I am renovating parquet flooring in my new home. There are gaps that need to be filled because of old gas pipes which are being removed. I have managed to find some replacement parquet but the issue is the depth of the blocks which are thicker than the current parquet and which are too much to be sanded. The replacement blocks have bitumen on the underside which i understand will need to be removed. But my question is can they be thinned even further to fit the depth of the current blocks? The current and replacement blocks are not tongue and groove but have sections on the underside which I was told were cut in to allow the bitumen to flow/stick. I think I will be glueing the replacement blocks down. Can I remove the underside of them and get rid of the cut in sections so that they are even? Thanks for any responses.