On Feb 12, 9:12*am, Dairy Godmother wrote:
Get a pro out to tell you if it has been resanded to many times a bid
a fix of issues. But it probably hasnt been sanded to thin.

a contractor i trust said they are too thin, and though i obviosly
dont know about these things, my gut agrees.

If joists are weak, sister on another one, if a few planks are week I
braced

mine underneath with plywood.

thats what DH has been doing - i think the joists are fine.

Old floors were thick, mine are 3/4 oak

with no subfloor and can take many sandings.

I dont think these were 3/4 - i'm almost sure thinner.

You can go over the old

one but you will save thousands by keeping what you have. A weak plank
may have a hidden knot underneath, so support it from underneath. A
good sanding and 3-6 coats, a few repairs, and it will be great.

definitely a thought - we'd rather save money obviously and put it
toward the heating system. *if we could *confidently* reinforce the
planks *and* fill and smooth all cracks i'd be happy keeping old
floor. *Sounds like not having a subfloor is not a huge deal on its own

Filling the cracks is problematic for the same reason that they appear/
disappear in winter/summer - the wood expands and contracts with
temperature and humidity, which would tend to loosen the crack filler
and then it looks worse than when you started. It sounds like the
quality solution would be to install a new layer of hardwood over the
old. The things I would worry about with that are (1) having to re-do
doors, doorjambs, baseboard, etc. because of the new thickness being
added, (2) whether there is a problem driving the flooring nails
through that old oak - I assume a pro would just be able to set his
airgun up a notch or two for that (3) whether flaws in the old
flooring would telegraph through to the new - if there is any
unevenness. Especially since you would be installing the new
floorboards parallel to the old (perpendicular to the joists). You
might want to discuss these with prospective installers and ask for
references from past customers that had the exact same situation.
(I've never seen a place with no subfloor except in a beach house, but
it may be more common in your area.) It won't be cheap but it will be
permanent and will add value to the home. Some people do install
hardwood flooring as a DIY project to save money, but it's pretty
ambitious. -- H