Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - parquet floor, refinishing how to?

i pulled up the carpet in my house and found real parquet floors. i can't sand these like i would normal wood floors because of the grain of the wood going in different directions. or can i? i'd like to try and do it myself, but i don't my wife to attack me if i screw it up. she loves the floors. any ideas?

mitcheal:

first i would have to ask about the age of the parquet or the house as it sounds original. who knows you may have a gem! gem meaning 1/2- 3/4" solid parquet. they still make that stuff too in much larger dimensions. don't be concerned with the grain pattern and follow basic guidelines concerning hardwood floor refinishing.

check out the search here at diy, as it provides some useful finishing techniques. if you're worried about what the wife has to say, try your first attempts in an isloated area first such as a closet or something. nobody will see your screwups in those places.

what happened to my caps? must be a trend?

If you don't want to change the color of the stain, then go with a buffer and an old, worn out dry wall screen to scruff up the surface. Remove all dust with tack cloth. Apply at least 3 coats of poly.

Not a bad idea Patricia, but I see the mention of old as in pulling up carpeting. We don't know how old it is and there may be a wax finish on the parquet, which wouldn't bond with your suggestion. I haven't mentioned previous cleaners used that will also affect any successful refinishing.

Changing colors of any stained parquet is also a little troublesome as the staining process allows for alot of seepage into the tiny and many cracks in the many "fingers" of common parquet flooring. As an example: If the product is a white wash color and you desire a natural finish you may have to sand more than desired to get all the white stain out. The more common parquets are only 5/16" in thickness and have about 1/8" to work with before breaking the tongue and groove areas.