Reclaimed oak parquet

[misterfish]

Part of our downstairs has herringbone oak parquet - the surface of the block measures 9 inches by 2 7/8 inches and t & g all round. We are about to have some building work done and SWMBO has suggested using recycled parquet from the same era (1950s) to get a good match.

All the suitable reclaimed parquet we can find has bitumen (as adhesive) still on the underside along with bits of grit/mortar from the underlying screed that these blocks were stuck to.

Now we're talking about 35 sq metres so thats well over 2000 blocks!

And now the inevitable question - how to clean the bitumen and grit off of the blocks.

My initial thoughts are that:-
1. Thicknesser blades would be knackered after only a short time.
2. That running them on edge through the table saw would likewise rapidly dull/damage the blade as well as coat the innards of the table saw with nasties.
3. Running them through the bandsaw on edge would damage the blade and be a real pain to try to control
4. Belt sanding them would soon clog the belt

So are there any other previously adventuous souls that have cleaned the bitumen from large numbers of parquet blocks in a 'simple' and effective manner? Or maybe you know of others that have done so.

Any thoughts, guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MisterFish

 

[Colin C]

Hi Misterfish,

I am hoping to get some parquet flooring to do my floor down stairs ( for free [-o< )
You can get a glue that wil stick to the bitumen and it is in this forum some where, so I will try to lok for it aas I cant remember what it is called :roll:

 

[Jake]

Don't bother if it is just the usual 2-3mm of bitumen, just lay on them on parquet adhesive which is trowelled on with a notched trowel, like tile adhesive. The adhesive is thick enough to even it out. Search for Lecol parquet adhesive.

 

[garywayne]

Hi misterfish.

I know nothing about this, but my thoughts are scrape the pitch off with a heat gun and scraper, then finish it off with white spirit, or meths. Time consuming, but I can think of nothing else. Sorry.

 

[nickson71]

Don't heat and scrap .......... it make a massive mess and takes a lot longer than just scraping


I've got a load of parquet free and I've do a few tests to get the bitumin of the back. I'm just starting to remove the bitumin and all I'm doing is scraping the bottom with either a card scraper or the side of an old cheap chisel. the bitumin just flakes off

Ian

 

[Jake]

You really don't need to and there is no advantage in removing it if it is well adhered. Why create work?

Lecol 5500, or Sikaflex t54 are a couple of brands of trowelable adhesives, there are others - Stycobond is a name that rings a faint bell. If you are worried, give their technical depts a call to check it will stick to bitumen.

You'll save yourself days and days of wasted time and effort.

 

[Colin C]

Jake is right on this one as the firm I get a lot of work from use the Lecol all the time and they dont scrap

 

[mack9110000]

Speaking as a fomer parquet floorlayer, any time I have used reclaimed wood block (which is what you have) the back of the blocks were scraped to remove the old pitch and cement adhering to the flooring.It was the most tedious work you can imagine for an apprentice.We used a heavy hand axe which seemed more productive than an old chisel or scraper.I remember it was the only job we were allowed to do sitting down.Some years ago I laid reclaimed woodblock which had been put through a planer, the flooring was 120 yrs old and sanded up lovely.though I'm pretty sure the planer blades would have been scrapped.I wouldn't dream of laying the flooring without some kind of cleaning first.Best of luck.

 

[Jake]

.I wouldn't dream of laying the flooring without some kind of cleaning first.Best of luck.

Would you mind explaining why? What improvement do you expect to achieve by taking the bitumen off?

 

[mack9110000]

The reason for cleaning the pitch & cement from the blocks would be to give a flat underside to the flooring,thus having more of the block in contact with the subfloor.I might add it is not necessary to have bare wood ,cleaned of excess pitch will do!If the flooring is to be laid in herring bone pattern, it has to be laid on a clean level subfloor otherwise gaps will occur during installation.Another reason for cleaning would be that the mixture of pitch & oil has perished & would be creating a barrier between new adhesive & clean wood,giving future problems with moisture etc.
I hope this helps.

 

[mudman]

How about using a draw knife?
You'd probably have to build a shave horse, but I bet that once you got into the rhythm of it, I bet it would go quite quickly.

 

[JFC]

Axe wins every time IMHO , i've been an apprentice too :roll:

 

[Jake]

The reason for cleaning the pitch & cement from the blocks would be to give a flat underside to the flooring,thus having more of the block in contact with the subfloor.

But with a modern adhesive you can trowel with a 6mm x 6mm or 8mm x 8mm trowel, which means that the flatness of the underneath is irrelevant unless it is grossly and unusually uneven. Generally, this stuff comes up with an even-ish layer of bitumen which varies between about 3mm and 1mm thick. No problem for a modern bed adhesive.

I might add it is not necessary to have bare wood ,cleaned of excess pitch will do!

Maybe we agree. I've never seen more than a few mm of pitch, but if sometimes it comes with more than a few mm then I'd understand.

 

[JFC]

3mm to 30mm in my experience !

 

[Jake]

3mm to 30mm in my experience !

What, of pitch?

If it exists like that (what the hell must the original sub-floor have been like) then buy something else. All the stuff I've ever seen (lets say 100-150 lots) has been a few mm max.

 

[Colin C]

Axe wins every time IMHO , i've been an apprentice too :roll:

Some ones got a good memory :twisted: :wink:

 

[mack9110000]

I can tell you what happens when you lay wood blockflooring into into a thick bed of adhesive "a bloody mess" is what happens.Then you use 2 or 3 times as much sand paper sanding it all off and what happens when the old pitch adhesive fails, you've got a loose wood block floor is what you've got.I've used the Lecol, Sikka products mentioned and IMHO, once they are exposed to air,you have to act very quickly to get the trowelled area covered or the adhesive starts to set.I would use a dipping adhesive such as F21 made by F.Ball,this is a bitumen/rubber product and readily available from flooring suppliers.
P.S. Why is this gross?

 

[Jake]

I can tell you what happens when you lay wood blockflooring into into a thick bed of adhesive "a bloody mess" is what happens.Then you use 2 or 3 times as much sand paper sanding it all off and what happens when the old pitch adhesive fails, you've got a loose wood block floor is what you've got.I've used the Lecol, Sikka products mentioned and IMHO, once they are exposed to air,you have to act very quickly to get the trowelled area covered or the adhesive starts to set.I would use a dipping adhesive such as F21 made by F.Ball,this is a bitumen/rubber product and readily available from flooring suppliers.

Interesting, thanks.

P.S. Why is this gross?

It was just a misquoted bit from someone's previous response I think. Although I do hate smileys!

 

[misterfish]

Thank you everybody for the advice. I think SWMBO is balking at the idea of cleaning so many blocks as she is now considering terracotta tiles as an alternative!

MisterFish