No Subfloor....?

Kelsey

My husband and I own a home that was built in 1870. When we moved in the first thing we did was remove the carpet, deep purple just wasn’t my ideal carpet color. We have hardwood floors that are original to the house. The floors are in very good shape and we would like to refinish them.

I was in the basement the other day and looked up; I notice that there is no sub floor. There is just plank hardwood floors laid on top of the joists. The floors are sturdy and surprisingly enough the house hasn’t settled much. My only worry is that when we go to refinish these floors, are we going to create an unsafe situation because there is no sub floor? This is our first home so we don’t have a large amount of experience with this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Zero Punch

This is common in many older homes. Depending on how thick the boards are and how much must be removed to prepare them for refinishing would determine whether the floor will be safe and how many times it has been sanded would be my concern. If it's tongue and groove as long as your not into the t&g your alright. You need to find out how thick the boards are and the depth of sandable wood .

Kelsey

Thank You, we'll have to take a look and see what has been done to them in the past. I know right now they are painted.