Comparing parquet lacquers: where the difference in the price of a restoration actually comes from.

Restoring a parquet floor is not one service, so it does not have one price.

Published ranges for “parquet restoration” in Slovenia run from roughly €15/m² to over €45/m². A threefold difference is not a difference in skill. It is a difference in what the word restoration means in each individual quote.

Every restoration has two parts. The first is preparation: removing the old coating, levelling, working the edges and corners, gap filling and vacuuming. The second is the finish: the primer and the finishing system that will absorb all the wear for the next ten or fifteen years.

Preparation does not differ much between contractors. The machines are similar, the sequence of grits is dictated by the state of the floor, and hand work along the edges cannot be sped up. With us this part is €13/m² and includes two passes with the belt machine, four passes with the Trio machine, hand work on the edges and gap filling with Loba EasyFill mixed with the sanding dust of your own floor. The complete sequence is described in the guide on restoring an old parquet floor.

The finish, on the other hand, differs a great deal. Between the cheapest and the most expensive system in our price list there is €12/m². On 60 m² that is €720 — and that is effectively the whole difference between a “cheap” and an “expensive” restoration.

Five places where a quote quietly gets cheaper

• Instead of two belt passes and four Trio passes, one belt pass and one fine pass are made.
• The edges are done by machine only, with no hand work in the corners and under the radiators.
• Gap filling is skipped, or done with a universal filler instead of the sanding dust of your own floor.
• The primer is skipped and the finishing lacquer is applied straight onto the wood.
• Instead of two finishing coats only one is applied, or a lacquer with no stated brand is used.

Each of these steps saves a few euros per square metre on its own. Together they can turn €33/m² into €22/m². The floor looks the same — for the first year.

Six finishing systems and what each one is for.

One-component waterborne lacquer

Ready to use, no hardener, no limited pot life. It forms a closed film over the wood. Suitable for normal domestic loading: bedrooms, living rooms, children’s rooms without exceptional traffic. Our default choice in this class is LOBA Viva — a one-component waterborne polyurethane lacquer carrying EMICODE EC1 and GISCODE W2+, walkable after four hours and fully loadable after five days. Because it resists plasticisers migrating out of old parquet adhesives, it is often more dependable than general-purpose products on restoration work.

Higher-grade one-component waterborne lacquer

The same logic, a denser film and higher resistance. LOBA EasyFinish Neo is our default choice for the balance between durability and appearance, where a 2K system is not required but the basic 1K is not enough.

Two-component waterborne lacquer

A hardener is added before application; the system then reacts chemically and reaches substantially higher mechanical and chemical resistance. LOBA 2K Duo carries EMICODE EC1 PLUS in the matt and semi-matt versions, meets DIN 18032 for sports floors, is classed in the highest wear class under ÖNORM C2354 and offers R9 slip resistance. The pot life is two hours. That is no obstacle for a contractor, but it is a serious constraint for someone applying lacquer for the first time.

Ceramic-reinforced two-component lacquer

The top of the class. LOBA 2K Supra A.T. contains ceramic components that increase scratch resistance. It holds DIBt approval, meets DIN 18032 and EN 14904, and is approved for FIBA sports halls. The most useful figure in practice: full loadability is reached in twelve hours, while most systems need five days. In a flat that has to be returned to use as soon as possible, that is not a detail.

Two-component reactive oil

It forms no film. It penetrates the wood, cross-links in the pores and leaves the direct feel of timber. LOBA 2K ImpactOil has one hundred per cent solids and contains no solvents; it is applied in a single coat at 30–60 g/m² and then buffed level with a single-disc machine and a pad. Local repairs are possible without sanding the whole room. In exchange it demands regular care — without it, the oil wears through exactly where people walk most.

Hard wax oil

A combination of oil and waxes that leaves a thin protective layer on the surface. LOBA HardWaxOil is closer to the classic look of oiled timber, while maintenance is simpler than with a pure oil. Suitable for smaller areas and for people who want to look after the floor themselves.

What is not in this comparison

Older-generation solvent-borne lacquers — nitro, alkyd and acid-curing systems — are still sold in Slovenia. They are cheaper and dry faster. But they have a strong odour, a higher solvent content, pronounced yellowing over time and poorer elasticity. We do not use them in living spaces and have not included them here as an equivalent option.

What each system actually delivers.

