How to cycle parquet

Over time, parquet wears out, loses its attractiveness, and darkens. To renew the coating, sanding is carried out - the old layer of varnish and the top layer of wood with all darkened areas are removed. The irregularities are removed and the parquet is varnished again. The result is a clean and beautiful floor that is once again pleasing to the eye. The scraping process itself is quite complex and time-consuming, but if you do all the work yourself, you can save a lot.

What types of looping are there?

Before removing the top layer of wood, you need to assess the condition of the flooring. In some cases, scraping is simply impossible. For example:

• the presence of large gaps between the slats;
• the parquet was swollen;
• there are large chips and holes;
• there is damage due to insects.

If you have at least one of the above problems, you cannot restore the parquet - you will have to completely replace it.

There are three ways to scrape parquet: using a special tool, an angle grinder, or using professional equipment.

A hand scraper is a blade mounted in a wooden handle. It is moistened in warm water and the top layer of wood is removed. Working with a cycle is difficult and takes a long time, but the process itself is almost silent and does not leave a lot of debris. The tool is inexpensive; when removing wood, small chips are formed, which allows you to monitor the work and not remove excess.

Some craftsmen remove parquet using a grinder. This method is not suitable for everyone due to a number of disadvantages:

• the speed of the grinder must be adjusted manually;
• It is difficult to remove a layer of wood at low speed;
• at high speed you need to monitor how much material is removed, this is quite difficult;
• The grinder needs to be held suspended parallel to the surface, this is inconvenient.

Thus, the most convenient and fastest way is to rent professional scraping equipment. The machine is quite noisy, but all the work can be done in 1–2 days.

ATTENTION! To clean up after work, you will need a special vacuum cleaner. A regular one will simply become clogged with wood and debris and fail. You also need to check the wiring - it must withstand voltage up to 2.8-3 kW.

Required Tools

To quickly and easily scrape parquet you will need several tools:

• parquet sanding machine;
• grinder to work the corners;
• vacuum cleaner for industrial waste;
• sandpaper;
• putty and spatula;
• varnish and brush (or a roller);
• tools for dismantling the coating.

For safety you will also need:

• clothes made of durable and dense fabric;
• mask (to prevent dust from entering the respiratory tract);
• glasses.

After preparing all the tools, you can begin preliminary actions. It is worth knowing that you cannot scrape only individual areas - the canvas must be scraped evenly over the entire surface.

ATTENTION! Depending on the thickness of the plank, the amount of scraping varies. Most often, restoration can be carried out 5 times over the entire period without harm to the appearance of the parquet.

Preparing for scraping

Everything needs to be removed from the room where you plan to scrape the parquet. If you want to do without removing the furniture, then you should wrap it with a special stretch film and seal the corners well with tape.

When working with parquet, a lot of debris and dust are released; in the future, removing them from hard-to-reach places (cracks, corners) is very difficult. Therefore, it is best to take out all things or close them carefully.

It is also best to dismantle skirting boards. If the parquet is damaged when dismantling the baseboards, you can leave them.

The floor must be carefully inspected - there should be no metal fasteners. They can damage the machine that will be used for scraping. The floor needs to be washed and vacuumed, and the windows should be opened wide while working.

Do-it-yourself parquet scraping: instructions

The process itself varies depending on the chosen method of carrying out the work. In any case, you need to pay attention to the process of applying varnish - it is best to use a roller or a wide brush so that the coating layer is as even and thin as possible. There is no need to apply a lot of varnish - this will complicate the process of re-scraping in the future.

Using cycle

Manual scraping is suitable for those who decide to save as much as possible on floor restoration. This process takes a lot of time and effort. The stages of scraping are as follows:

• heavily moisten the clean floor with warm water;
• Using a sharp sander, remove the top layer of wood, moving from the center to the edges;
• first carry the scrapers in one direction, and then back, moving along the fibers of the parquet;
• all cracks are puttied;
• at this stage, the floor surface is sanded using coarse sandpaper (it is most convenient to fix it on a wooden block and work);
• thoroughly clean the floor, sweep away all dust remaining from the wood, and vacuum it;
• wash the floor with water (you can add parquet cleaner);
• apply varnish in a thin layer;
• After the varnish has dried, go through the sandpaper again;
• Apply another thin layer of varnish.

ATTENTION! To ensure that the removed layer of wood is as thin and even as possible, you need to sharpen the hand scraper several times during work.

Cycling using a special machine

This type of scraping will take less time than the previous one:

• there is no need to wet the floor, but the floor must be clean and free of dust;
• turn on the machine and move evenly, without stopping in one place;
• each pass should be carried out half the width of the drum;
• You need to change the nozzle as it wears out;
• the surface along the walls and corners are processed using a grinder;
• sanding with abrasive or sandpaper (if the parquet is very old, then at least two passes will be required);
• vacuum the floor, remove dust and debris;
• apply putty;
• perform grinding again;
• vacuum and apply parquet varnish;
• sanding after the varnish has dried and final varnishing.

ATTENTION! When working with the machine, you should not stop for a long time in one place - holes will appear.

Thus, you can choose a convenient way to carry out scraping work to renew wood flooring and complete all stages yourself. The result will be a smooth and clean surface, and it is much cheaper than completely replacing the parquet in the room.