What would you do with a Kitchen parquetry floor that is starting to wear in obvious places?

[Mary1523]

So my property is in a 4 seasons climate, snow in winter, hot in summer and everything in between. its 6 bedrooms and about 40 years old, lots of original fit out and very big so everything costs money to fix or replace...

The kitchen and hallway parquetry looks good in the photos but up close and personal, its particularly worn in places and showing it.

Do i spend the money to restore it (big expensive professional job, not like normal hardwood sanding) or replace with luxury vinyl which will be much cheaper i believe.

As much as i love the parquetry, I don't think restoring it will mean guests will value it, or that I can charge anything more. I'm also concerned that if I did restore it (a friend said in the business it would look amazing), it would then show up the rest of the place, and i would have to update the whole place and it puts me in a different/harder price bracket. We price and market as relatively affordable for large groups. Or do I have to suck up the restoration parquetry restoration costs for no return in value except that guests won't think the property 'needs maintenance'. BTW i have not increased prices since we started 8 years ago, and continually updating/fixing/replacing big ticket items on this older property. ps I'm a super host with an average 4.91 rating

love to hear what others think?

[Lorna170]

@Mary1523   Parquet floors are lovely -- but they are dated and can be hard to care for in a property that is rented.  I would love to see them refinished, but you have to judge the condition of the floor and the cost of refinishing versus replacement.  Vinyl flooring is very traffic resilient and can upgrade the appearance of your property.  

BTW -- we refinished the parquet floors in our parent's home but replaced the parquet floors in a rental property with vinyl.  

[Mary1523]

@Lorna170 Thank you! After more investigation, I've found some high quality commercial grade laminate that has the herringbone pattern (same pattern as the installed parquetry). I discovered with photo imaging of vinyl onto the area, it just looked plain awful because being such a large space, the eye got drawn to the wood board plank look. It needed something smaller and subtle in the pattern so the laminate herringbone looks like a good option! 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Mary1523 ! I noticed you've received some to the point and diverse advise from the experienced Hosts in the Community.

How are you progressing with deciding a suitable option for flooring?

Have you eventually decided to go with vinyl flooring as Lorna and Guy suggested?

[Mary1523]

Hi no major decision yet, but tactically going to patch fix the parquetry bad spots in the meantime thank you.

[Guy991]

Luxury vinyl flooring is a great option for Airbnb rentals, but before investing in such a renovation, you may want to consider using kitchen rugs or carpets. These are inexpensive, sometimes waterproof, and can add charm to the space, while also covering up any damaged spots in the existing parquet flooring.

[Mary1523]

@Guy991 Thank you I was considering this as an interim measure! I will investigate further. Although my cleaner hates rugs as she says they are a tripping hazard for her...

[Alex1485]

Keep the floors, we have a 120 year old propety..

~ try one of the many amazing wood shine product, look for commercial grade- as these return the floor ( ours are 120 years old) to like new…be careful, they are highly flammable.

~hand sand the worst pieces and re-stain

Before you spend any money on the kitchen floor would evaluate bathroom:

~counters, bathroom floors, walls, paint refresh

Then consider kitchen counter material, paint, etc

then flooring…

[Mary1523]

Thank you @Alex1485  I haven't even considered just hand sanding myself and wood staining. Guess it wouldn't be worse than it is now - there's only 1 or 2 areas of about 1m2 that are the worst...wish i had pictures handy to show. It would allow me to defer the big expense of replacing later.

And means I can spend more money on a lick of paint on a few old colour walls that have dated. Bathrooms are sorted, never get complaints about them. Just the kitchen floor..

[Alex1485]

Absolutely….simple project as long as you have patience for matching the stain, take time sanding

If  you have an issue stain matching, pick a few other planks to sand down and stain,  tricks the eye and brain into thinking it is intentional.

We’ve repaired a number of these issues due to luggage and dropped curling irons…