The price is the price of the finishing system from our price list, without sanding and without the primer, and applies to work outside Slovenia. The service life applies to an average household; a hallway carrying grit and an office with castor chairs shorten it, consistent care extends it.

Data from the manufacturer’s technical data sheets, September 2026. The values apply at the specified spread rate and room climate; actual site conditions can change them.

What the lacquer itself really costs per square metre.

All waterborne parquet lacquers have a similar specified spread rate: 100–120 g/m² per coat, which is 8–10 m² from a litre. Because the consumption is the same, the calculation is simple — multiply the price per litre by 0.2 to 0.24 litres to get the price of two coats per square metre.

Sources and method: manufacturer technical data and data sheets — LOBA 2K Supra A.T., LOBA 2K Duo, LOBA WS Viva and LOBA HS 2K ImpactOil (PDF). Prices from European trade suppliers (ambeparkett.de, parkett-weber-shop.de, my-boden-shop.de), checked on 3 September 2026, incl. VAT. Slovenian market ranges: Omisli.si and Mojmojster.net. Material prices are given to compare the ratios between systems, not for ordering. The technical values apply at the specified spread rate and room climate.

A complete system is the primer plus the finishing lacquer. For the LOBA systems that means:

The last line of the material table is the interesting one. An unbranded lacquer costs €1.40–2.40/m². A good system costs €5.80–14.95/m². On 60 m² that is the difference between roughly €120 and roughly €800. When a quote does not state the brand, that difference is the only place where money could really have been saved.

What you actually get for €22, €33, €40 or €45.

Five lines every quote has to contain

A quote without this information cannot be compared with any other quote.

1. The sanding sequence. How many passes with the belt machine, how many with the Trio, and how the edges and corners are worked.
2. Gap filling. Whether it is included and with what — a universal filler or a binder mixed with the sanding dust of your own floor.
3. The primer. The product name, not just the word “primer”.
4. The finishing system. Brand, product name, number of coats and the sheen level.
5. The timeline. When the floor can be walked on and when it is fully loadable — those are two different figures.

If a quote says only “sanding and lacquering of parquet” with a price, you have received a figure, not a quote. That is why our price list is itemised into lines you can switch on or off.

The cheapest restoration is the most expensive one in the long run.

A parquet floor is not restored every year. The only fair comparison is therefore the cost per year of use, not the price on the invoice.

The figures for our packages include the one-off equipment transport of €250; for an outside quote at €22/m² that addition cannot be assumed. The cost per year is the price of the work divided by the realistic service life. Inflation and rising labour costs are not accounted for. The figures are indicative.

An honest note on this table: the ranges overlap. At best the cheapest quote comes to €165 a year, while our basic package at worst comes to €279. These numbers on their own prove nothing — they give a frame, not a proof.

The last column is what decides.

The usable layer does not grow back

Every full sanding removes roughly 0.5 to 1.5 mm of wood. Solid parquet usually has 6 to 8 mm of usable layer above the tongue, which means four to six sandings across its entire life. Multi-layer engineered parquet has a usable layer of 2.5 to 4 mm — with it, two and perhaps three sandings are realistic.

Now look at the last column of the table again. A cheap lacquer means three or four full sandings in twenty years. On an engineered floor that is not expensive — it is impossible. The usable layer will be gone before the floor is twenty-five years old, and at that point the conversation is no longer about restoration but about replacement.

That is the real cost of a cheap lacquer. It is not measured in euros per year. It is measured in the number of restorations the floor will still manage.

How to tell how much layer you have left is described in the guides on restoring solid parquet and, for multi-layer floors, restoring engineered parquet.

No single system is optimal for every room.

No sheen level is a measure of durability. A matt 2K lacquer is more resistant than a glossy 1K product. Matt shows fine scratches less, semi-matt gives more depth and makes it visually easier to judge how clean the floor is. There is more in the guide on parquet lacquer: 1K, 2K, matt and satin, and on parquet oil for oiled systems.

Sanding only: we sand, you apply the finish.

Sanding and lacquering are not equally demanding jobs. Sanding requires machines worth tens of thousands of euros, experience with grits and a feel for the edges — mistakes in sanding are permanent and visible under every lacquer. Applying the lacquer is precise manual work that can be learnt.

That is why we offer sanding as a stand-alone service. €13/m². The price covers two passes with the belt machine, four passes with the Trio machine, hand work on the edges and corners, and gap filling with Loba EasyFill mixed with the sanding dust of your own floor. We hand the floor over prepared for coating, vacuumed and checked.

