Parquet restoration in Wigan

What we do

Parquet restoration

Parquet restoration is a different job from sanding a plank floor, and it is the work we are best known for. An old parquet floor is hundreds of individual blocks, most of them laid in bitumen, and by the time we see it there are usually blocks missing, blocks lifting, and a patch by the hearth where somebody removed a fireplace in 1978 and filled the hole with concrete.

So the sanding is the last part, not the first. We lift the loose and drummy blocks, clean the old bitumen off the backs, make good the sub-floor beneath, and re-lay them properly. Missing blocks are matched from stock or cut to size — we hold the common species and sizes, and where a floor is an odd dimension we have blocks made. Only once the whole field is sound and flat does a machine go anywhere near it.

The result is a floor that is genuinely repaired rather than papered over. A floor sanded while blocks are still loose will look excellent for a fortnight and then telegraph every movement through the finish. It is the reason we quote parquet restoration by survey rather than by square metre over the phone.

Best for: Victorian and Edwardian hallways, 1930s semis, churches and schools — anywhere original parquet is still down.

Also worth a look

Our other services

Preparing and levelling a sub-floor before fitting

Sub-floor preparation

Commercial wood flooring installation in Wigan

Commercial flooring

Back to restoration & sanding

Questions

What people ask us

Half my blocks are missing. Is it still worth restoring?

Almost certainly. Missing blocks are a supply problem, not a structural one — we match and replace them. The floors we turn down are the ones with widespread rot, active woodworm, or an unresolved damp problem underneath, because those will destroy new work as readily as old. We will tell you which category yours is in at the survey.

What is the black stuff on the back of the blocks?

Bitumen — the original adhesive. It has to come off the backs of any blocks we lift, or they will not sit flat when re-laid, and the new adhesive will not bond. It is slow, dirty work and it is a large part of why parquet restoration costs more than sanding a plank floor.

Can you match the pattern where a fireplace was removed?

Yes. That patch is one of the most common repairs we do. We cut back to a clean line, make the sub-floor good, and set new blocks in continuing the existing herringbone or basketweave so the run stays true. Once it is sanded and finished as one floor, you will not find it.

How is this quoted?

By survey, not over the phone. The variable is the repair work, not the area — two identical-sized hallways can differ by days depending on how many blocks are loose and what is under them. We look at it, tell you what it needs, and put a fixed price in writing.

Free measure, written quote, no pressure

Tell us the room and how it gets used, and we will tell you honestly what suits it — including when the answer is something cheaper.

Book a free measure Call 01257 425600