Can these hardwood floors be saved?

Question

Looking to rehad a property with pretty bad hardwood floors. The home was built in 1900 and the owner has taken up some of the carpet in the living room. Pieces of the padding are stuck to the hardwood and it looks like there may be some water damage. Any suggestions? Would it be cheaper to just put down carpet?

Mags S. · Answer

Also, If you bring in flooring ppl, make sure they are old school and have the old flooring material.  The ones that don't have access to old wood will always try to talk you into going with new wood flooring.

Account Closed · Answer

Maybe, get two or three flooring guys in there for estimates both ways and decide what your rehab budget can afford. Good pad and cheap carpet for rental or beautiful hardwood if you're going high end throughout the rest of the house.

Mags S. · Answer

Michelle Bright  I'd say it depends on what you want to do with the property and the price point.  If higher end and/or competitive housing, I would have a pro floor sanding company take a look.  In my area, Buyers and tenants love hardwood flooring.  I recently updated a 1915 rental; the flooring had been carpeted for many many years.  There was some cupping noted on a section where carpet was pulled up. The padding was stuck to floor as well. I was informed the oak flooring was not of the highest quality original flooring and was thin.  Upon asking their suggestion - replace all the original flooring in a 3bedroom, 2 story house...NOT!   There was a $1k difference in pricing estimates, so it pays to get more than a couple of estimates.  You would not know where the cupping was today and only one room had any pet stains.  I didn't have any staining or anything additional done since it's a rental.  Just a matte poly finish.  The floors came out gorgeous and property advertising showed mostly walls and floors (empty property).  There were over 3000 views on Zillow within a 30 day period and lots of interest calls.  Good luck

William Higdon · Answer

Michelle Bright,

I would say no.

The expense isn't going to be worth it in the long run due to the damage the floors have sustained. Water damage and pet urine are hard things to overcome when re-finishing a hardwood floor. It looks like some of the boards are warped and will need replaced. By the time you figure the expense in cleaning and prepping the floor, replacing bad spots, sanding, sanding, and sanding again then staining them, then sealing the floors you are going to be looking at a considerable cost that will most likely exceed the cost of Allure flooring.

I recently re-finished a Southern Pine hardwood floor in Owensboro, KY and they were in pretty darn good shape. New owner found them when they went to rip up carpet to put new down. Found the floors underneath and I made 'em shine like new.

Allure will give you the look and texture feel of a real hardwood floor for a fraction of the cost. Most contractors won't want to touch something that is labor intensive like your pictures look like. I could be wrong because I can't touch and smell the wood. But I wouldn't bid lower than other options that's for sure. Mainly just because you don't know what you'll be getting into with the bad spots. May have to tear out sub-floor because it's rotted. Could get messy and expensive.

Take Staton's advice and get some quotes. but I'd would look into Allure Flooring as well. Carpet would be a last resort. Budget considering of course.

Just my two cents. Hope it helps.

Best of Luck to ya!

Andy Hudgins · Answer

"Cupping" of this product is NOT indicative of a flooring problem. It is indicative of a real and significant moisture problem. The photos are not the best but they may show some cupping, can't say. You may have two very different chores: one, fix the elevated moisture, THEN two, refinish or replace the finish flooring. If the first is overlooked it may prove expensive long-term.  Once the moisture level declines to the correct thresholds this existing flooring product WILL lie flat again (Actually the high quality of this old product is demonstrated by the fact that it has cupped only as much as it has, not more). At that point the existing flooring is ready to be sanded.  If, IF elevated moisture is present and you haul in new finish flooring, allow loads of time for it to acclimate (swell) out of the packaging before installing? How long? How long can you budget?

My fiancée's uncle (carpenter) installed new wood floors for cousin. House is over a crawl. Well, no moisture checks were done. The entire job expanded, cupped, and bowed to the point of trip hazards. Now, no one speaks to each other any longer.

Jassem A. · Answer

If it will be a rental then I would either go over the floors with laminate or vinyl planks or paint the floors with a  brown, black, or grey enamel paint. Painting will be cheapest option and usually doesn't look too bad and will probably hold up better over time. Another option I am in the process of trying out is to cut up 3/8" plywood into 8" or 12" strips, face nail it, and put on a couple coats of polyurethane.

JD Martin · Answer

You need to be sure you're looking at finished flooring. Lots of times subfloor looks like hardwood flooring to a novice. Now those do look like hardwood floors, but those have some really brutal damage. I would replace them with something else or cover with carpet/laminate.

Turhan Halil · Answer

Looking at the picture seems to show that the boards are "cupped" and obviously in bad shape all around. By the time the floor is sanded down beyond the cupping, you'd likely be hitting the installation nails. I'd go with a laminate floor, especially so, because at least a part of that floor is in front of the door as you step inside the house and it'll get worn and grubby pretty quickly if you go with carpeting.

It shouldn't be a problem (as you can see in the picture) because "height wise" you currently have a tiled section that once removed would bring you back up to the door threshold when the laminate is installed.

:)

P.S. It may also still need to be sanded, just to make sure that there isn't any "play" in the laminate floor because of the cupping. Also, stick with the direction that the original flooring is going in because aesthetically it looks nicer (subjective, I know)

Best 'o' luck!

Shane Caraway · Answer

Carpet would be cheaper. You won't be able to salvage them without sanding and restaining. Depending on how bad the water stains are you may not be able to sand them to the point where the stain leaves. Those areas would have to be replaced.

Another option would be to put in laminate floors. This can be done for about the same price as carpet and still have the hard wood look.

If you do decide to salvage the original hardwoods, I would suggest getting a pro. This is a very easy job to mess up, but is definitely not as easy to do to perfection as they show on TV.

Can these hardwood floors be saved?

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