Sand and varnish floors or get parquet/wooden floors laid???

[MultipMel]

Hi.general advice wanted on which is a better option to go for in my down stairs front room , dining room and hall way . Have had DIY sanded floors for years and now it looks dreadfull. Moving to new home and want a hard wearing wooden floor that requires little effort in up keep and is not too expensive to have someone else do the work of either fitting i or sand and varnishing it.

If you want little upkeep, then I probably wouldn’t go with wooden floors. Rather, depending on area, tiles, laminate or a man-made carpet.

Having said that, we had floorboards in our last house and have an oak floor in the current property. I think that floorboards add period charm but can be a bit drafty. The current floor is warmer and looks more ‘done up’ if you see what I mean. It also doesn’t creak. Maintenance-wise, I wouldn’t expect much difference between the two.

We sanded and used a coloured osmo oil. It's gorgeous and vvvv low maintenance. Hides all the dirt!

We're in the process of getting quotes for parquet, I think we'll go for engineered board as that appears to be easier to fit and on a large area, it's less likely to gap. It's not cheaper though.