Exposing original floorboards - yay or nay?

[AwkwardPaws27]

We are (still...) slowly doing up our tired Edwardian semi.

The previous owners painted over the (peeling) lining paper and put down some quite nice laminate to tidy it up when selling.

I wanted to sand the original floorboards in the master bedroom but was talked out of it by family saying it would be noisy, dusty and draughty. I have the nice laminate in that room too now (picture of our master bedroom hopefully attached) with a good quality underlay and it's very quiet underfoot.

Although I'm happy with the bedroom, I'm still tempted to expose the floorboards downstairs. I have to carefully take up some of the laminate to move a radiator, so part of me says "fuck it, take the lot up". I'd sand the boards and apply a non-orangey varnish or oil, then have large rugs in the living and dining room.

Is it a terrible idea? Will I be cold, dust covered and miserable? Advice from anyone who has done this would be greatly appreciated!

We had exposed floorboards in our previous house and it was draughty so we won’t have them again. However, they do have more charm than laminate or even a new wooden floor.

Noisy and really cold. That should say really noisy and really cold.

Dont

There's a good chance the "original" floorboards will be in a bad state. Paint spots, splits, gaps, boards bodge-job replaced with something obviously different, that kind of thing.

So have a plan B.

Edwardians and Victorians were very keen on carpets for good reason....

It’s likely they won’t be in a fit state for exposing. We have exposed floor boards with gaps, chips, uneven fade etc. Probably should sort it out.

Looks beautiful but is cold. Get good quality engineered wood floor instead.

We have exposed original boards and I love them! I don't find them draughty and they look great, we have some rugs down. I find them really easy to clean too, we used to have carpets that showed every tiny bit of fluff.

Do it (but beware that not all boards are in good enough condition for it, we've been lucky!)

Your original floorboards will probably be pine. A lot of people don't like the colour of pine - and it really doesn't go with currently fashionable colours and tones (F&B, navy blue, copper etc). So if you think you'd have to hide the 'orange', I really wouldn't do it.

We have stripped pine floorboards with clear varnish throughout (apart from kitchen and bathroom), and love it - replacement boards, historic woodworm and all. It's really clean (I'm sensitive to dust), bounces light around, and gives a lovely flow to the house.

But we like pine...

We have exposed floor boards, they are oak though, they are cold and hard under foot so we have a huge rug,

Don't worry about the colour, they need varnishing and you can do any shade you wish.

I have solid elm original floorboards and I love them! I don't find them draughty but I know the previous vendors insulated under the floor so maybe that helps.

Go for it!

Yes, you can indeed put any colour you want on floorboards. We stripped through one room of white painted, one room of dark stain, and one room where they'd done quite a dark varnish and not bothered to sand the bits around the edges that the Victorians painted black (they'd painted red over it instead).
It was...hard work.

My point is - if you don't like the colour, then why go to the trouble of stripping them and covering over them with varnish/stain/paint? Karndean or whatever WILL be warmer and quieter, while giving you the cleanness and flow, so if you're not keen on the aesthetic anyway, I wouldn't bother.

We have the original oak floor boards in our dining room. We repaired them where they were damaged. Still looking good after after 30 years and not cold.

However I have seen houses with floor boards where they are cheap pine, lots of knots, lots of gaps and poorly fitted. Just not altogether great. They were never laid down to be exposed. If they end up being a decent wood and repairable, then go for it. If they are rough and cheap, think twice.

You can seal/fill floorboards to stop them being drafty. Have a google. I think a good way is sanding, adding PVC glue to the sanded dust, put in cracks, sand again and repeat. Then stain floor.
We had floorboards, but put down carpet when we were getting ready to sell. Carpet is okay, but needs more hoovering and so paranoid about spillages.
In the next house I plan to have floorboards again. IMO they look more beautiful. I going to have dark stained floorboards with some rugs downstairs. Carpet upstairs though.

It’ll be draughty and cold. We did it as I thought it would be cheaper than carpet, young stupid first time buyer. By the time I’d knocked in every nail and insulated in a makeshift way in the cellar underneath....I could have carpeted it in something lovely and warm.

Looked fab though.

Current house has the original floorboards in hall. It looks good. I’m sure carpet would be warmer but it’s a mid terrace Victorian and quite warm anyway.

then why go to the trouble of stripping them and covering over them with varnish/stain/paint

Because when you sand them they absolutely need to be varnished anyway to protect them. You can't leave them bare. They need to be varnished to protect them.

Op, we got a professional in to do ours, great company, was not hugely expensive, they sand them seven times starting off very rough through to very fine, so the finish is smooth, then if required they also do repairs, fill in gaps, replace broken ones etc, and then varnish, we had industrial varnish used so it didn't scratch with dogs or heels, and they do four layers, we used clear, it does change the colour, it's like making it wet, but you can pick any colour of varnish from clear through to a dark mahogany for example, and then any finish, ie matt satin or gloss.

I'd recommend if you're going to do it, get someone in, but as said, for me, as much as they look lovely, they are cold and hard under foot, so in the living room we have a huge rug. In the hall and kitchen we don't and it's fine as it doesn't matter in those areas.

I have them and love them. I don't find them draughty particularly but they do get very dusty!

We had carpet downstairs and original boards upstairs. The carpet kept the draught out so wasn't an issue. Upstairs looked amazing. A bit louder underfoot but we didn't wear shoes upstairs and had rugs so wasn't an issue. The hot water pipes ran under the wood which made it lovely and warm to walk on. I would do again in a heartbeat I loved them. We were lucky though they were all in great nick which is unusual.

That's for all your comments - mixed opinions then!
Thank you Bluntness for clarifying about protecting the floor - I did think that protection with a varnish or oil was necessary so was a little confused by the suggestion of leaving them completely bare.
Attached is a photo of the bedroom floorboards from when we did that room - some areas were better than others.
I think it is pine? I'm not sure
Assuming downstairs is similar do you think it would be a good candidate for stripping?

I didn't suggest to leave them completely bare - that would be monumentally stupid. I suggested there was no point in sanding them unless you're going to use clear varnish, rather than tinted varnish/stain/paint.

Yes, that's pine, and yes, they look in fairly good condition.

If you use clear varnish, it'll come up something like this. You will be able to see the knots and the age and texture of the wood. Many people don't like that.

I have original floorboards all though my 1930's house - I painted the upstairs ones white and I sanded and varnished downstairs. They are really lovely and still good as new 8 years later (ours had been covered by carpet when we bought the house so we removed it, sanded and varnished).

Thanks BurstPipes - I do like that! I've just seen it sometimes where the varnish has been tinted and the pine has been very orange - rather than that more natural shade.

To show an example, I would like to achieve the lighter colour out of these two images.