Parquet flooring can look fantastic if it’s treated properly and repaired quickly if a problem is found. However, too many parquet floors in the UK now show signs of neglect, something which could be sorted really easily if people took care of their parquet floor.

It’s not too difficult to make repairs to a parquet floor; you just need a little knowledge about what you are doing and the right tools.

Perhaps the main problem with parquet flooring concerns loose blocks. Over time, the old fashioned bitumen or pitch fixing compound which has been used to set the blocks into place can degrade and the natural expansion and contraction process of the wood can cause the blocks to become loose.

If any of the blocks have become loose they need to be lifted and placed to one side. If there are a number of loose blocks it can be a good idea to make a note of their locations and their original orientation. Using a digital camera to take a picture before you lift the block can help here.

When the blocks have been removed, the flooring underneath can be prepared by removing any debris. Bitumen was the setting compound of choice a few years ago, so it’s likely that a lot of dust will be created when you scrape the old residue away. You can use a specialist scraping tool to remove the residue from the underside of the block, and the inside of the socket. A suitable primer can then be applied to the socket and when dry an adhesive applied to the socket before the block is reaffixed.

It can be normal for the blocks to have gaps around them when they are reaffixed, this is a normal feature of aged hardwood flooring and shouldn’t affect the finished product when the floor is resanded and a finish coat of lacquer is applied.