Bringing wooden floors back to life?

delmonta

Hi
I have wooden floorboards in my Victorian terraced house. The ones upstairs are pretty wonky and battered and with gaps, they appear to have been varnished in the past but not got much shine left. (First photo)

Downstairs is also hardwood but very different, it's completely flat and smooth and no gaps, maybe it's engineered hardwood. (second and third photo)

I'm wondering if there are any good ways to bring the floors back to life without completely sanding them back and re doing? Can you sort of just lightly sand the top layer and then re varnish? Or some method of cleaning?

Failing that, would I be able to re do them properly on my own, if I rented a belt sander and edge sander? It's 3 rooms and two smallish hallways. As the upstairs ones are quite wonky and bowed I worry that it wouldn't work to run a huge sander over them, I imagine it would need to be flatter. Any thoughts? 

Thanks

troffasky

I like the look of the upstairs ones, they've got "character", but perhaps a bit too characterful for your taste? If there's any drastic level changes [eg ends of boards standing proud] then you'd need to sort that first, but generally the sander's job is to level things out for you. Careful you don't nick any of the radiator pipes with the disc sander for the edges of the room [an expensive mistake to make!]

Downstairs - I can see why you want to do something about them. The only way you can avoid sanding those would be to paint them. Ideally you'd need to know there's enough wear layer left before embarking on sanding, but on the other hand, what are you going to do if there isn't enough left? If the alternative is replacing the flooring then I would just give sanding a go anyway.

delmonta

troffasky said:

I like the look of the upstairs ones, they've got "character", but perhaps a bit too characterful for your taste? If there's any drastic level changes [eg ends of boards standing proud] then you'd need to sort that first, but generally the sander's job is to level things out for you. Careful you don't nick any of the radiator pipes with the disc sander for the edges of the room [an expensive mistake to make!]

Downstairs - I can see why you want to do something about them. The only way you can avoid sanding those would be to paint them. Ideally you'd need to know there's enough wear layer left before embarking on sanding, but on the other hand, what are you going to do if there isn't enough left? If the alternative is replacing the flooring then I would just give sanding a go anyway.

Thanks, yeah I like the ones upstairs also, I just feel they look a bit dirty and old. I dont mind the wonkiness so much, and the various bowed and cupped boards, but it would be nice if the surface was just a bit cleaner. I wonder if some form of cleaning could help this? Or a light sanding with a palm sander

As for downstairs, yes its hard to know how much wood is left to be sanded. I guess you can only try and find out!

TheEssexlad

The boards in the rooms don't look too bad , the bit by the hall needs some work , ideally sanding right back and starting again , or you could just put a runner carpet down 

delmonta

TheEssexlad said:

The boards in the rooms don't look too bad , the bit by the hall needs some work , ideally sanding right back and starting again , or you could just put a runner carpet down 

Thanks, but is there a way to get the upstairs boards looking a bit nicer without heavy duty sanding?

neilmcl

delmonta said:

TheEssexlad said:

The boards in the rooms don't look too bad , the bit by the hall needs some work , ideally sanding right back and starting again , or you could just put a runner carpet down 

Thanks, but is there a way to get the upstairs boards looking a bit nicer without heavy duty sanding?

Carpet or a big rug 🤣

Seriously, the flooring downstairs looks like solid hardwood rather than engineered. Upstairs just looks like pine floorboards to me, not a lot of options other than to sand, paint or cover.

delmonta

neilmcl said:

delmonta said:

TheEssexlad said:

The boards in the rooms don't look too bad , the bit by the hall needs some work , ideally sanding right back and starting again , or you could just put a runner carpet down 

Thanks, but is there a way to get the upstairs boards looking a bit nicer without heavy duty sanding?

Carpet or a big rug 🤣

Seriously, the flooring downstairs looks like solid hardwood rather than engineered. Upstairs just looks like pine floorboards to me, not a lot of options other than to sand, paint or cover.

Thanks, yeah I'm not carpeting it! Its also not close to flat enough to be carpeted! 

But yeah, I guess I'll have to attempt sanding and see what happens, or just live with it as is for a few more years