hardwood flooring qurestion

[tommymac]

I started pulling up the carpet in the soon to be babys room. Turns out theres hardwood flooring under that like the rest of the main floor of our house. The little bit ZI have seen so far doesnt look too bad. However there are staples in it from th efoam padding of the carpet and the nails along the perimeter to secure the carpet.

Do you guys think its something we could restore or are better off just going with carpet on top of it. Time is a bit of an issue since we are on something of a deadline here :lol:

[Rider]

You could sand it and refinish it. The staple holes could be filled and would give an antique character to it if that is the look you are going for.

Personally, I'd tear it out and go with a nice Pergo. Easy to install, easy to maintain and great for allergies compared to carpet.

[tommymac]

You could sand it and refinish it. The staple holes could be filled and would give an antique character to it if that is the look you are going for.

Personally, I'd tear it out and go with a nice Pergo. Easy to install, easy to maintain and great for allergies compared to carpet.

I did pergo downstairs last fall and it came out realy nice. Just have ot finish some sprots with molding and some saddles between doorways. Its not a huge room either so I can knock it out in a day.

[CrazyKell]

Keep the hardwood and refinish it.

I love old hardwood floors and love them even more if they have character.

[AquaPython]

if it is in good shape, and has a look you want, try to restore it. could be a cool project. if you do, post pics.

[tommymac]

if it is in good shape, and has a look you want, try to restore it. could be a cool project. if you do, post pics.

Was planning to, I will do a few before pics once i get all the carpet up. Part of me wanted to do someting over it or replace it so I can make a mess when I paint the walls and celing. I wil have a better idea once its all pulled up.

[Kaneman]

We refinished all the hardwood floors in our house in the Summer of '08. Living room, dining room, hallway, three bedrooms.

I wouldn't do it again for $1,000, and despite 5 coats of varnish the dogs have already ruined the finish in most places.

[AquaPython]

dogs will destroy wood floors, for sure.

[tommymac]

dogs will destroy wood floors, for sure.

What about cats since we have 4 of them?

[AquaPython]

no experience with them, but i would guess nothing like dogs would. they are much lighter and the claws stay retracted most of them time, correcT?

[azoomm]

What about cats since we have 4 of them?

Unlikely.

Sand them and refinish as recommended above....

[Switch]

Personally, I'd tear it out and go with a nice Pergo. Easy to install, easy to maintain and great for allergies compared to carpet.

Dear God no. Get someone to refinish the hardwood.


Floating floors are bullshit.

dogs will destroy wood floors, for sure.

Yep, but you can always have them refinished.

[Dnyce]

cats are good with hardwood, least ours is.

[LeeNetworX]

if it is in good shape, and has a look you want, try to restore it. could be a cool project. if you do, post pics.

Yep. You can fill the staple/nail holes with paintable wood filler that will hold a stain/finish nicely.

[Particle Man]

I've put the laminate flooring on top of hardwood before and it's turned out really well. In a kids' bedroom it will stand up to all the wear and tear and preserve the actual hard wood for later.

[askmrjesus]

I've put the laminate flooring on top of hardwood before and it's turned out really well. In a kids' bedroom it will stand up to all the wear and tear and preserve the actual hard wood for later.

That's not preserving it, it's leaving it for the next guy to fix. :lol:

Tommy, pics of old floor, or no diagnosis for you.

JC

[Particle Man]

That's not preserving it, it's leaving it for the next guy to fix. :lol:

Tommy, pics of old floor, or no diagnosis for you.

JC

Same difference :lol:

[tommymac]

That's not preserving it, it's leaving it for the next guy to fix. :lol:

Tommy, pics of old floor, or no diagnosis for you.

JC

Not a problem, I still need to move a few things out and pull up the rest of the carpet, I only pulled up a 3x6 ft section last night.

[Flexin]

I would refinish it.

James

[Particle Man]

I would refinish it.

James

There you go! James is volunteering!
:lol:

[JoJoYZF]

There you go! James is volunteering!
:lol:

Id let him lol. Refinishing it would be great, but I personally would just find someone to do it if youre going that route. Refinishing hardwood is not an easy, clean or fun job.

[Flexin]

There you go! James is volunteering!
:lol:

:lol

James

[tommymac]

:lol

James

So what time should I expect you :lol:

[Particle Man]

:lol couldn't resist

['73 H1 Triple]

What about cats since we have 4 of them?

Not a problem. I redid the hardwood floors in my previous house ( random width floors , the house was built in 1874 ) and finished them with polyurethane.

Id let him lol. Refinishing it would be great, but I personally would just find someone to do it if youre going that route. Refinishing hardwood is not an easy, clean or fun job.

