Sand original floorboards ? Or start again

[brightonrock123456789]

I'm renovating a Victorian house on a very tight budget. The old floorboards are lovely and tight & in good condition, but like all old houses there's a large gap underneath them, and they aren't insulated. I'm feeling a bit daunted by the idea of sanding all the floors myself (it's a 3-bedroom house), and hiring someone is too expensive.
What's the quickest and most cost-effective way to get decent floors? Should I just bite the bullet and sand the existing floors, or would it be better to lay down something else on top?

Depends on your preference. I hired an industrial sander to do my floor boards in My Victorian home cost about £180 and pretty straight forward to use.

Then I got pregnant and I wanted something bit easier to clean (wood stains so any spills etc you have to re sand and varnish again)

So it's up to you !

I had a floor professionally sanded, and he said half his work was rectifying floors that had been badly damaged by DIY attempts.(Perhaps he would say that?)
It took him most of a day, the room was about 4 x 4 metres. It was a pine (apparently) block flooring from 1920 and had been painted/stained black - as was the fashion in those days.
It wasn't stained (which penetrates the wood) but just sealed with a professional varnish and never need to be re-sanded or re-vanished. It resulted in a beautiful golden colour.

I'd do as little as you can with them if they look lovely. You can get surprisingly good results by just cleaning them if they are dirty. If they have been covered with paint or varnish or damaged in another way then that does become more effort. As you hint, they can be drafty and a source of heat loss. Carpets and rugs improve this a lot.
What don't you like about them a the moment?

We have a similar floor and asked a builder’s advice (he wouldn’t be doing the job himself). He said if you have floorboards it seems a shame to lay another floor on top - and it’s definitely cheaper to improve what you have rather than buying in the materials and laying a new floor. So we are planning to sand ours, but haven’t done it yet!

My husband is generally good at DIY - used to be a kitchen fitter and electrician - but he still fluffed our floors when he sanded them! We got a pro in to do them next time and they look amazing! I guess you could save money by just getting them sanded and finish them yourself?

The void under the floorboards is there to help with airflow; older homes are constructed to 'breathe' so it's important to keep that as-is to prevent damp.

Watch a few YouTube videos on sanding and varnishing older floors, it's completely doable for a novice, you just need to take your time and get the right tools for the job.

I sanded one floor myself which was pretty cheap but hard work (it did look good afterwards) but since then have hired people as now with children it’s hard to find the time. I think it’s still good value for a very nice and hard wearing floor

Sanding original floors is not recommended. Join this Old house renovation group on Facebook for expert advice.

We did it and it's a VERY messy and loud job. The dust, despite having a vacuum collector on the back, went everywhere. If you're planning on decorating after, then go for it. But if you've already decorated I would think twice. It's not for the faint hearted.

We did every room before we moved into our old house (it was a two up, two down, so not loads, but still...) and it looked great (and luckily a strong male friend turned up to help, I wasn't much use, it turned out). We stained the upstairs floorboards dark and left the downstairs ones with just varnish.

BUT we could never get that house very warm, and I wouldn't have dreamt of walking around barefoot. I don't think it was the best thing to do in terms of the heating bill at all. But we were threatening to move for years, so we never carpeted any of it, so cannot compare with and without, unfortunately.

Personally I'd be covering them up. With a void under the floorboards and no insulation, it's just a recipe for a cold and drafty house. But then I don't like the look of random bits of stripped down houses that were never meant to be left bare (exposed brick and stripped pine are also on my "god, no" list)

I did this in our Victorian house a couple of years ago. Three rooms and the hallway downstairs took the weekend and I hired one of those big power sanders for £120 or so I think it was. It is very DIY’able, well I’m happy with how ours turned out. Varnished after with a dark wood stain to match the Victorian feel. Lessons to pass on:

1. You will need ear protectors and ffp3 masks. It is VERY noisy and VERY dusty. Think standing next to a huge nightclub speaker noise.

2. you will need way more sanding sheets than you think. I took 25 and still ran out. Had to finish the rest with my little belt sander - thankfully not too much to go.

3. your neighbours will hate you. Try and do it when they are away. Also, the vibrations from the machine cracked next doors plaster so that wasn’t ideal.

4. the machine is very heavy so if you need to get it upstairs you may need help - about 30kgs.

5. you need to prep meticulously. All the raised nails, staples etc need to be pulled up prior or you’ll just tear all your sandpaper.

6. insulating under the boards at the same time is very easy. You can get a pallet breaker thing which can be used to lever up the boards. Then it’s just cutting PIR or running nets and insulation stuff under. Takes time but glad we did it as last winter was definitely more bearable.

7. don’t stress about the under floor draft etc. If you have a decent void which you likely will then you won’t block any air flow or rot the joists etc. Just be careful to not insulate up against any air bricks. Loads of YouTube videos which explain the process - search for insulating cavity floor or similar.

if reusing the floorboards and your joists are good then cost not substantial if doing yourself. £200 or so for the machine and the sanding strips. Then price up the insulation as you need for your room dimensions. Doing my garden room last year the floor for 5 x 4 metres was about £300 from memory for 50mm PIR. Then add some money for the wood strips and other sundries. Reckon you could sand and insulate a 4 x 4 meter room for about £600 ish.

Just clean and wax them or leave them and have carpet. Sanding removes historic finishes/patina, risks revealing old worm tunnels and leaves you with thinner boards.

Thanks very much all. I've had a few quotes, about £25 per sq metre, which sounds like £2.5k to get the whole house done professionally.
Or I can do it myself.....😂

The original floorboards do look beautiful when they’re sanded though. As for the draughts, you can fill the gaps and lay some gorgeous thick rugs here and there.

What do you fill with? Just wood filler and then stain varnish over the whole lot?

I had a similar dilemma, and decided to replace the floor with solid oak, and insulate underneath, as a DIY project, doing the hall and the living room, took a coupe of weeks and £2.5K of materials.
5 years on it's been much warmer and the oak looks fantastic.
P.S. You must use a compound saw, do not consider doing it without one.

Apparently you can use the sanding dust and mix it with something, but I've forgotten what!

https://tradesmencosts.co.uk/fill-gaps-floorboards/

When I did a few floors a while back I was recommended Lecol 7500 mixed with sawdust from the boards. It has good expansion properties and is a little elastic so will cope well with the boards expanding and contracting through different seasons/temperatures. Sorry for horrendously long link.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=lecol+7500&sca_esv=17cd44fc334c6f6b&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIJe9I7LFIKdXsHlfuLOnExZEqoRfg%3A1723486934759&source=hp&ei=1lK6ZoSELMCohbIPrdq0iQQ&oq=lecol&gs_lp=EhFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocCIFbGVjb2wqAggCMhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxiDARjHATIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgcQABiABBgKMgUQABiABEjTHVCvB1ijEXACeACQAQCYAWugAd4DqgEDMy4yuAEByAEA-AEBmAIHoAKUBKgCD8ICBxAjGCcY6gLCAgoQIxiABBgnGIoFwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAhQQLhiABBixAxiDARjHARiKBRivAcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAggQLhiABBixA8ICERAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGMcBGK8BwgIFEC4YgATCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BwgINEC4YgAQY0QMYxwEYCpgDBpIHAzQuM6AHm0I&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp