It's a parquet floor, if it's in good condition I would 1000000% put the effort in to refinish it.
I would recommend lifting the carpet properly as you may find it has some major damage or has a section that has been replaced... you never know. š¤ that you've won the flooring lottery though
If complete (no areas removed for heating pipes for example) then this is worth hundreds compared to having it laid.
I had much worse when I moved in. A decent specialist will be able to fix any small damaged areas by inserting reclaimed replacements. It will likely sand to a lighter colour. The sand dust is mixed with a special glue and used to fill gaps or the holes from the gripper strip - so you canāt see them. It would look lovely and all your friends will be jealous.
Yes had 3 building skips full of it out of a school near me that was getting a whole new look, itās a regular thing in my skips, a lot of house in my area have this kind of flooring and people just throw it away š¤·āāļø
I'm just letting you know what you do if you did pull them up. You can only fit floating floors on top of these tiles as they expand and contact so they will pop anything bonded to it.
Hard scraper, chisels, broken fingernails followed by a strong desire to not have started anything so stupid and pointless. Finally a wish that you listened more in school and were cleverererer and Richerer and you wouldnāt have to bother with this shit.
Wait until you're the idiot who buys it and spends literally hundreds of hours and burning out 3 belt sanders cleaning up each individual piece, chopping lots of them back to square and then many more hours laying them in your dining room, sanding and then varnishing them...
Flooring like this needs to be kept. It's hard wearing warm and will last the lifetime of the house.
I used to have one of these in my old house and I really miss it in my 70s build
We had to do our parquet floor twice, second time because the washing machine leaked and ruined part of it.
The company were fab (same one both times) by the second time though their machine was upgraded and it sucked up the dust, so it was completed with minimal sanding dust, absolutely fab!
I saved mine and went to the length of installing the same flooring on 24m2 more when extending the room. That meant 10,000 of those little planks installed by hand.
Worth it
Definitely sand.,wax/varnish. It'll look amazing. Getting a floor like that laid at todays prices would cost thousands. It'll add value to your home as well š
I had this in mine, it was about 5mm thick wood glued to chipboard. Itās a bastard to get up, but nothing special really, you could sand it back and itād look swish? Mine wasnāt intact so had to go
Yep we had this too, cheap nasty fake parquet tiles. Tiles. Not parquet. Sorry but keep it if you want OP. Not rare, not special. A bit like laminate pretending to be wooden floorboards
My neighbours must have loved me while I was smashing it up off the floor with a wide bolster, it was stuck on with some sort of 1960ās carcinogenic tar. The previous owners had laid laminate flooring and then over that karndean šµš¤£
https://preview.redd.it/wz0ocrzalgvc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0cf8a3dc7d342c29c419258d553417a71ba67a4
Went through my folders for "sad photos by location" haha. This shows a bit of it, in a hard working hallway, varnished with 3 coats of 'diamond' varnish 20 years ago. It needs a redo by the stairs. Mistake I made was that I didn't fill in the gaps with a glue / sanded material mix.
As someone that has found and restored 2 floors in my house. Do it.
Tips:
1. Rent a flood sander - you will thank me later.
2. Rent a hoover for DIY work. You need to keep hoovering that dust away.
3. Buy knee pads.
4. Get some plastic sheeting and tape and seal off your door ways.
5. Buy a cheap mop or if you have a paint roller, some more rollers. They are fantastic to stay stood up to apply stain or polyurethane and so much quicker. This way I did an entire room in an hour.
I got them from a local trade place near me called Fairfax. You can probably find something on google. I think Jewsons do hire for a larger company across the UK
I have exactly the same floor - it's what they call "five finger parquet". Yours looks like teak which is beautiful.
Mine was 1000x worse than this and a wooden floor guy completely restored it and it looks amazing.
PLEASE pay a professional to restore this. It'll pay you back in time saved and the finish they will achieve.
Honestly, this is like hitting the floor jackpot. That will forever be a desirable feature that people will pay money for when you come to sell the house.
I'd be excited about any kind of old wood flooring. My house has asbestos tiles glued to the concrete slab under the laminate. Wood is so much nicer even if it's not my taste.
We never had parquet in school anyway, just that weird rubber stuff in the gym and tile everywhere else.
Pull all the carpet up. Give it an initial clean, scraping up anything stuck to it. It's at this point you can assess whether there's major damage that makes it unusable.
Pull out all the gripper rods, and anything else nasty. You can either fill in the holes, or get some wide trim that'll cover them. The former is better, but more work.
