What you are likely to find
Most British parquet from the 1900s to the 1960s is oak, pitch pine or merbau blocks bedded in hot bitumen on a concrete slab. Under carpet it is usually filthy, sometimes painted at the edges, often with loose blocks around thresholds and radiator pipes and a few missing entirely. None of that is fatal. The two things that are fatal are widespread rot from a damp slab and blocks worn so thin the tongue is exposed.
The stages and what they cost
Restoration is priced as a sequence rather than one rate. Lifting and re-bedding loose blocks, sourcing reclaimed replacements to match species and size, removing residual bitumen where blocks have been re-laid, three-grit sanding, gap treatment, and two or three coats of hardwax oil or lacquer. Our restoration work starts at £28/m² and a parquet floor typically sits above that baseline because of the block work.
- Re-bedding loose blocks: per block, including adhesive and cleaning the bed
- Reclaimed block sourcing: priced per m², subject to availability of the size
- Bitumen removal: the slowest single task in the job
- Extra finish coat on high-traffic hallways: recommended, priced per m²
Why parquet sanding is different
A herringbone floor runs in two grain directions at once, so sanding along one direction tears the other. It has to be worked diagonally across the pattern and then finished with progressively finer grits and a buffer, which takes longer than the same area of plank. That extra time is the honest reason the rate is higher, and it is also why a badly sanded parquet floor is instantly recognisable.
Finish choices
Hardwax oil suits period parquet: it sits in the timber, looks right on old oak, and can be spot-repaired without re-sanding the room. Lacquer gives a harder, more uniform film that stands up better in a hallway. We usually recommend oil in reception rooms and lacquer where the traffic is heaviest, and we will show both on your own floor before deciding.
Is it worth it?
Almost always. New herringbone starts at £89/m² supplied and fitted; restoring what is already there is typically well under that, and the original blocks have a density and patina that new material takes decades to acquire. The exception is a floor sitting on a damp slab, where the moisture problem has to be solved first and the sums change.