New hardwood over old
#1
03-20-15, 09:09 AM
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
New hardwood over old
We are looking to redo our upstairs flooring. We have removed the carpet that was covering 3/4 t&g hardwood nailed directly to the studs. I am not confident that we could refinish what is there, so I am looking into putting new hardwood directly over the old. I know that you would typically run new hardwood perpendicular to the old. But I also know that you would run hardwood perpendicular to the joists. With the old hardwood running perpendicular to the joists, this would mean that we would run the new parallel to the joists. Will this work?
Thanks,
SarahB
Thanks,
SarahB
#3
03-20-15, 07:06 PM
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
There is just a substantial amount of gaps and splits, and places that would have to be patched. There are also places where the planks don't reach the joists and are kinda loose. I would love it if we could. I do plan to finish pulling up the carpet, and then get a professional to look at it.
#4
03-20-15, 07:08 PM
Group Moderator
You make me think the old stuff needs to be pulled up.
How about some pictures?
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...rt-images.html
How about some pictures?
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...rt-images.html
#5
03-20-15, 08:03 PM
Member
First you say 3/4" tongue and groove, then you say it has substantial gaps and splits, Is it hardwood flooring or just a hardwood subfloor? Pictures would help by the way, and if you can get pictures of the underside that would help as well.
#7
03-21-15, 12:35 PM
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Sorry, the pictures got a bit out of order.
This shows one place where the boards are not supported by anything. I put my foot on it to show how it depresses when stepped on. There aren't many places like this.
This is where you can see that the boards are attached directly to the joists. directly under the joists is more t&g with sheetrock that makes up my first floor ceiling. I tried to get a picture but the only place to really see it is through an access in my closet. the ceiling was lowered in the closet, so you can see the old ceiling/underside of the upstairs floor from the access.
Obvious water damage, and probably the worst spot in the whole area.
Splitting. And you can see where it was nailed directly on the joists.
Gaps in the boards. This is really probably the worst spot.
The smaller room.
The larger room.
The hallway looks pretty good.
This shows one place where the boards are not supported by anything. I put my foot on it to show how it depresses when stepped on. There aren't many places like this.
This is where you can see that the boards are attached directly to the joists. directly under the joists is more t&g with sheetrock that makes up my first floor ceiling. I tried to get a picture but the only place to really see it is through an access in my closet. the ceiling was lowered in the closet, so you can see the old ceiling/underside of the upstairs floor from the access.
Obvious water damage, and probably the worst spot in the whole area.
Splitting. And you can see where it was nailed directly on the joists.
Gaps in the boards. This is really probably the worst spot.
The smaller room.
The larger room.
The hallway looks pretty good.
#8
03-21-15, 12:46 PM
You should be able to refinish what you have provided you replace the damaged boards and address the issues where the flooring didn't reach the joists. I suspect there may be more areas like that than you realize 
It's possible that they didn't worry about having the joints fall on top of a joist and relied on the tongue and groove to hold everything in place. It might be easier to remove and patch the bad areas and then install a new floor - it all depends on how much it takes to make the existing right.
It's possible that they didn't worry about having the joints fall on top of a joist and relied on the tongue and groove to hold everything in place. It might be easier to remove and patch the bad areas and then install a new floor - it all depends on how much it takes to make the existing right.
#9
03-21-15, 01:03 PM
Member
I would abandon the idea of directly trying to nail a floor to this mess. It will not hold properly to boards that are already not properly adhered.
Optimally, if you have your heart set on hardwood, I would remove what is there completely and not try to salvage or use as a base. Install 3/4" Advantech and then nail your new floor to that. You get the new floor without all the added weight on an already sagging joists system.
Optimally, if you have your heart set on hardwood, I would remove what is there completely and not try to salvage or use as a base. Install 3/4" Advantech and then nail your new floor to that. You get the new floor without all the added weight on an already sagging joists system.
#10
03-21-15, 01:47 PM
Member
No way I would attempt to refinish that floor. It would need more work put into fixing it than ripping the whole thing out and starting new.
As for what to do with it... I wouldn't just attach new hardwood directly over that. At a very minimum, I would go over it with 1/2" ply and put a new floor on that. An engineered wood flooring would be better than solid hardwood in my opinion.
The ideal thing to do would be to remove all the hardwood and resheath with 3/4" ply, then you can go over it with whatever you want, but that can lead into issues as well.
The things you need to consider are how much extra weight you are adding to the floor, and how much higher you are raising the floor, particularly at any stairways. Going over what you have will increase the height of your top step by the same amount and create a tripping hazard.
As for what to do with it... I wouldn't just attach new hardwood directly over that. At a very minimum, I would go over it with 1/2" ply and put a new floor on that. An engineered wood flooring would be better than solid hardwood in my opinion.
The ideal thing to do would be to remove all the hardwood and resheath with 3/4" ply, then you can go over it with whatever you want, but that can lead into issues as well.
The things you need to consider are how much extra weight you are adding to the floor, and how much higher you are raising the floor, particularly at any stairways. Going over what you have will increase the height of your top step by the same amount and create a tripping hazard.
