ᐅ White-oiled hardwood flooring – and nothing but problems afterward

Hello everyone,

I have some questions about white-oiled parquet flooring, but to make my issue clear, I need to provide some background. 🙂

In our apartment, there is mosaic parquet that was previously varnished. It has been in place for about 10 years without any maintenance, so it showed significant wear. We decided to have the parquet sanded and give the apartment a modern touch by treating the floor with oil containing white pigments.

We posted a job on a trades platform, and several companies from the Main-Taunus and Hoch-Taunus districts responded. We chose a master parquet installer, and that’s when the problems started.

The parquet was sanded down by about 2-3mm (0.08-0.12 inches), then the white-pigmented oil was applied using a roller, followed by a varnish coat. We were not satisfied with the result because there were many stains and uneven varnish in several areas. The company came back, sanded everything again (another 2-3mm (0.08-0.12 inches)), and this time oiled with a spatula, but I’m not sure if they applied varnish afterward. This work was done about two months ago.

Now we notice that the parquet is much softer than before. For example, today we stacked two chairs to clean underneath, and when we moved them away, a footprint from one chair remained visible on the floor. Also, when our 13-month-old son crawls across the parquet, his path is visibly marked.

So my question is: what could be causing this, and what can we do about it?
Thank you in advance for your help.

As far as I know, you can’t apply varnish over oiled wood. The varnish won’t adhere properly to the oiled floor.

If the company sanded the floor once and removed 2-3mm (0.08-0.12 inches), there probably wasn’t much of the wear layer left afterward. After a second sanding with another 2-3mm (0.08-0.12 inches) removed, too much of the wear layer has likely been taken off.
Considering that the varnish itself is about 1mm (0.04 inches) thick and the wood layer beneath is about 2mm (0.08 inches), and this process happened twice, that adds up to about 6mm (0.24 inches) of material removed.
For example, my parquet has a 4mm (0.16 inches) wear layer. It’s hard to say how thick the wear layer was in your case, but probably in a similar range.
The fact that the floor is now reported to be much softer and that you can see the imprint of your son’s footsteps suggests that the wear layer is barely there or completely gone.

What to do now? You might not want to hear this, but I suspect the floor is damaged.
I would get an expert to assess the situation. Depending on what they say, you may be able to hold the flooring installer responsible—or maybe not.

Mosaic parquet is typically 8mm (5/16 inch) solid wood. Sanding more than twice is usually not feasible.
I would recommend getting a second, expert opinion. Removing the parquet, which is likely glued down over the entire surface, is quite a tough job.

I would like to see some pictures.