Reclaimed Parquet flooring

[gingerhousecat]

We have a load of old reclaimed parquet flooring from a house we' be moved into
Planning to put it down in one room at some point. Anyone else done this? Is it a nightmare? Also if anyone has any tips....like how much tar I need to get of bottom? I've took it off some but do I need to take it all off like pic? And can anyone tell me what the wood is?!

Looks like oak to me. Laying parquet is a specialist job. Find someone who will fit it for you and ask them about getting the bitumen off. To have new parquet fitted is about £100 psm including supplying the wood.

Friends had reclaimed parquet laid in their hallway and I remember the fitter told them it wasn't clean enough so they had to work like the clappers cleaning it up so he could fit it.

Yes, agree with wowfudge, specialist job. I think you'll have to take off as much tar as possible. Speaking from bitter experience, the laying of the subfloor is critical. Our old floor boards and concrete floors were overboarded with 10mm board and then the blocks glued on top of that, so there can be quite a height difference with other floors/your existing levels.

Can also be really messy with all the sanding to get an even finish. Our initial sanding was absolutely filthy with the entire house covered in powder like dust. We ended up with another contractor finishing the floor for us using a dustless sanding system - definitely worth seeing if there's someone in your area who does that.

That said, saw on a TV prog once some people who'd left it unfinished/uneven for a more rustic look. It looked really good, but I know that I couldn't have lived with it like that.

We used reclaimed parquet in our extension. I didn't remove any tar from the bottom unless it was thick and lumpy, but did make sure the sides were clean. I used a cheap long handled wall paper blade to scrape the sides(£1 shop).
The tar we used was advertised as not needing bitumen removal it was expensive but worked a treat.
I loved laying the parquet floor and just used a belt sander on ours once it was set fast. Your parquet looks in great condition, far, far better than ours was. Good luck if you decide to have a go.

Yeah the condition on what I've seen so far seems quite good. I've been using a chisel on back and sides! Will have a look in pound shop! Finding it quite hard to find someone who does fittings at moment....but not planning on getting it done straight away!

Have found people who'll do sanding though....all depends on cash situation later I guess! Would be fab if it is oak!!

Would you mind telling me where you're based? We have a parquet floor in pur dining room whoch will need to be moved when we knock the dining room and kitchen together in the summer. I'm from the Midlands and I'm having a nightmare trying to find someone who can lift and relay the floor. Any recommendations from anyone are very welcome - would hate to lose the floor.

If you're in the NW OP I can recommend fitters. They repaired and refinished the parquet we found under the living room carpet.

Your floor looking stunning!!lovely colour. I'm in the north east. I asked a joiner the other day and he didn't even know what I meant by parquet...

Might be worth trying mybuilder website blackcountrygirl, I'm going to try on there later

I was quoted £90 per square metre just to fit reclaimed parquet, not including the wood. I went off the idea. Shame because it could be lovely. It's a very labour intensive job.