We have a condo and we're putting down new carpet. Underneath the old carpet was a parquet floor (solid wood squares-- no inlays or anything). In one spot -- in the hallway outside the hall bathroom -- the parquet was a bit squishy, so I took that up (about 3'x5'). Underneath the parquet was a fiber mat that was rotted out. Underneath the fiber mat was a 1/2" plywood floor.
The plywood was marginal, so I replaced that (glued and screwed).
I'm now looking to replace the parquet. Before I took up the tiles, I numbered each one with a yellow sticky, took a picture of the whole thing, and so I know where they're supposed to go back. (Even tho carpet will go over everything, I'd like to use the old tiles if possible so they blend with the existing ones, in case I want to go back down to the parquet at some point in the future.)
However, I've got some questions about how to do that:
1. I picked up a replacement fiber mat from Home Depot. I remember that when I took up the original one, there were gaps between any two pieces. I presume I should put the new mat down with a gap between it and the old one. How big should that gap be?
2. The mat seemed to be simply placed on the floor, altho the gaps did have a black adhesive in them. Do I simply lay the new one on the floor as well?
3. The old parquet tiles have adhesive on them. Do I need to take this adhesive off before putting them down? Any recommendations on how to do this?
4. I take it that the tiles are glued down. How should this be done -- adhesive type, trowel size, etc.
4. While most of the tiles are fine, some of the half-tiles from along the wall aren't in great shape. Can I buy some tiles from say Home Depot and substitute these without much difficulty?
Thanks for your help!
Richard
