How do you lacquer / varnish wood flooring?

Lacquering or varnishing wood flooring consists of applying varnish to it, creating a solid coat protecting it from wear and tear. Varnishing also makes the floor easier to maintain and gives it a new and elegant look. Once it has been varnished, wood flooring cannot be stained. If you want to stain your parquet, do that before varnishing it.

Varnishing parquet is a simple task that you can do yourself. Nevertheless, varnishing wood floors takes time, because you’ll have to let it dry for at least 24 hours before you can apply each new coat.

Important: Ideally, applying varnish is best done in a room with a temperature of 15 – 20°C (59 – 68°F). If the ground temperature is less than 12°C (54°F), or if the room has high humidity, do not apply varnish.

Surface preparation

Varnishing should be done in an empty room. If your wood flooring is new, you don’t have to do anything except sand it. On the other hand, if you are doing a renovation, there are several things you’ll need to do first:
- Fill holes and cracks with wood paste.
- Apply the correct wood insect treatment to prevent insect infestation.

Next, you can move forward with sanding the wood flooring three times.

Sanding the parquet
- Always start in the centre of the room and stay in line with the planks.
- Use extra coarse sandpaper for the first sanding. Avoid the corners.- Clean the dust using a vacuum.
- Second sanding – medium sandpaper. Clean the flooring.
- Third sanding – fine sandpaper.
- Finish the sanding with an angle sander (for the corners and edges).
- Clean dust up with a vacuum + damp cloth and leave to dry. The wood needs to be completely clean and dry.

If the wood is new or the parquet has been waxed before, apply a coat of varnish.

Applying the varnish
Tip: if you have underfloor heating or if your floor is subject to dramatic temperature changes, apply a coat of primer, using a short pile roller. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for the quantity to use and time taken to dry.

- Apply a thinned coat of varnish in the direction of the wood grain using a Spalter brush, a sponge mop, or a short pile roller. The brush must go back and forth. Be sure to thin the product well. Let dry for 24 hours, scuff and clean the dust.
- Scuffing: sand lightly with a wood block covered with fine grit sandpaper. Completely clean the area.
- Apply the second coat following the same method. Let dry for 24 hours, scuff, and clean the dust.
- Apply the final coat. Do NOT scuff.
- Let the varnished parquet dry for the time indicated on the product.After varnishing- Do not walk on the surface for at least 48 hours.
- Do not place a rug or any other floor covering for at least one week.Tip: when the varnish starts to lose its brilliance, apply floor polish with a cloth rag.