sanding floorboards or engineered wood flooring

meadow408

HI All, just after some advise and opinions on the pros and cons of sanding existing floorboards or laying engineered wood flooring (a debate I'm having at the moment with my oh). I admit I know nothing about the technicalities...
Apart from the clear difference in look etc do floorboards need to be sanded and vanished regularly? or once the job is done with sanding and vanishing/painting they last for a long time?
Would laying wood flooring on top provide for better insulation or structural soundness?
Please talk to me about the benefits of restoring existing floorboard verso covering them up with engineered wood planks.
Also I've heard that floorboards need to be in "good" conditions: what does that mean? How do I make sure before starting the job (or getting someone to do it) that the result will be worth it?
Thank you in advance!

DirectDebacle

To save a lot of typing go here for a guide, there are numerous others.

I have done this on Victorian boards.

Repair damaged boards. Some with severe surface gouges or other deep marks I lifted and relaid with the underside facing up. Good quality wood filler or make your own with the sanding dust from 80 grit sanding pass mixed with glue for scratches etc.

Broken boards replace. Keep broken bords if sections are longer than space between joist centres. Split boards can be repaired by working glue into and along the split and clamping till glue set.

Architectural salvage yard for board similar age to yours.

Sand up to 80 grit then fill gaps. Using broken boards or extra bought at salvage yard use electric saw to cut fillet (strips) off along the long edge slightly wider than the gaps. Use a plane to form a taper or set circular saw to a slight bevel when cutting strips. Apply wood glue and tap strips firmly into the gaps. Ensure they span from centre to centre across the joists. They will never fall out. The lazy way is to use filler which will fall out (eventually) and wont look as good.

You might need a delta sander to reach into tight corners or sand around c.h. pipes.

If you plan on decorating the room then do this before sanding. Much easier to remove dust from paintwork than paint from your lovely floor.

A fair amount of work which is mostly prep. However well worth doing particularly if you have a period house. Once done and a quality finish of varnish or hard oil wax is applied very little maintenance is required and your floor won't require re-sanding for many years.

Also I've heard that floorboards need to be in "good" conditions: what does that mean? How do I make sure before starting the job (or getting someone to do it) that the result will be worth it?

Don't be fooled by appearances. The floor may look awful. Dirty, covered in paint splashes, wide gaps, lots of cuts from lifting to do work etc. All of this can be rectified and will give the floor character. What is important is that it is structurally sound. No rot for example. If that is the case then it will have to be rectified whether you sand or cover with engineered wood or whatever.

meadow408

Thank you so much DD! all great advice and loads of information!

mymedi

You need to ask yourself one simple question - do you like the floor you've got at the moment or not. Because if not, all the things you might not like will still be there after re-sanding - such as wide dark gaps between boards (if you fill them, that may lead to all sorts of issues later), squeaking boards, etc. You can try to fix all the faults of an old floor, but realistically they will come back sooner or later. Also keep in mind the floor will be very smooth to the point of slippery after sanding and varnishing whereas with engineered you can get any textured finish you want. There is no difference between maintaining new or old floor.

somethingcorporate

In our last house we had our old boards repaired, sanded etc and this one we've got new wood flooring in (engineered oak). I have to say I prefer the latter and there was not a huge difference in cost. It is incredibly dusty work to have them brought up to scratch and it did look good but the quality and choice from our local wood-floor merchants was superb and just better quality than the ones that had been there a while, even when cleaned up.