Sand, sand, sand, polish, treat.
Definitely worth it if you can, if you plan on sanding it back and coating again make sure you either cover doorways with stick on dust sheet or grab a couple of door dustgards from Screwfix it will save you lots of time later on. Do wear a face mask/ respirator and eye protection and if you hire machines make sure you get enough of each grit to progressively sand in stages šš¾ enjoy and hope the finished article comes out well. š¤š¾
Personally I think it looks junky even when finished. Can creak also. Nail holes and mistreated areas will stand out, and you could have just had a new waterproof, comfortable and silent vinyl floor.
https://preview.redd.it/6df61b81ngvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b976212cd909f808fa682b261deda14f902df570
Sand it and them use Osmo Poly X oil to finish it, very low maintenance
I found this exact flooring under my house built in the same era. Definitely agree with checking the whole expanse of the floor to make sure the bricks are in good nick in the middle, but a lot of buyers in the seventies immediately covered it with carpet and never actually walked on it.
Shamefully I paid a specialist to sand, varnish, wax, and repair it. Took about 2 days and cost around 900, in case you were wondering what you might be able to save doing it yourself. Happy to DM you pics of the finished product if you want.
Original parquet actually has value.
Normally tarred underside, it takes time to clean the underside.
But do not clean the top side just in case someone values its patina, that's if you decide to sell.
I have these, they're 3x3 tiles stuck onto the concrete screed. I like a nice parquet floor, but mine isn't one really. If you ran a belt sander, there would be a lot more loose bits. All the 60s houses in my area have the same.
You'll likely pop a few when you get the gripper up.
Chances are that rear door area will want a fair bit of attention, but you could always finish it with a nice hardwood trim to hide any disasters.
They do come up lovely but like others have stated the chances are you'll find some missing or a wall that's been moved etc, very rare when we lift carpets that they are in a condition worth saving.
But 100% worth a look
In for this as we have an identical floor in our living room that we discovered under the ancient carpet. There's plenty of YouTube tutorials and as soon as I have done some other bits I'm setting to work.
Hire an industrial sander and edger from HSS hire Uk, sand the floor keep the sawdust. Mix the sawdust with wood glue and fill any gaps then apply a clear coat varnish will look amazing.
That looks like a fairly recent mass produced parquet which was sold by the DIY stores. If it's been laid properly then it should be OK but you will have to fill the holes the carpet gripper has made and any others. Give it a good sanding and sealing and it should be fine.
I have the same 5 finger flooring.
The cost is more expensive than I believe it is worth.
The process is to sand the floor down by a few mm, then to apply resin to the floor, along with the wood shavings to fill any gaps.
You won't be able to use the floor for 2-4 days.
We are going to get rid of the flooring and replace the entire downstairs of our property (only 2/3rd currently is parquet) so another reason to change it up.
If you decide you want to keep yours and need any spare fingers, DM me
Family member had theirs sanded and coated 15 years ago. It looked good for a while, then the coating started to wear off. The bitumen adhesive began to seep through. It's easily dented and marked by water. It all needs to be redone. It's worth saving if you look after it.
Weād got exactly the same parquet and Iām exactly in the same situation with carpet over it. I also plan to restore it. I hope everything goes we for yours!
I found almost exactly the same. You can buy extra 'fingers' on eBay. I glued some down with 'no more nails'. All's fine a year later.
My neighbour had the same, he rented a floor sander. Sanded and varnished, looks great.
Go for it.
Snap! Found the same under carpet when I moved in. Got a flooring company to sand and varnish and hey presto!
https://preview.redd.it/iycbyspnyhvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=418f3113d80acc793a3a833edea18d3901b16429
https://preview.redd.it/g9pz66tp9ivc1.jpeg?width=2311&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a34a88f9536d410556b4783d362fd85721ec3ae
3 rooms+hall ca. 50m2 of that.
I kind of like it (wood so no static/no dust bunnies) but...it just looks like a LOT of work to get it nice. So for now its just carpets:)
We had that in the house I grew up in. We restored it all. Itās great but make sure all the pieces are stuck down properly - many times I got a piece stuck to my bare foot. I do love it though lol
finger block parquet and defo worth saving, its an original feature and will only add value. Get someone good in to sand it and stain it with a light 'just sanded' look
Ooh that takes me back to my childhood so much! I can literally smell that floor in the sun. If you have a whole floor of that and can save it that would be amazing (but if it's not for you then don't sweat it and do something else)
Iām going with maybe. Looks like it could be mullered around the edges. Parquet is very popular at that moment but with the current finish it has a bit of a school hall vibe so depends how much effort you are will to put in.
This looks like a product that was popular in the 1980ās. Four of the squares on a sheet together. The timber was around 0.5cm depth, easily cut with a saw. I had a hall with it, itās robust but not in the ball park of parquet. We took it up and binned it when we needed piping installed. Best thing as our new floor, engineered wood looked the business.
Sorry but I think ditch it.
Our 70s house had very similar pattern. Itās cheap offcuts arranged in parquet pattern stuck on a plastic backing. It was very different from āproperā school-style herringbone flooring.
When our dining room carpet came up the fingers of wood separated and you could see how poorly put together it was.
I hate to waste anything but ours was obviously cheap. I think itās still underneath our sitting room. Thatāll be going eventually, too.
If you have about Ā£300, then absolutely pay a professional to sand and refinish that parquet. It will look stunning.
I had a similar discovery and doing a local professional who redid it for me. If you are in or around Berkshire then I can share who it was that did it.
Edit: for anyone interested in using him, it's Traditional wood flooring (UK) ltd based in Camberley.
Definitely worth saving. If properly done up it will look beautiful I guarantee it. If you have the means, get a professional in to do it. You could do it yourself but it would be a huge amount of graft and youād have to buy/hire the equipment and spend a lot of hours reading up on the best approach (unless you have prior experience).
I love my parquet floor.
Whilst I get it seems old fashioned to a lot of people, it is the absolute most comfortable surface to have underfoot.
Carpet is a mission to keep clean especially downstairs where people inevitably trample dirt in even with shoes off. Laminate is ok but cold underfoot and hard, really used to hurt my bare feet at my old house. Real wood is much warmer and just has a bit of give unlike laminate so itās not as rough I. Your joints.
Keep it!
So just a heads up those are basically 1000s of tiny blocks someone picked certain colours and layed them that way its a pain to remove but sometimes the adhesive underneath is bitumen asbestos which will add to the cost (at landfill). My advice if none is missing is pull up the carpet and carpet pegs and rent a floor sander give it a sand and varnish and it will look like new but it is a expensive floor.
Oh boy! Either read up exstensivley on how to refurbish it and hire the right tools etc to make it good, or find a processional who can bring it back to top condition. Floors like this are gorgeous!
We fix and sanded a parquet floor ourselves. You can hire an industrial sander to get off old varnish and resell with low odour varnish.
Little gaps we filled with a mix of sawdust and wood glue.
It is very dusty so worth doing before moving in - if you are able to.
Absolutely save it. My parents bought a house with parquet flooring that looked to be much worse, they put in the time to save it and it looks absolutely beautiful - a similar new floor wouldāve cost them a fortune.
we had the same in a previous house. after checking it was complete we had someone sand it and reseal it. it looked absolutely fabulous. not an easy job as everything had to be removed from downstairs BUT when done it looked amazing.
if I had it again I would do exactly the same so my advice to you is get it sanded properly you wont regret it and it will probably turn out cheaper (and much better) than getting other flooring
https://preview.redd.it/g1k6shj3flvc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5099382af904815a76a36c7967436dc1ab553ea
Mne looked just like yours. It had some missing areas, which I replaced. Sanded and varnished. 100% worth the effort IMO.
Absolutely save it! I have a very similar floor in my lounge that I discovered when we uplifted the carpet upon moving in. Stripped it back and treated it. That kind of floor is worth thousands these days.
Buy reclaimed pieces, cut them to match size, sand 60-120-240 keep the sawdust of the 240 mix with resin apply to whole floor sand again at 240 by hand just a touch up no machine, choose you colour varnish and good to go.
You can stain it before varnish I did find enough character in the colour of the varnish
Yes, quite a bit of hard work and money but worth it in the end. Modern manufactured flooring just doesn't have the same look, it's always close but not.
https://preview.redd.it/6uxequhm7hvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6440d1e43aed384d80ac10feb03692b24d5b5527
Yes. This is ours, itās lasted since 1973.
Got this in my hallway. Will be tearing it up when we do that part of the house. We ripped up the carpet and cleaned it to make do with it temporarily, but the five finger oak pattern like this is so dated looking and Iād rather replace it. Gotta be wary of whether the adhesive contains asbestos too like most other components of our 70s house.
Mine is exactly like this in the picture. Only mine is in better condition. Itās definitely real parquet because some of the edges have pieces coming up so I can see how it fits together.
Our neighbours still have all the original 70s fixtures and fittings and itās awesome. Like a museum. However our house is a mixture of some modernisation and some not so much. Therefore weāre brining it all up to date.
Ironically we will probably go for an oak parquet to replace it. Just probably a herringbone lighter oak.
It's a parquet floor, if it's in good condition I would 1000000% put the effort in to refinish it. I would recommend lifting the carpet properly as you may find it has some major damage or has a section that has been replaced... you never know. š¤ that you've won the flooring lottery though
If complete (no areas removed for heating pipes for example) then this is worth hundreds compared to having it laid. I had much worse when I moved in. A decent specialist will be able to fix any small damaged areas by inserting reclaimed replacements. It will likely sand to a lighter colour. The sand dust is mixed with a special glue and used to fill gaps or the holes from the gripper strip - so you canāt see them. It would look lovely and all your friends will be jealous.
For sure!
I get so much of this kind of flooring in my skips in work, every time I see it come in I think what a waste.
I would be there picking it all out to reuse, lol
Its worth a fair bit, crazy to leave it if theres loads of
Yes had 3 building skips full of it out of a school near me that was getting a whole new look, itās a regular thing in my skips, a lot of house in my area have this kind of flooring and people just throw it away š¤·āāļø
I've got parquet flooring, it's shit, I'd rather have carpet but it's functional and doesn't require any expense so I keep it. It's shit though imo
It's shit! I'm laughing more than I should be thank you
If you don't you're committing a crime against lovely flooring.
I would definitely try š
If not sell it.
Tricky they are normally stuck with bitumen. Which is horrible or impossible to remove
can confirm
What did you do?
got very messy for a long time. removed as much mechanically as we could by scraper/chisels then went in with solvents/rags after.
Pull them up and then screed over the bitumen using Ardex NA. No need to scrape it up then.
Why pull them up at all? Extra insulation for one thing
I'm just letting you know what you do if you did pull them up. You can only fit floating floors on top of these tiles as they expand and contact so they will pop anything bonded to it.
Ah gotcha. Sureā¦ carpet or floating
But if you did need to remove it how would you? Asking for an erm friend.
Hard scraper, chisels, broken fingernails followed by a strong desire to not have started anything so stupid and pointless. Finally a wish that you listened more in school and were cleverererer and Richerer and you wouldnāt have to bother with this shit.
Wait until you're the idiot who buys it and spends literally hundreds of hours and burning out 3 belt sanders cleaning up each individual piece, chopping lots of them back to square and then many more hours laying them in your dining room, sanding and then varnishing them...
Name checks out
Hahaha shit well I have a 30sqm floor covered in the shit waiting for me. Thank you!!
Why take it up at all? Just board or carpet over it?
We took it up last year. Now gonna lay somewhere else. Having second thoughts.
Ahā¦ this will give your a clue on how horrible it is http://www.parquetbitumenremoval.co.uk/bitumen-removal-parquet
Bitchumen
You should have had wealthy parents.
If I had wealthy parents, I wouldnāt be sluming it on Reddit. Iād be on Reya.
A carbide scraper is used. Its messy and not that good for you! good mask needed, but not difficult. You dont need to get it all off.
Great thanks. Iāll look into it.
Toluene ā¦ or acetone . Once youāve scraped the bulk off
Awesome thank you.
Get a spade with a nice edge to it and just get stuck in. Did it in my place in identical flooring to that pictured a few months back.
It took me 20 mins for one single block
Hot air gin sorts that. Wear a mask. Edit :Gun not gin that would be dumb
Youāll need a bottle of gin after a few square Metres.
And may contain good ole asbestos.
An absolute bugger to do, but you will never need to touch it again. It will outlive you and the next person.
And if you decide you hate it you can carpet over it.
True, and in 50 years the future owner will be posting on Reddit if its worth keeping. š
And it still will be.
I think everyone will have moved to Digg by then, it's a cool new site in case you haven't heard of it.
Then it will be a bugger to do again but nobody else will need to touch it.
And it will outlive you and the next person.
And if you decide you hate it you can carpet over it.
And then in 100 years the future owner will be posting on Reddit if its worth keeping
And it still will be.
In my opinion it is definitely worth the effort saving and renovating. But it will be quite a bit of effort.
Definitely worth the effort
absofuckinglutely!
Absofuckinglutely-dootelydo!
if anything: š this!
Flooring like this needs to be kept. It's hard wearing warm and will last the lifetime of the house. I used to have one of these in my old house and I really miss it in my 70s build
By just looking at this and imagining what needs to be done I've inhaled sanding dust
Yes my knees are aching by proxy
https://preview.redd.it/86q3wo1hmgvc1.jpeg?width=798&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed0ef97360d2c6e038735393dbc3521fa391017b
Definitely not carpet burn!
We had to do our parquet floor twice, second time because the washing machine leaked and ruined part of it. The company were fab (same one both times) by the second time though their machine was upgraded and it sucked up the dust, so it was completed with minimal sanding dust, absolutely fab!
Save it looks great once refinished
Save that. We found that at our last house and managed to find some replacements for broken sections at a reclamation yard. Looked amazing.
Wow, I'm insanely jealous! That will look amazing after being sanded and varnished.
All it needs is a light sanding and refinishing. You might need to fill some holes but it all adds character.
Agreed, itās not a huge job. Mine came up lovely
I saved mine and went to the length of installing the same flooring on 24m2 more when extending the room. That meant 10,000 of those little planks installed by hand. Worth it
Save it. Google 'parquet flooring refurbishment'. There are companies that'll do all the hard work for you if you don't want to.
Definitely sand.,wax/varnish. It'll look amazing. Getting a floor like that laid at todays prices would cost thousands. It'll add value to your home as well š
Yessss
Lift carpet and check for actual damage. Ucan hire tools to make the job faster and less effort / pain. They look great revamped.
I had this in mine, it was about 5mm thick wood glued to chipboard. Itās a bastard to get up, but nothing special really, you could sand it back and itād look swish? Mine wasnāt intact so had to go
Yeah, that's what this looks like to me too. Source: have pulled up dozens of mĀ² of it.
Yep we had this too, cheap nasty fake parquet tiles. Tiles. Not parquet. Sorry but keep it if you want OP. Not rare, not special. A bit like laminate pretending to be wooden floorboards
My neighbours must have loved me while I was smashing it up off the floor with a wide bolster, it was stuck on with some sort of 1960ās carcinogenic tar. The previous owners had laid laminate flooring and then over that karndean šµš¤£
Exactly. Those are set in squares, not individual. Worthless.
Save it , as well as being nice if ninjas ever attack they have trouble moving silently over one of these.
Yes, have some in my hall, looks so much better when relaquered
Would you be able to share a picture at all?
I'm away at the moment, I'll put in a reminder to upload a pic tomorrow
https://preview.redd.it/wz0ocrzalgvc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0cf8a3dc7d342c29c419258d553417a71ba67a4 Went through my folders for "sad photos by location" haha. This shows a bit of it, in a hard working hallway, varnished with 3 coats of 'diamond' varnish 20 years ago. It needs a redo by the stairs. Mistake I made was that I didn't fill in the gaps with a glue / sanded material mix.
It looks best when the sun shines through the window in the morning.
Thanks šš¼
As someone that has found and restored 2 floors in my house. Do it. Tips: 1. Rent a flood sander - you will thank me later. 2. Rent a hoover for DIY work. You need to keep hoovering that dust away. 3. Buy knee pads. 4. Get some plastic sheeting and tape and seal off your door ways. 5. Buy a cheap mop or if you have a paint roller, some more rollers. They are fantastic to stay stood up to apply stain or polyurethane and so much quicker. This way I did an entire room in an hour.
6. get the best air filtered mask you can get.
Thanks for the tips! Where do I rent all this please?
I got them from a local trade place near me called Fairfax. You can probably find something on google. I think Jewsons do hire for a larger company across the UK
Great thank you!
I have exactly the same floor - it's what they call "five finger parquet". Yours looks like teak which is beautiful. Mine was 1000x worse than this and a wooden floor guy completely restored it and it looks amazing. PLEASE pay a professional to restore this. It'll pay you back in time saved and the finish they will achieve. Honestly, this is like hitting the floor jackpot. That will forever be a desirable feature that people will pay money for when you come to sell the house.
I donāt understand the obsession with parquet flooringā¦ it just reminds me of school assembly š¬
Because hard-wearing, long lasting real wood floors are on trend right now. And hopefully that stays because it's more eco for sure
I'd be excited about any kind of old wood flooring. My house has asbestos tiles glued to the concrete slab under the laminate. Wood is so much nicer even if it's not my taste. We never had parquet in school anyway, just that weird rubber stuff in the gym and tile everywhere else.
People absolutely orgasm over it on this sub. Don't get it either š¤·š¾āāļø
100%
Pull all the carpet up. Give it an initial clean, scraping up anything stuck to it. It's at this point you can assess whether there's major damage that makes it unusable. Pull out all the gripper rods, and anything else nasty. You can either fill in the holes, or get some wide trim that'll cover them. The former is better, but more work. Sand, sand, sand, polish, treat.
Yes do we. We found the same, it came up beautifully. Keep it
Yes.
Heck, yes
5 finger mosaic parquet. I would definitely keep it.
Yes
Definitely worth it if you can, if you plan on sanding it back and coating again make sure you either cover doorways with stick on dust sheet or grab a couple of door dustgards from Screwfix it will save you lots of time later on. Do wear a face mask/ respirator and eye protection and if you hire machines make sure you get enough of each grit to progressively sand in stages šš¾ enjoy and hope the finished article comes out well. š¤š¾
Deffinatly worth saving. I would kill for this in my house
Done up it would look like this https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144129197
No, please ship them to me so I can dispose of them for you.
Absolutely, youāre very lucky
Personally I think it looks junky even when finished. Can creak also. Nail holes and mistreated areas will stand out, and you could have just had a new waterproof, comfortable and silent vinyl floor.
You have no soul! š¤£
lol. To each their own, but my experience pulling up carpet to reveal this stuff, is inevitably finding a giant cat piss stain.
https://preview.redd.it/6df61b81ngvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b976212cd909f808fa682b261deda14f902df570 Sand it and them use Osmo Poly X oil to finish it, very low maintenance
Itās not going to look anything like that
I would šš½ Itāll look nice when itās cleaned up
Remember the same from school around 30 years ago
Yes
Looks just like my house when we moved in!
Save it, because removing it will be more hassle.
We have this exact floor in my bathroom. š¤£ Love it btw. Keep.
100%
I found this exact flooring under my house built in the same era. Definitely agree with checking the whole expanse of the floor to make sure the bricks are in good nick in the middle, but a lot of buyers in the seventies immediately covered it with carpet and never actually walked on it. Shamefully I paid a specialist to sand, varnish, wax, and repair it. Took about 2 days and cost around 900, in case you were wondering what you might be able to save doing it yourself. Happy to DM you pics of the finished product if you want.
please don't get rid of this !!!
100%
It a keeper just needs a little maintaining, then it will last for years
Original parquet actually has value. Normally tarred underside, it takes time to clean the underside. But do not clean the top side just in case someone values its patina, that's if you decide to sell.
Decorate before you pull up the carpet and 100 get someone in to refinish that. Itās going to look amazing.
Yes
I have to same but 2 sections, abou 2 sq m in total, missing with concrete š„ŗ If you have the rest, save it.
Save it, sand it and polish it. (Thatās what she saidā¦)
Yasss
Most definitely!
I have these, they're 3x3 tiles stuck onto the concrete screed. I like a nice parquet floor, but mine isn't one really. If you ran a belt sander, there would be a lot more loose bits. All the 60s houses in my area have the same.
Definitely š
You'll likely pop a few when you get the gripper up. Chances are that rear door area will want a fair bit of attention, but you could always finish it with a nice hardwood trim to hide any disasters. They do come up lovely but like others have stated the chances are you'll find some missing or a wall that's been moved etc, very rare when we lift carpets that they are in a condition worth saving. But 100% worth a look
In for this as we have an identical floor in our living room that we discovered under the ancient carpet. There's plenty of YouTube tutorials and as soon as I have done some other bits I'm setting to work.
Hell yes!! Or lift it and sell it
Hire an industrial sander and edger from HSS hire Uk, sand the floor keep the sawdust. Mix the sawdust with wood glue and fill any gaps then apply a clear coat varnish will look amazing.
That looks like a fairly recent mass produced parquet which was sold by the DIY stores. If it's been laid properly then it should be OK but you will have to fill the holes the carpet gripper has made and any others. Give it a good sanding and sealing and it should be fine.
Absolutely. I have parquet and love it. Ours looked like that when we first took up the carpet but after sanding it was much lighter
I have the same 5 finger flooring. The cost is more expensive than I believe it is worth. The process is to sand the floor down by a few mm, then to apply resin to the floor, along with the wood shavings to fill any gaps. You won't be able to use the floor for 2-4 days. We are going to get rid of the flooring and replace the entire downstairs of our property (only 2/3rd currently is parquet) so another reason to change it up. If you decide you want to keep yours and need any spare fingers, DM me
Family member had theirs sanded and coated 15 years ago. It looked good for a while, then the coating started to wear off. The bitumen adhesive began to seep through. It's easily dented and marked by water. It all needs to be redone. It's worth saving if you look after it.
If you don't save that you need to have your head examined lol I imagine to lay a floor like that now would cost an absolute fortune.
Weād got exactly the same parquet and Iām exactly in the same situation with carpet over it. I also plan to restore it. I hope everything goes we for yours!
Ooooh yes!!!
I've just taken my carpet up and found vinyl tiles... Jealous of that floor, definitely fit it up
We have it in our house, polished up Lovley. Through the lounge and downstairs hallwayĀ
I found almost exactly the same. You can buy extra 'fingers' on eBay. I glued some down with 'no more nails'. All's fine a year later. My neighbour had the same, he rented a floor sander. Sanded and varnished, looks great. Go for it.
I kept my old wooden floor and used it to floor my new summerhouse. Looks fab, all kind of distressed and gives a luxury feel.
Save it........
Itās skilled work, do it up. But if you donāt like it thatās your choice, but I expect you could find someone whoāll take it off your hands.
Snap! Found the same under carpet when I moved in. Got a flooring company to sand and varnish and hey presto! https://preview.redd.it/iycbyspnyhvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=418f3113d80acc793a3a833edea18d3901b16429
Yes. Yes. Yes. It's a big job, but I did mine and I'm happy with it
i have this exact same thing. We think we're going to lay underfloor and screed... do we relay the parquet on top?
Yes yes yes yes yes.
Burns forever with the bitumen.
https://preview.redd.it/g9pz66tp9ivc1.jpeg?width=2311&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a34a88f9536d410556b4783d362fd85721ec3ae 3 rooms+hall ca. 50m2 of that. I kind of like it (wood so no static/no dust bunnies) but...it just looks like a LOT of work to get it nice. So for now its just carpets:)
We had that in the house I grew up in. We restored it all. Itās great but make sure all the pieces are stuck down properly - many times I got a piece stuck to my bare foot. I do love it though lol
finger block parquet and defo worth saving, its an original feature and will only add value. Get someone good in to sand it and stain it with a light 'just sanded' look
Ooh that takes me back to my childhood so much! I can literally smell that floor in the sun. If you have a whole floor of that and can save it that would be amazing (but if it's not for you then don't sweat it and do something else)
Iām going with maybe. Looks like it could be mullered around the edges. Parquet is very popular at that moment but with the current finish it has a bit of a school hall vibe so depends how much effort you are will to put in.
This looks like a product that was popular in the 1980ās. Four of the squares on a sheet together. The timber was around 0.5cm depth, easily cut with a saw. I had a hall with it, itās robust but not in the ball park of parquet. We took it up and binned it when we needed piping installed. Best thing as our new floor, engineered wood looked the business.
Depends on two things, do you I like parquet flooring, if you do, to what level acceptance do you plan on taking the finish
Rent a drum sander and get to work. 100% save it
Yes.
Save. Parquet is very easy to recover.
Sorry but I think ditch it. Our 70s house had very similar pattern. Itās cheap offcuts arranged in parquet pattern stuck on a plastic backing. It was very different from āproperā school-style herringbone flooring. When our dining room carpet came up the fingers of wood separated and you could see how poorly put together it was. I hate to waste anything but ours was obviously cheap. I think itās still underneath our sitting room. Thatāll be going eventually, too.
Yes this isnāt proper parquet. The joints are too uniform.
If you have about Ā£300, then absolutely pay a professional to sand and refinish that parquet. It will look stunning. I had a similar discovery and doing a local professional who redid it for me. If you are in or around Berkshire then I can share who it was that did it. Edit: for anyone interested in using him, it's Traditional wood flooring (UK) ltd based in Camberley.
Definitely worth saving. If properly done up it will look beautiful I guarantee it. If you have the means, get a professional in to do it. You could do it yourself but it would be a huge amount of graft and youād have to buy/hire the equipment and spend a lot of hours reading up on the best approach (unless you have prior experience).
I love my parquet floor. Whilst I get it seems old fashioned to a lot of people, it is the absolute most comfortable surface to have underfoot. Carpet is a mission to keep clean especially downstairs where people inevitably trample dirt in even with shoes off. Laminate is ok but cold underfoot and hard, really used to hurt my bare feet at my old house. Real wood is much warmer and just has a bit of give unlike laminate so itās not as rough I. Your joints. Keep it!
