Surface sanding

The benefit of surface sanding/plaining: 

From £18.00 per sq meter

Firstly, may we start by mentioning that only very few batches of parquet will require the surface stripping prior to laying and we do discourage the surface stripping in most cases, as you will still have to sand the floor once fitted. Prior to surface stripping, we are usually removing the bitumen from the underside of the parquet. You should easily be able to find any stray blocks as the stripped underside will identify the species and any severe damage to the individual blocks.

Surface sanding/planing the parquet flooring before fitting may reduce the element of dust created when sanding once in situ.  However, todays modern floor sanders are virtually dust free.                    

In some cases, you may only identify the true species and condition of the parquet block once it is sanded. You may find rotten blocks, along with mixed species etc.

Some batches of reclaimed flooring will have had repairs and been patched over the years. Patching up may involve removing an area of parquet and in some cases, these areas that have been removed must be infilled with a different species and be stain to match in. This is all well and good, until you end up unknowingly buying a batch of mixed species. However, this is unavoidable when purchasing any form of reclaimed flooring that’s been heavily lacquered. You could say it is a risk purchasing reclaimed flooring, but the beauty of a reclaimed floor is in its history and the sustainability of it. A reclaimed floor will never be perfect, but they will always be admired. 

By the time your floor has been fitted and sanded, should there be any damage under the original varnish/lacquer/wax, it's too late to do anything, without of course removing areas of the floor and exchanging the individual unwanted blocks. 

See below of some examples of surface sanding and planing 

Adhesive on the surface. 

Yellow Sereya parquet before and after surface stripping.

Showing adhesive removal from reclaimed strip flooring. 

Adhesive and tar on reclaimed Pitch Pine parquet. 

Paint removal from Rhodesian Teak Parquet.  

Jarrah Reclaimed Parquet Floor, with a stray block set within the floor, this wasn't evident until the floor was sanded.

Opepe Reclaimed Parquet Floor, with a few damaged blocks in it, only visible once sanded! A lot of people love this look, whereas, a lot of people also dislike this. 

Showing Yellow Meranti parquet flooring, with stray Beech blocks in, only visible once sanded

Showing Beech Parquet Floor, damaged by damp, only visible once sanded. A lot of reclaimed parquet floors have been sat in damp buildings prior to reclaim companys purchasing, some do slip the net. 

Showing Sereya Strip Floor, with 2 stray lengths of Red Mahogany, only visible once sanded