Unfinished wood floor (hardwood floor, house, floors)

[kaymacca]

I just finished cutting up and dragging out the wall to wall carpet in the upstairs bedroom. There is a wood floor but it doesn't look like the wood floors down stairs. The wood looks rougher and there is more space between the boards. The house was built in 1941. Can I have this floor refinished? Or am I doomed to wall to wall carpet which I hate.

[cmontesi]

I believe that's the subfloor, not the finished floor.
Was there a sheet of plywood above it?

[kaymacca]

There is a layer of particle board nailed over this wood. Can this subfloor be refinished?

[twingles]

Omg.

[VA Yankee]

Sub-floors of that era were most likely diagnal 2"x6" boards and not meant to be finished. Have you considered Laminate or Engineered hardwood floors? Just an option to carpet..

[kaymacca]

The boards in the closet are about 4" wide (don't know how long) with about a 1/4" gap between them. So before I start pulling up the particle board only to find out I should have left it down as a base for a new hardwood floor I was curious if they could be refinished. Not looking for perfection and would be putting an area rug down any way. Thanks for your help.

[VA Yankee]

Originally Posted by kaymacca

The boards in the closet are about 4" wide (don't know how long) with about a 1/4" gap between them. So before I start pulling up the particle board only to find out I should have left it down as a base for a new hardwood floor I was curious if they could be refinished. Not looking for perfection and would be putting an area rug down any way. Thanks for your help.

Do not bother refinishing the boards. With quarter inch gaps this is definetly the rough floor and not meant to be finished off. Leave the particle board down and use it for a base of whichever finishing product you choose.

[cmv138]

if it was the original base then i would just rip that out too and have new base floor put in. You dont want to run into problems in the near future of rot or squeaking. base flooring isnt that expensive and you want it dont right the first time.

[Buckthedog]

That's the subfloor, if you're in a cape, the upstairs bedrooms probably werent finshed in 1941, so they just laid a sub-floor.

I was surprised that my house (1955) has the same subfloor, when most in the 50's used plywood.

[kayo_michael]

You're not supposed to finish a "sub" floor. It's the structural layer below your actual floor that you finish and make beautiful.

Put OSB (oriented strand board) sheeting over it, then a vapor barrier, and lay hardwood floor on top of the vapor barrier.

Using particle board in flooring is NOT A GOOD IDEA. Particle board will swell and crumble with any moisture. It's the stuff IKEA furniture is made out of.