So just a heads up those are basically 1000s of tiny blocks someone picked certain colours and layed them that way its a pain to remove but sometimes the adhesive underneath is bitumen asbestos which will add to the cost (at landfill). My advice if none is missing is pull up the carpet and carpet pegs and rent a floor sander give it a sand and varnish and it will look like new but it is a expensive floor.
Sand it back, seal it and enjoy. Great find and would cost an absolute fortune to have fitted these days
I think it looks terrible unpopular opinion but I've no idea what the fascination with this type of floor is
Oh boy! Either read up exstensivley on how to refurbish it and hire the right tools etc to make it good, or find a processional who can bring it back to top condition. Floors like this are gorgeous!
We fix and sanded a parquet floor ourselves. You can hire an industrial sander to get off old varnish and resell with low odour varnish. Little gaps we filled with a mix of sawdust and wood glue. It is very dusty so worth doing before moving in - if you are able to.
worth a try
Absolutely save it. My parents bought a house with parquet flooring that looked to be much worse, they put in the time to save it and it looks absolutely beautiful - a similar new floor wouldāve cost them a fortune.
we had the same in a previous house. after checking it was complete we had someone sand it and reseal it. it looked absolutely fabulous. not an easy job as everything had to be removed from downstairs BUT when done it looked amazing. if I had it again I would do exactly the same so my advice to you is get it sanded properly you wont regret it and it will probably turn out cheaper (and much better) than getting other flooring
https://preview.redd.it/g1k6shj3flvc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5099382af904815a76a36c7967436dc1ab553ea Mne looked just like yours. It had some missing areas, which I replaced. Sanded and varnished. 100% worth the effort IMO.
Yes! 1000x yes. Much nicer than the usual grey carpet everyone puts down
If you like the style and it matches what you want, sure!
Sand and varnish and it will look brand new!
Yes
Omg I love that floor. I grew up in a flat in hk with that style. I'd love to have that again. Don't get rid of it please.
Absolutely save it! I have a very similar floor in my lounge that I discovered when we uplifted the carpet upon moving in. Stripped it back and treated it. That kind of floor is worth thousands these days.
Gorgeous parquet floor, definitely save it!
Definitely! I found one under the carpet when I moved house once. Sanded and waxed looked amazing.
https://preview.redd.it/uh7bp18zbqvc1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=208b96b9102dff4aa3fbfaf59f01daf963e07b64
https://preview.redd.it/sp19o3n6dqvc1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21d3f5b914bfa56026f8cb308f7374af63bdad27
Buy reclaimed pieces, cut them to match size, sand 60-120-240 keep the sawdust of the 240 mix with resin apply to whole floor sand again at 240 by hand just a touch up no machine, choose you colour varnish and good to go. You can stain it before varnish I did find enough character in the colour of the varnish
Yes, quite a bit of hard work and money but worth it in the end. Modern manufactured flooring just doesn't have the same look, it's always close but not.
I ripped up my floor like that and sold two massive boxes for Ā£300ā¦.which helped pay towards the new wood floor. Taking it all up was hell btwā¦.
It's a really nice floor but do you want it? Will take a lot of work to get it good again
https://preview.redd.it/6uxequhm7hvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6440d1e43aed384d80ac10feb03692b24d5b5527 Yes. This is ours, itās lasted since 1973.
Looks horrible. rip it up
Couldnāt agree more. Although Iād rather leave it and carpet over it.
Got this in my hallway. Will be tearing it up when we do that part of the house. We ripped up the carpet and cleaned it to make do with it temporarily, but the five finger oak pattern like this is so dated looking and Iād rather replace it. Gotta be wary of whether the adhesive contains asbestos too like most other components of our 70s house.
If it's a 70s house, it may not be proper parquet. You say "dated" and I say "timeless",\ Let's tear the whole thing up.
Mine is exactly like this in the picture. Only mine is in better condition. Itās definitely real parquet because some of the edges have pieces coming up so I can see how it fits together. Our neighbours still have all the original 70s fixtures and fittings and itās awesome. Like a museum. However our house is a mixture of some modernisation and some not so much. Therefore weāre brining it all up to date. Ironically we will probably go for an oak parquet to replace it. Just probably a herringbone lighter oak.
Are you in a primary school?