Is it worth it to pull up the old hardwood floor and reinstall it?
My floors squeak noisily. I was thinking of pulling them up and putting down a plywood subfloor and while I am at it putting the old boards through a planer. Looks like they may have been refinished (poorly) in the past.
Probably easier to simply install new flooring?
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Replies
It might be worth it if the wood is really spectacular or if you have a lot more time than money. The trick is getting it up without breaking all the tongues off.
Definitely easier to buy new.
You will have to re-sand the floor after it is installed, so don't bother running it through the planer.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
It CAN be done, but... Huge amount of work to pull up the old boards without damaging them and also to pull out the old nails through the tongue without damaging the wood. You will definitely end up ruining some boards (especially near the walls), and when you go to re-lay the floor, you'll be short some material. Think about it- are you going to be able to number each board and reinstall them all in the exact same arrangement?
Then you'll have to sand, re-stain and refinish the reinstalled floor anyway. The savings in material costs might offset the extra labor. If the old boards are super nice it could be worth it, but otherwise...
Maybe re-use the boards in a different, smaller room.
If it's just a question of squeaky floors, you might look into fixing the squeaks without taking up the floor.