What you get besides the sanded floor:

• A written recommendation of the system for your room: primer, finishing lacquer, sheen level and number of coats.
• The calculated quantity of material for your area, so there is no guesswork when ordering.
• Application instructions with spread rates, intervals between coats and the required room conditions.
• The option of ordering the LOBA material through us, on our purchasing terms.
• A guarantee on the sanding we carried out — flatness, edges and gap filling.

Why this pays off more than it looks

Saving on labour is not the main argument. The main argument is where the money goes.

Labour includes sanding at €13/m² and the one-off equipment transport of €250. Material at the prices from the material table, in realistic pack sizes. Skirting is excluded from every option in this comparison.

Read rows A and C together. For slightly less than the price of a full restoration with the basic one-component lacquer, you get our sanding plus the material for a two-component system. The money that would have gone into our labour on the coating goes into a lacquer that will be on the floor for fifteen years instead of ten.

How to apply the finish yourself so that the result lasts.

Applying a lacquer is not complicated. It is, however, unforgiving about three things: the room climate, timing and evenness. Anyone who controls those gets the same film a contractor does.

Conditions in the room

Floor and air temperature between 18 and 22 °C. Relative humidity between 40 and 65 %. No draught and no direct sun on the floor — a warmed patch dries sooner than its surroundings and leaves a visible edge there. Windows closed during application, ventilation afterwards.

Tools

A lacquer roller with the right pile, 25 cm wide for open areas and narrower for the edges. Do not use a household wall roller; it leaves marks and sheds fibres. A bucket with a grid, a brush or a hand applicator for the edges, lint-free cloths, an industrial vacuum. For oil systems you need a single-disc machine with a pad — without one the oil cannot be levelled properly.

The sequence

1. Vacuum everything. The edges, the joints with the skirting, the space behind radiators, window sills and the walls up to a metre. Any dust left behind ends up in the film.
2. Apply the primer. LOBA EasyPrime, 100–120 ml/m², one coat. The primer affects adhesion, the colour tone and whether the sides of the boards bond to each other.
3. Wait the specified time. Not by feel — by the technical data sheet.
4. The first finishing coat. 100–120 g/m². This is the quantity that actually has to be controlled: weigh the container before you start and check every 10 m² how much has gone.
5. Work with a wet edge. Apply in strips along the boards; every new strip has to merge with the previous one while that one is still wet. A strip that has started to dry cannot be fixed with another pass.
6. Intermediate sanding where the system requires it. A fine grit or a pad; it removes raised fibres. Then vacuum again.
7. The second finishing coat. The same spread rate, the same direction, the same discipline.
8. Wait. Careful walking after four hours. Rugs, felt pads under furniture and wet cleaning after five days. With LOBA 2K Supra A.T. full loadability is reached in twelve hours.

What most often goes wrong

• Too little material. The most common mistake. The film is too thin and wear appears within two years. The answer is weighing, not judging by eye.
• Too much material. The film dries more slowly, traps air and forms bubbles.
• Roller marks and stripes. The result of working too slowly, or of a room too large for one person. Rooms over 30 m² should be coated by two people.
• Dust in the film. Almost always from the edges and from behind the radiators.
• Using the floor too soon. Walkable is not the same as cured. A rug laid on the third day leaves a mark that stays.

How much time to allow

For 60 m²: roughly two hours per coat, plus the waiting between coats. Primer on day one, the first lacquer on day two, the second on day three. The room is usable on day four and fully loadable after five days. Allow one spare day.

When we do not recommend doing it yourself

We say this plainly, because putting it right costs more than the saving.

• Pigmented oils and coloured systems. Every difference in application shows up as a difference in tone. This is not a job for a first attempt.
• Very dark or very light floors. The application shows in the first raking light.
• Herringbone and inlays. The direction of application keeps changing and the wet edge is harder to lead.
• Areas over 80 m² in one piece. The wet edge is no longer manageable for two people.
• Short deadlines. If you are moving in within a week, there is no room for corrections.
• A space going to rent or to sale. There, the most durable system and a professional application pay for themselves.
• 2K systems, if this is your first time lacquering. Two hours from mixing to the end of the application is short for a beginner. If you want 2K durability at the first attempt, it is better to order it from us.

Lacquers, oils and prices in short answers.