Are these floorboards usable?

[maybeflower]

Would appreciate any insight on what's probably a silly question! We've just moved house (which was built in the late 1960's), and have taken up the carpets to find these wooden floorboards underneath - as some of the edges are a lighter colour, does that mean the darker parts have already been varnished?

Will it be ok to use, or would we need to do anything else to it - or should it not be used as actual flooring, and we just need to put laminate/carpet over it?

Thank you!

He’d to say from a photo but the darker bits could be dirt, staining from the carpet underlay, or it could be varnish but unlikely with those lighter patches. If you want to use those floorboards, getting them sanded and varnished would be a good move.

the sanding will “clean” the dirt if it is dirt/ staining from carpet underlay or it will remove old varnish ready for fresh varnish.

enjoy your house!

In the 1960s, fitted carpet wasn't the norm. Most would have had carpet/rugs (but not fitted to the edge of the room), and prob stained the floorboards round the edge - as seems to have happened in your house.

Your options: 1) sand and varnish the whole (or even as you have already, just the edges), and have rugs - looks good, but you will notice the draughts, especially in winter !
2) have fitted carpets (with a good underlay).

I would use them, they look quite good. Much better than laminate in my opinion. I would sand them and use oil, not varnish. Hard to tell what's already on there from the picture.

They look fantastic! We found some really ropey boards in our 1920s house which look ok after a lot of work sanding and filling so am jealous. Looks like nice small gaps between the boards too so fewer draughts.

They’re fine to use as flooring.

Re the colour - were both bits covered up before or just the paler? We replaced a section of wooden floorboards and we bought the same wood but it was paler. They told us once exposed to the light they change colour and sure enough within a year they matched and looked like your left hand picture.

But that’s irrelevant if they’ve all been covered.

Wood floors can definitely age or " yellow" with sunlight, whether varnished or not. Your must have been covered with a rug.
They look great but you might want to fill the nail holes before finishing.
Normally for wood floors not meant to be covered they are laid with hidden nails . ( nailed into ends and sides).
Depending on what look you want you can leave them as is, sand and varnish/paint . Nice find!

Just sand and varnish. Don't bother filling the nails, it would look awful. All individual boards have to be nailed. It looks fine. Only t&g is secret nailed.

What is t&g? Tongue and grooves? But that is the standard for wood floors.
You don't have to varnish though. They can be stained, oiled, painted. If you varnish use mat for natural look.

Thank you all so much for all your advice and comments! Really pleased that we'll be able to keep them as our flooring!

Upon taking up the latest room of carpet, we found a newspaper cutting from 1995 stapled to the floor, so they've been covered up for nearly 30 years it seems! But potentially means they were used before that perhaps - it seems to mainly be the edges near the skirting boards that are a lighter colour, but not sure why that is!

From the recent pic it looks like there may have been an edging strip which has been taken up to make a carpet lay flat to the skirting boards.
I have original floorboards in my house. They are beautiful but it does get chilly in winter. I sometimes think about carpeting for warmth, but I can’t bring myself to cover them up!

Those are great looking floorboards. Sand to get an even colour, fill the gaps between the boards and nail holes (Ronseal have a great product, easy to use), sand again and seal with varnish (Ronseal again or Mylands). Filling in the gaps will feel like a gigantic PITA before you get going on it, but it will mean you don't get chilly draughts. Hard floors are so much cleaner than carpets, you won't regret it.