Is this floor salvageable?

[thornton_chris]

Hi all,

We have recently purchased a house (1740s terrace) and the 1st floor bathroom had urine smelling carpet. You could tell the floor wasn't level when walking on it, so laminate flooring wasn't going to be an option.

Under the carpet was very thin ply, and under the ply are some nice floorboards; but they are old!

Previous owners have put some kind of metal strips over areas where the floor boards don't quite meet.

Does anyone think this is salvageable with some filling/sanding/varnish?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes, it's not only salvageable, but if it is original it should be salvaged!

Those metal straps are likely to be a lot older than the previous owners! That looks like it is a very old floor and is worth renovating as it is part of the history of the building - including those repairs which might well be 100 years old or more (it is an old-fashioned repair technique that you don't see much these days). Just don't expect it to ever be perfect, but it will have character. One thing do need to do is to get all of the pins which were fixing the plywood down out of the floor (carpenter's nippers will do the job) otherwise they will shred your shoes and trainers in short order. Looks like there is some edge damage to some of the boards (T&G), but it looks highly repairable at first sight - just don't fill all over the place, it just won't look right (and may end up cracking or popping out) - instead use timber fillets glued in where necessary and planed down and leave the fillers for the small bits.

Please bear in mind that I am viewing this on a small screen, not in the flesh, but my gut feeling is that this is a job which is worth doing right, and if you were in my neck of the woods I'd be offering to do you a quote

 

[foxhole]

Remember open boards are not going to be water tight like a tiled floor.