"dpb" wrote in message ...
CompleteNewb wrote:
So a guy from Empire came out to do an estimate on either carpeting or
hardwooding our floor. He pulled up some of our existing carpet, saw
that it's a hardwood floor underneath (it's in pretty crappy looking
shape; before you suggest just finishing it, I do plan to try sanding,
staining, and polyurethaning a 2' square section, but I have no hope of
it looking like something we'd want to be our floor), and he said it's
impossible to put a hardwood floor down because there's already one
there. He said if we do a hardwood floor, we HAVE to tear up all the
existing hardwood, and that in doing that we would probably destroy the
joists.

I went to the basement and looked at the ceiling, and it doesn't appear
that the hardwood floor upstairs is the same as the ceiling downstairs.
Downstairs as the ceiling, there are wide (around 12") wooden planks that
run diagonally, and the hardwood floor upstairs is thinner planks that
run straight, so it seems that the hardwood floor is nailed either into
subfloor or straight into those planks that comprise the ceiling of the
basement. So why would we be destroying the joists if we tore it up?
...
The current floor is laid over the subfloor and there's absolutely no
reason why taking it up should destroy anything if even a modicum of care
were taken in doing so.

As for the existing hardwood floor, unless you're insistent on changing
the wood itself, I would expect a professional resanding and refinishing
would leave you with a quite attractive floor. As bad as a water-stained
or floor after years of carpet pad on top, it will be returned to a brand
new surface by a sanding. Unless there are really large gouges or other
real mechanical problems (which can also be repaired or small sections
replaced), it would undoubtedly be the cheapest solution.

If you're adamant about new hardwood flooring of full 3/4" thickness, I
would recommend removing the old, however, simply to not raise the floor
that much. It creates a lot of other issues...

What he said- the empire guy was a SALESMAN, not a flooring expert. Keep in
mind companies like that make most of their money from the financing for the
project. The 'home improvements' they sell are just the hook to get you into
the tent. What you saw from basement was the subfloor, and wide diagnal
planks is a very good sign. Only reason to use the now-standard 1/4" ply
underlayment is if they wanted to put down what I call a faux floor, one of
those floating engineered or fake hardwood floors. If height wasn't a
problem, no reason another layer of hardwood couldn't go over what was
there.

I'd call a pro floor refinishing company. I think DIY refinishing jobs
seldom look worth a damn. 2 of the bedrooms in this place were DIY'd by
previous owner, and while they don't look too horrible, they also don't look
like a pro job. And a pro refinish will likely cost a lot less than a
rip'n'replace.

(Still kicking myself for not having all the floors redone while house was
empty, but the carpet over the hardwood in LR and hall was brand new, and I
was feeling broke and under time pressure, having only a couple of weeks
between closing and moving at the end of a lease.)

aem sends...