But the satisfaction of doing it yourself can't be beat.

I borrowed my friend drum sander ( it was his grandfather's and weighed over 200 lbs ). The main key to sand with the grain and ALWAYS keep the sander moving. It will want to pull forward, so you just hold it back and steer. As you come to the end, you lift up to "feather out". By the same token, when you start, you move slightly forward as you GENTLY set it down.

The ends where you can't use the drum sander will be done with either a smaller handheld belt sander, a circular sander ( only use the portion of the sanding disk where rotation matches grain direction ) or a hand held orbital sander.

I used cloth backed abrasives ( sand paper ) as in my old house, there were literally hundreds of nails that were close to the surface. Cloth backed abrasives literally sanded them smooth ( and made cool spark patterns ). you sand with rough, medium and then smooth grits. ( the higher the number the finer the abrasive)

Then sweep the area and use a tack cloth to get the smallest particles. then apply a few coats of whatever finish you're putting down.

It is loud and dirty. Hang plastic in the hallway and a box fan blowing out would be a good idea too. Ear plugs, safety glasses and a dusk mask are highly recommended too.

Jeff

[JoJoYZF]

Not a problem. I redid the hardwood floors in my previous house ( random width floors , the house was built in 1874 ) and finished them with polyurethane.



But the satisfaction of doing it yourself can't be beat.

I borrowed my friend drum sander ( it was his grandfather's and weighed over 200 lbs ). The main key to sand with the grain and ALWAYS keep the sander moving. It will want to pull forward, so you just hold it back and steer. As you come to the end, you lift up to "feather out". By the same token, when you start, you move slightly forward as you GENTLY set it down.

The ends where you can't use the drum sander will be done with either a smaller handheld belt sander, a circular sander ( only use the portion of the sanding disk where rotation matches grain direction ) or a hand held orbital sander.

I used cloth backed abrasives ( sand paper ) as in my old house, there were literally hundreds of nails that were close to the surface. Cloth backed abrasives literally sanded them smooth ( and made cool spark patterns ). you sand with rough, medium and then smooth grits. ( the higher the number the finer the abrasive)

Then sweep the area and use a tack cloth to get the smallest particles. then apply a few coats of whatever finish you're putting down.

It is loud and dirty. Hang plastic in the hallway and a box fan blowing out would be a good idea too. Ear plugs, safety glasses and a dusk mask are highly recommended too.

Jeff

All very good advice. Also along with the hold back and steer, dont pull too far back. Youll need to try to keep the sander as level as possible since hardwood floors do gouge easily if youre not careful.

Its all very doable, just dont rush anything and make sure to pay attention to details and it can turn out great.

[Angee]

Go to HGTV.COM and look up refinishing/painting floors...I've seen some really cool paint jobs on floors...kinda like painting paneling, it's being done more often. The only issue I've seen with pergo/bamboo/lock together flooring is if an animal has an accident it gets between the boards and stains them badly.

[dReWpY]

yes she should shave, next questions

[snobuny]

If you like the distresses look just pull the staples, clean and wax it well and see how it looks. We did this in our old house that was built the 20's when we were young and poor. It looked awesome and cost nothing.

New house we pulled up carpet and all we found was plywood.....they just don't build them like they use to.

['73 H1 Triple]

New house we pulled up carpet and all we found was plywood.....they just don't build them like they use to.

When I put my coal insert in my fireplace, I wanted to place tileon the floor. When I pulled the carpet and cut thru the plywood, I found hardwood floors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/JRD77VET/fp1a.jpg

I needed a sturdy base for the tile so a lower sub floor was required.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/JRD77VET/fp6.jpg

[caveman]

Some times when you get down to those old hardwood floors they are actually the subfloor. Depending on the age of the house they may just be a smooth cut cedar that was not intended to actually be a "Hardwood Floor". The problem therein lies that its not gonna be thick enough to sand down and no matter how much you sand it won't quite look right.
I put down an engineered hardwood flooring in my place on the whole entire frrst floor excluding the bathroom. Gas Man helped and knows how much of a pita it is to get the whole floor done with no room change seems. We were able to lay it all down as one continuous track. That being said the floor has held up these past two years incredibly, and I have two kids that like to rough around and my wife has this infatuation with moving the furniture around to "Change" the house just a little.
Most engineered hardwoods are great and have a very long lasting finish. We got a walnut handshaved finish so its a nice deep rich color to show the grain and there is a textured finish so that it doesn't feel like that ultra smooth manufactured feeling like the Pergo or laminate type flooring.