Parquet Floors

I was wondering the same thing. Sanding is relatively cheap but to rip the floors up and then replace obviously will cost quite a bit more since there's quite a bit of labor involved. Also, I would assume you would have to get board approval and maybe hire a licensed contractor to replace the floors.

I think it isn't as big a deal as you'd expect to replace the floors. Based on what I've seen (but not done personally).

Unless the floors are damaged e.g. chunks of wood missing-- it's less money and time to just refinish them.

butter

ya beat me to it.. .river... damn you!

RS, w67: You're confused. Parquet is a high school kid who hangs out near The Bandshell and sells/buys/smokes pots.

"MORE BUDDER!!!" (Paula Deen)

I know Parquet, the dude with the parrot selling weed... yeah saw him at St. Luke's... OD on some bad shitz.... hope he's okay...

If by parquet you mean those horrible little squares, I'm going to show my old-school prejudice and say a real hardwood floor will be much more beautiful you will wake up happier and be happier every day.

Parquet can be quite beautiful if it is the real, old parquet and not the new stuff they roll out and glue to the floor in cheap rentals.

sdewan - do you like them? i find some parquet floors a bit busy/distracting and kinda formal.

The mess and hassle is the same either way - it's something you only want to go through once, while the apartment is empty. If it's in your budget (and the floors aren't worthy of being restored to original condition), go ahead and replace them. You'll be kicking yourself within a year for not doing it while you had the chance. Not sure about the price difference... maybe several thousand for a place of your size. There's also a time difference. New hardwood floors (unless prefabricated) will need to acclimate to the temperature of your apartment, which will take several days to a week, and then the installation/staining/sealing will take another week, assuming all goes as planned (mine took an extra week since they messed up the staining more than once). Then you probably want to let the floors sit another week before moving in. But totally worth it, IMHO. I preserved my herringbone living room floor but ripped up all the parquet in favor of wide-plank oak.

I like my parquet floors. Alas, they have never given me any happiness.

Have my floors been holding out on me?!

Are they waiting for me to apply some butter to them?

I prefer butter over Parkay, and strip flooring over conventional square parquet, however herringbone or chevron patterned parquet are classic. Today, it's harder to justify a floor replacement. One of the reasons parquet flooring was preferred historically, is that it is easier and cheaper to repair.

I have the real deal parquet floors, not the ugly other ones.

They actually shine up real nice, and add an ambience to the rooms.

My first apartment had parquet floor. Looked real cheap. There's the good stuff and what goes into many 1960's 1970's era rentals and lower end coops/condos..

I like the kind that looks like crappy little 6-inch tiles, but each 6-inch square is one solid piece of plywood. They're so Middle School woodshop.

back to sdwan's question, does anyone know how much it cost to replace floor. Also, do we have to go to the board to do it?

Yes, in the condos and coops that I know of; you will need board approval.

And--MORE BUDDER!!!

You cover it with a rug..

and, rub the rug with MORE BUDDER!!!

You could probably get someone to refinish the floors for $3 or $4 psf

There are plenty of stores in the city that specialize in prefinished floors. I can't imagine replacing it with parquet when you could do a cherry wood heringbone pattern.

Removing the floor, adding a subfloor and new hardwood will cost about $22 to $25 psf. If you go the engineered wood route, you can save on the subfloor and the materials.

http://www.dkidllc.com/portfolio/centralparkwest1.jpg

thank you everyone for your comments! i'd prefer to replace it, i don't think its the nice parquet, like i've seen in some of the beautiful pre-war apartments in our neighborhood-to-be. i guess it will all depend on the difference in cost in the end.

You're welcome,sdewan.

Riversider got me riffing on the butter. W67th kept me keeping on.

I don't care what anybody comments about those two guys. They make me laugh and I like them.

"I can't imagine replacing it with parquet when you could do a cherry wood heringbone pattern."

... then you can't imagine living in Manhattan instead of an "upscale" {big air quotes, everybody!} new subdivision tract at the outskirts of any sunbelt city.

Oh, and Alanhart makes me laugh most of all!

Thanks everyone. At $22 to $25 psf, that's almost 27K for a 1200 sq ft floor. Guess I'll be resanding.

By the way, there are a number of one bedroom condos that were built over the last ten years with cherry wood herringbone. And in a one bedroom the cost of materials isn't so bad on account of the smaller footprint of the apartment.

"one bedroom condos that were built over the last ten years with cherry wood herringbone"
... by someone other than the Donald? Really?

Call Erbe, Erbe is an amazing wood floor company servicing our area
718-991-7281
not sure about pricing you'll need to call them to ask... I can only say the quality is top notch.
Good luck

bite the bullet and replace - they look tired and say old.

Corozeng,

I am a contractor and its very rare that wood flooring is 22-25 psf. maybe if you get really wide plank (7" or more")

You can get a nice 3/4 oak floor, stain it whatever color you want and poly for about 16k

Thanks primer05. Will keep it in mind when I'm ready to do the floors in a few months.

I tried having my floor sanded and restained (the floor was "protected" by carpeting--more accurately ruined by the staples from the padding). I paid $1000 and the floor looked terrible. I wound up having the floor replaced with engineered wood (Brazilian cherry-like finish). Looks great. Cost $12,000. I've had my new floor for 3 years, and it still looks good. My sister is jealous that she didn't have her old parquet floor replaced too. You definitely want to do this when the apartment is empty.

It all depends on what condition your floors are in, most floors can be sanded up to 3 times. If you go more then that, well not a good idea

Do brand new floors look better of course, all new things do but at a price

I did rosewood engineered floors(underneath floors were concrete) for about $7,000 for about 600 sq ft I think since I didn't do wood flooring in bathroom and kitchen. They also did sound proofing under the boards. I also redid my entire apt though, so not sure if you would have to pay more if you are just doing the floors.

That included cost of the floor itself, as well as labor

i had friends who put a floating wood floor over the original wood floors but they aren't very happy with them.

We are replacing our real parquet floors that are in good condition, but add nothing to the apt, they make it look smaller and I am so used to the crap parquet installed in apts, it just has to go. We bought from Green Mountain Woodworks, http://www.greenmountainwoodworks.com/ - it is not cheap, $10/square foot, + 4K to have the old flooring ripped out, subfloored and installed, but looks a hell of a lot better. We had Green Mountain prefinish with a hand oiled finish, no poly to save the $4/square foot for the contractor to sand and finish. Also is a speedier install. We looked at engineered floors and a decent one was upwards of $20/sq. foot.