The benefit of surface sanding/plaining:
Surface sanding/planing the parquet flooring before fitting may reduce the element of dust created when sanding once in situ.
Once fitted, your floor will only require a light sanding if the blocks have been sanded/planed prior to fitting.The final sanding process will create much less dust than an un-sanded reclaimed parquet floor would.
In some cases, you may only identify the true species and condition of the parquet block once it is sanded. You may find rotten blocks, along with mixed species etc.
A lot of reclaimed flooring has had repairs and patch ups over the years.
Patching up may involve removing an area and in some cases, these areas that have been removed must be infilled with a different species and be stain to match in. This is all well and good, until you end up unknowingly buying a batch of mixed species. However, this is unavoidable when purchasing any form of reclaimed flooring that’s been heavily lacquered. You could say it is a risk purchasing reclaimed flooring, but the beauty of a reclaimed floor is in its history and the sustainability of a reclaimed floor. A reclaimed floor will never be perfect, but they will always be admired.
By the time your floor has been fitted and sanded, should there be any damage under the original varnish/lacquer/wax, it's too late to do anything, without of course removing areas of the floor and exchanging the individual unwanted blocks.
See below of some examples of surface sanding and planing
Adhesive on the surface.
Yellow Sereya parquet before and after sanding. Its a lottery what is under that varnish buid up.
Showing adhesive removal from reclaimed strip flooring.
Adhesive and tar on reclaimed Pitch Pine parquet.
Paint removal from Rhodesian Teak Parquet.
Jarrah Reclaimed Parquet Floor, with a stray block in it,
Opepe Reclaimed Parquet Floor, with a few stray blocks in it, only visible once sanded! A lot of people love this look, whereas, a lot of people also dislike this.
Showing Yellow Meranti parquet flooring, with stray Beech blocks in, only visible once sanded
Showing Beech Parquet Floor, damaged by damp, only visible once sanded. A lot of reclaimed parquet floors have been sat in damp buildings prior to reclaim companys purchasing, some do slip the net.
Showing Sereya Strip Floor, with 2 stray lengths of Red Mahogany, only visible once sanded