parquet floors are more difficult to maintain than varnished ones.
The durability of a coating depends on the degree of occupancy in the room, but it does not matter how it is treated after the coating wears out. Worn varnish must be cycled and then varnished, worn oiled parquet must be thoroughly washed with a suitable detergent and after drying oiled.
If you can’t handle any of these tasks on your own – the solution is simple. Contact us! We will respond and help!
