Parquet seal - Instructions & notes on cost & dry season

• Material and tools
• preparation
• Seal the parquet: Instructions

Parquet. What is more elegant than flooring in your own home ">

You want to completely redesign your living environment and have opted for a parquet floor? Or does the parquet in your living room have to be sealed with a fresh coat of varnish because it has been poorly cared for years? Sealing parquet floors is an important step in preserving the shine and texture of the raw material. For this reason, it should be sealed again and again, even if the distances can be quite large, since the paint is very durable. This makes it perfect for the wood, the surface of which is completely sealed, which does not allow dirt and moisture to penetrate.

Material and tools

The sealing of the parquet needs a variety of tools and materials to help you with the project and make it a lot easier. Following the checklist:

• Parquet lacquer: this is clear or sealing wax for heavily used wood surfaces
• parquet primer
• Sandpaper (grain size 120 and 150)
• Safety glasses and gloves
• ear protection
• broom
• vacuum cleaner
• soft paint roller
• Telescopic pole for the paint roller
• paintbrush
• grinding machine
• Abrasive for grinding machine (grit 120 and 150)
• wood filler
• spatula

When purchasing the varnish and the primer, the costs are calculated according to the size of the surface to be sealed.

• On average, 750 ml of parquet varnish is sufficient for 10 m² of floor, which brings the cost of the paint to about 15 to 20 euros per 10 m² . The paint cans are usually offered in 750 ml cans from manufacturers such as Alpina.
• From the parquet primer you need something more, because a liter is enough on average for 8 m² . Thus, you would need 12.5 L primer for 10 m² of parquet floor, which costs from 20 to 25 euros, depending on the manufacturer.

Tip: if you do not have a grinder on hand yourself, you can rent it from the hardware store or electronics retailer. Parquet sanding machines cost about 45 euros per day, but the classic 4-hour tariff for sanding the parquet is sufficient, which is calculated at around 35 euros.

preparation

Before you can start sealing, the floor must first be thoroughly cleaned and sanded to make the primer and paint even look good. During the preparation, you must be very thorough to eliminate any bumps in the wood. Proceed as follows:

Step 1: Clear the room from furniture and other items that are not firmly integrated into the room, such as the couch. Fitted kitchens and the like, you should of course leave in the room.

Step 2: Then dismantle the baseboards, as they would sit on the floor and thus hinder the work.

Step 3: Now sand down the entire parquet floor. For this, put on the protective clothing and the ear protection, as grinding machines can become very noisy. When sanding, you do not have to do it slowly, just thoroughly, to sand the entire surface. Hard to reach areas are sanded by hand with sandpaper.

Here you will find detailed instructions on how to sand down parquet: Sand parquet

Step 4: Clean the floor with a vacuum cleaner or broom as there is no dust left on the wood.

Step 5: After sanding and cleaning the parquet floor, scratches, dents and other damages are filled with wood putty. This is simply filled in with a spatula in the scratches and the excess removed. Then let it dry as long as indicated on the package. Lastly roughen the repaired areas with sandpaper.

Seal the parquet: Instructions

For the sealing of the parquet a maximum temperature of 25 ° C may exist, because otherwise the varnish will dry faster, which will save you valuable time for application. Also, no sun should shine directly on the surface to be worked. Therefore, make sure you have sun protection or closed curtains and blinds when sealing your parquet. Now you can start the project:

Step 1: First apply the primer. This is done according to a pattern that helps to re-primer areas that have not already been primed:

• divide the area to be worked into 2 x 2 m
• start by priming the edges on a wall directly opposite the door
• prime only the edge of each section
• As soon as this section has been primed on the edge, you will step into the next one
• Now prime the entire section with the paint roller
• Apply the primer vertically to the planks
• After that, apply another primer in the direction of the board
• instead, the paint roller is no longer immersed in the primer
• so go ahead until at the end you can just step out of the door to finish the last section
• always make sure to step into a section that does not lock you up

Step 2: After applying the primer, allow it to dry for at least two, but not longer than four hours.

Step 3: Now lightly sand the primer with the grit size 120 to 150. You must be careful to keep the sanding machine moving all the time, as it can damage the wood floor in just a few moments. The edges are sanded by hand.

Step 4: Clean the floor again with the vacuum cleaner.

5th step: Now the seal is applied. Open the paint can and leave it open for ten minutes. Then proceed as for the primer and apply the paint in the same pattern as described above.

Step 6: Now the paint is dried for about four hours. Then sand it off again, preferably with the 150 grit and repeat the sealing. Two coats of paint are becoming more and more effective as they protect the wood more from external influences and wear.

Step 7: Finally, you have to let the paint dry completely. The drying times are as follows:

• walkable after about 12 hours
• light furniture after 24 hours

However, it is recommended to wait a full week with the full load of the soil. This gives the seal enough time to dry completely.