Sanding the whole floor
For the best result and a very uniform finish on the whole floor it is best to sand the whole area, not just the re-installed blocks. Remember – the more Bitumen was left on the blocks and/or underfloor the longer it will take for the blocks to bond firmly and the longer you’ll have to wait before you can start sanding. You don’t want the blocks to start moving around and creating wide gaps!
Depending on the old finish layer of the original parquet floor you might have to clean off that layer first before you start sanding – layers of wax will clog-up your sanding paper very fast, making it useless and could spread the wax all over the place! If this is the case you first have to remove the old wax with White Spirit – try this out in a corner. Make sure there is enough ventilation in the room when applying this product.
Start with vacuum-cleaning the floor.
Use a belt-sander for this part of the job, the endless sanding paper won’t leave scatter marks on your wood floor like a drum-sander can (because of the metal rod that has to keep the sheet of sanding paper fixed to the drum). An so-called smaller edge-sander will help you sand edges and the corners of the room where the large sander can’t reach. Most professional hire companies will have a combi-offer: belt-sander and edge-sander for a weekend at reduced prices.
If you notice many height differences between the blocks, especially where old meets new – the reclaimed blocks – start with grit 40. It’s advised to sand with the grain, but herringbones and various other patterns could make this a bit problematic. Nothing to worry about, the various sanding rounds you will have to make will sort this.
Start at one wall of the room and ‘walk’ the belt-sander across to the other wall, walk back sanding over the same area. After you’ve done the last row this way, turn 90 degrees and redo the whole room in the same way.
Place grit 40 paper on the edge-sander and tackle the areas the belt-sander couldn't reach.
Repeat the whole task now with grit 80. Before you start sanding, empty the sand-dust collecting bag, you’ll need the dust of grit 80 – clean dust – for mixing with the wood-filler later. The dust from the first sanding will contain dirt and residue of the old finish layer.
After finishing round 2 vacuum-clean the whole floor.
It's a great blog on how to repair a parquet floor which can be easily implemented while doing the work yourself. Just keep in mind to properly clean the wood blocks and the underfloor and get rid of the attached adhesives. And also do not forget to level the underfloor as, during the extraction process, it might have been roughed up. After sanding the whole surface, fill the gaps with special wood filler mixed with the wood dust and then again sand the surface to remove the excess fillers. And at the end do use quality oil and wax for finishing the wood surface it would provide long-term protection from wear and tear.
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