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Re-use old parquet top layer on a plywood base...?

Posted by Jeff Thompson, on Thu 01 Jan 2015 12:13pm

Not sure whether this qu belongs in flooring or carpentry... We've some original parquet flooring (the small blocks, 230x70mm), which we like. It's laid directly onto a bitumen DP layer over the screed. We want to add insulation below the flooring, but need to avoid raising the levels too far, so I'm thinking 20mm XPS insulation under a floating wooden floor. I had an idea, but I'm not sure whether it would work and what it would cost to do... any comments welcome! Here's my thought: - lift the old parquet - ask a woodwork shop to put each block through a saw to reduce it to 5-6mm thick (i.e., keep just the nice surface/wear layer) - Re-lay by gluing the 5-6mm thick blocks onto a 9mm ply base floating on the insulation - effectively, create an engineered floor (this gives a floor thickness of about 15mm, which is ok - don't want much more). Anyone done anything similar, have an idea of cost for cutting down 15sq.m of 230x70mm blocks, or can recommend better approaches? I'd be happy to replace with new parquet and sell off the old stuff, but sticking new blocks (18mm) to ply makes it too thick and the bigger herringbone click-lock boards don't look as good.

Edward Thompson

Thu 01 Jan 2015 08:56pm

Hi Jeff sounds like it would cost a fortune and end up a disaster. Once the flooring had been reduced to 6mm it would be very prone to cupping and the whole floor would probably bounce as there would be no weight in it. The amount of insulation you are putting in wouldn't really make that much difference , the best advice I can give is use the money you would spend and turn the heating up. Alot less hassle. Ed

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