Floor repair: Is it wood or should it be replaced?
I don't like the floor in the recently purchased house in its current state. It's grayish in some places and a nice woody hue in others. There is no serious damage. I assumed it was laminate, so only replacement was an option. Then I removed the molding and was a little hesitant.
Somehow it didn't look like what I imagine a typical laminate floor would look like? Judging by the cross section, it looks more like prefabricated hardwood flooring? Unfortunately, I'm a complete amateur in this area.
Is it possible to sand this floor with a fine grit and treat it with a hard wax oil to make it look uniformly beautiful again?
Answers
I think so too, it's probably "regular" prefinished hardwood flooring. Of course, you can't tell how good the quality is, because there are cheap prefinished parquets as well as high quality ones. It's also a matter of effort and whether you want the sanding done in the house, how important the room is, how you want to use it, what you like about it, etc. All of these things need to be taken into consideration.
I don't see any deep damage. Machine rental companies will give you the right grit for your first and second sanding. I like oil treatment better than wax – a matter of taste.
It could be a multi-layered parquet. At the very least, the subfloor is natural wood. Sanding is certainly possible, and may be appropriate. As a fan of wood, I would say: Do it.
Sanding is quick, doesn't generate a lot of dust, and it never ceases to amaze you how beautiful an old floor can become.
We used a sander to sand our wood floor that had this "bag around it" and the dust was sucked right into the bag. :) Everything looked incredibly nice afterwards. I would always try to preserve and restore real wood first.
