Do we REALLY need to sand the floors?

[inmyshoos]

Trying to get house ready to go on market. We have varnished solid wood floors throughout. The high traffic areas lounge/hall are needing sanded and revarnished. It is so hard to find the time (3 kids, 2 dogs, smallish house, dh working away) Could we just leave them, stick down some rugs and hope people can see past this? We did when we moved in but I know we are quite good at having vision (i think!!)

Anyone?

You could but shame to cover them as they are a massive selling point. Just get it done will add value to the house.

Do they really add value? I would just be thinking I needed to spend money on carpets. Not a fan of varnished floorboards, if that's what you've got.

I don't think sanding them would add value at all. It would be one thing off a list of jobs for a potential buyer to do though and not something that makes them think "they've neglected this, what else is there...?"

Agree with SoupDragon

Thanks for replies.

Thing is the floors have only been 'neglected' because we have been busy doing all the more important urgent things like re-insulating, replacing roof on lean to extension, new bathrooms, new kitchen, all rooms stripped of old paper and replastered and painted or/and papered etc

The only reason we were wondering if we could leave them was to get it on market earlier as dont want to miss Sep/Oct. Once November comes everything slows down.

can you just varnish and not sand?

Not sure how that'd look amarmai
Have you done that before?

yes- but my standards are low and i'll take any shortcut! Try a little bit and see what you think.

Will try a bit! Dh tried a little bit by hand sanding lightly then varnish and that turned out ok.
Were you happy with how it looked?

for sure-it was an improvement and i never try for perfection- that's a set up for failure and stress. I did a bit at a time- not the whole floor all in 1 go. I know my limitations !

Can you try a steam cleaner on them - they can bring up wooden floors really well (although you aren't meant to use them too often as they can damage the wood).

My DD had really scruffy varnished floors, really worn in places. We used a darker coloured varnish on them without sanding, and they looked surprisingly good. A year later they still look fine.

How bad do they look? Some people like a more "rustic" look. I don't know much about floorboard up keep & finish options but aesthetically I wouldn't want them looking too shiny. i think sometimes you just have to bite the bullet with putting your house on the market as everything doesn't have to be perfect to get a sale.

This is the floor! Will try and do something with it and post an after pic!

I think it depends on the type of finish your house has and what price point you are going in at. If the rest of your house has an immaculate high end finish then maybe it's worth doing....
From the pic I think your floor looks lovely and with the woodburner the house looks cosy and rustic.
Don't cover them with rugs either way though - it'll look worse. Personally exposed floorboards would help sell a house to me - I prefer them to carpet.

Thanks acer , Our house is a comfy, cosy family house, wooden floors throughout and woodburner serves central heating. We have an open fire in one bedroom and another woidburner in another. It isnt a perfect modern house so the floors dont really stand out too much. Only lounge/hall that are needing redone, bedrooms still look good.