[Greenlight1]

So our Original subfloor is solid 3/4” oak flooring that is in pretty rough shape. Several sections will have to be patched and/or replaced regardless if we sand it down and refinish or just add flooring over it. From a viewing perspective, a lot of joints have seemed to crack due to excessive expansion and a lot of butt joints have large gaps between them (1/4”+)
The boards themselves are in great shape but With this much damage, are these worth sanding down, patching, puttying and refinishing or will this damage be evident even after we are done? I have weaved flooring in before as well as stripped and refinished floors so I am capable of doing it but I’m not sure what sort of damage is “tolerable” or fixable before you just give up and put something over it.

 

[Old Thomas]

I have replaced a few random boards with good results. It is time consuming, so whether to save it is a function of how bad it is and how much time you want to invest in it. If cracks are larh]ge, leave them. If you fill cracks or separations that are more than hairline expansion will pop the filler out and ruin your finish.

 

[Greenlight1]

I have replaced a few random boards with good results. It is time consuming, so whether to save it is a function of how bad it is and how much time you want to invest in it. If cracks are larh]ge, leave them. If you fill cracks or separations that are more than hairline expansion will pop the filler out and ruin your finish.

Thank you for the input.

 

[mark sr]

Normally a sub floor isn't used as the finished floor.

 

[carpdad]

Re: When is hardwood “too far gone”

My 1920s house. First floor is 1x subfloor and oak strips as finish. I wasn't worried at all about the subfloor but the oak strips were also in bad shape and big gaps. Second floor has no subfloor. It's 1x pine t&g as finished floor, no gap but also in a bad shape. I used wood engineered flooring over both. If all you have is one layer of boards, and they have gaps and damages, it can't be finished to look presentable. Gap filling is uncertain work.

 

[mark sr]

A lot of the better built houses from that era had an oak sub floor with oak T&G on top of it. Many would install the sub floor on a diagonal.



A friend of mine bought such a house and decided to put central heat/air in. The HVAC guys cussed the floor as they pretty much burned up a blade on every hole. Old wood can get real hard.